Crossing Into New Life

This morning we have a guest preacher, since Matthew is on vacation, I'd like to ask Jeff

Kreisel to come forward.

Jeff is the RUF pastor at the Air Force Academy, and if you would like to know more about his

ministry, I'm sure he would be glad to tell you about it, and he even has a sign-up sheet

out front for his email newsletter, and he also brought swag.

So please welcome Jeff Kreisel.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Jeff Kreisel.

I'm the RUF campus minister at the Air Force Academy.

I'm excited to be here.

I always love coming to Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and worshiping with you all and bringing

God's word to God's people here.

So for those who are unfamiliar with RUF, it stands for Reformed University Fellowship.

RUF is the PCA's campus ministry.

We're at 160 campuses, not only nationwide, but globally.

God is doing some amazing things through RUF, and I'd love to tell you more about what he's

doing at the Air Force Academy.

I will talk your ear off if you grab me after the service.

RUF strives to bring the church to the campus because we believe that the campus is in desperate

need of the church.

That is our goal.

That is our hope.

So that is what we are after.

So fun fact, the last time I preached at Cheyenne Mountain was the first Sunday in 2019.

And now I get to preach the last Sunday in 2019.

So my year, your year, I guess, has been bookended with me being here at Cheyenne Mountain.

It's kind of neat.

A lot has happened this past year in my life, in our ministry.

We have made some difficult decisions.

We have faced some very difficult crossroads.

I'm sure you all have been through the same.

As you think back over your 2019, what were some of the difficult decisions that you made

this year?

What were some of the terrifying crossroads that you faced or the roads that you chose

to take?

And have you been pleased with the roads that you have chosen?

Or have your choice has been accompanied by doubt and regret?

Perhaps you started a new job.

You accepted a new job this year.

And it has far exceeded your expectations.

It has been just a godsend.

Or maybe you accepted a job and it has not met any of your expectations.

And it has just drained you.

It has sucked the life out of you and your family and your marriage.

Maybe you bought a new house in 2019.

And you love this new house.

It's perfect.

Or maybe you bought a new house and it is falling apart.

And you're starting to regret that you didn't buy that other house that you were eyeballing.

Or maybe you regret that you bought a house at all.

Maybe in 2019, you stood at the reconciliation crossroads with one of your family or friends.

Perhaps you went down this one road and you pursued reconciliation and they rejected your offer.

And that hurt really bad.

Or maybe you took this other road and you chose not to pursue reconciliation.

You're going to kick that can down the road a little bit, maybe into 2020, which isn't a bad thing.

But which road did you choose?

We choose all sorts of roads day in and day out.

So as you head into 2020, what are some of the crossroads that you're facing?

What are some of the difficult decisions that are driving your New Year's resolutions?

That's one way to find out what crossroads you're facing.

Perhaps you are like me and you are standing at that dreaded weight loss crossroads.

I feel it every year.

You're looking down one road and you see a path that leads to sacrificing your time to work out consistently and to prepare healthy meals.

And there's sacrifice required for that road.

Or you can take this other road, which is comfortable and it's familiar.

You know, it's easy.

You love that road.

But then at the end of the year and your pants are bigger and your waist is larger and you're like, man, I'm going to maybe take that other road in 2021.

You know, maybe you are at a crossroads of a recurring struggle.

A recurring struggle that just won't go away.

Maybe you're struggling with alcohol or with porn or with workaholism or with greed or with materialism and you're tired of it and you're standing at this crossroads and you're wanting to know, you're trying to decide which path should I take.

You look down one road and you're like, this road requires me to have awkward community and vulnerability.

And I have to be honest about my struggles and that's painful.

And I'm not sure if I want to go down that road, even though I know it would be for my good.

Or I can go down this road, which means I'm going to retain a bad habit, something that I hate, but I simultaneously love.

Right.

Which road are you going to choose?

The challenge with any crossroads is that there's pros and cons to whichever way that you go.

There is a cost that we so often are not willing to pay.

Each road looks bumpy.

Each road looks less than ideal.

Some roads lead to uncomfortable lifestyle changes.

Right.

Some roads are marked by the fear of the unknown.

Some roads take us back to the status quo.

And then there are some roads that lead us to places that we know will harm us.

But man, that road looks so enticing.

It's just painted with like fool's gold.

And we want to take that road every chance we get.

What do you do when you are standing at a crossroads and every direction looks terrible?

Or every direction looks like a dead end and you feel stuck?

Are there any other options?

Or are you stuck at that crossroads for another year?

In our passage this morning, the Israelites find themselves at a terrifying crossroads.

Every direction looked like a dead end.

It was a dead end.

But God, in his great mercy, he makes a way.

He makes another option.

He paves another road.

And this road goes straight through the chaotic waters of the Red Sea.

And he brings the Israelites from slavery to freedom.

In a moment, he brings them from death to life.

And that's where we are this morning in Exodus 14.

So if you are willing and able, I invite you to stand for the reading of God's word.

We'll be looking at Exodus 14, verses 5 through 22.

Exodus 14:5–22

And it's somewhat of a long passage.

So bend your knees.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people.

And they said, What is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him.

And he took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

And he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army,

and overtook them and camped at the sea by Pahaharoth in front of Baal-zaphon.

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes.

And behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.

And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

Is not this what we said to you in Egypt?

Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

And Moses said to the people, Fear not.

Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me?

Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it,

that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them.

And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, his chariots and his horsemen.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.

Then the angel of God, who was going before the host of Israel, moved and went behind them.

And the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,

coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.

And there was the cloud and the darkness, and it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night

and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground,

the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let me pray for us.

Gracious and good Heavenly Father, as we celebrated this Advent season,

the coming of the Messiah, Emmanuel, God incarnate,

we know that you are with us.

We know that you are present.

We pray that we also would be present and attentive to your word this morning.

We pray that you would focus our hearts and our minds on you.

And it's through Christ's name we pray. Amen.

You may be seated.

All right, so in Exodus 14, the Israelites are at this terrifying crossroads.

After the 10th plague, the 10th plague was the one in which the Lord passed through Egypt,

and he killed all of the firstborn sons who were not protected,

who weren't sheltered under the blood of the Passover lamb.

Okay, the blood of the Passover lamb acted as a substitutionary sacrifice for them

so that God could pass over.

The Egyptians, though, were not spared.

They had had enough of these plagues.

They had had enough of the Israelites.

You see, the pros were now way down here,

and the cons now outweighed the pros by a landslide.

Okay, and the Egyptians were like, we're done with the Israelites.

Take what you want.

They gave them this large spoil, and they kicked them out of Egypt.

But not much time passes.

The dust finally settles, and Pharaoh, he once again, he regrets his decision.

He realizes that he just pushed out their entire slave labor force out of their nation.

And so he gathers his massive, powerful, superpower army,

and he takes, it says, 600 chosen chariots, and then all the rest of his chariots.

So he has a slew of chariots.

And keep in mind, chariots were like the killing machines of the ancient Near East, right?

They would be akin to like F-22s or F-35s or Bradleys or Apaches or whatnot.

These were like the killing machines of the day.

And he takes all of them, and they start chasing after 2 million Israelite,

essentially peasants, children and elderly included.

So keep in mind, the Israelites aren't going on some casual ruck march out of Egypt, okay?

This is a hard, hard march, okay?

They are carrying their children.

They are caring for their elderly.

They are dragging along all of their possessions.

And they just got a lot of new possessions when they were pushed out of Egypt.

They got all sorts of gold and heavy items.

They were guiding all of their livestock through a desert, mind you, okay?

This was not an easy hike.

They were easy pickings for the Egyptian army.

And so the Israelites are at a crossroads.

They really only have four options, four directions they can go.

They can try to run along the shore.

They can go left or right.

But the Egyptians are in chariots.

And so eventually the Israelites are going to be caught,

and they're going to be forced back into slavery, okay?

So left and right don't look like great options, okay?

Another option is they can do an about-face,

and they can try to take on the Egyptians head-on, right?

They can try to go toe-to-toe with this great superpower.

But they're a superpower.

And the Israelites are essentially a bunch of non-military peasants.

How were they going to defeat this large military?

So going backwards didn't seem like a great option either.

The only other option they had was to go forward

and try to swim across the Red Sea

with all of their stuff, with all their children,

with all of their livestock.

And keep in mind, back in the ancient world,

swimming wasn't exactly a popular pastime.

Most biblical historians,

they believe that very few in the ancient world

were even able to swim.

So if they had even tried that option,

they would have eventually drowned, okay?

They were in quite the pickle.

They were stuck.

They couldn't go left, right, back, or forwards.

They couldn't fight their way out.

They couldn't run away,

and they couldn't swim their way out of this.

They couldn't save themselves.

And so the Israelites did the only thing that they could do.

That is this.

They cry out to God.

They pray to God.

Now, while this was the right thing to do,

okay, it was right for them at this crossroads

to pray to God,

but they do it in a really twisted way.

You see, instead of crying out to God for deliverance,

they cry out at God with accusations of abandonment.

And there's a massive difference between the two here.

They cry out at God for abandoning them.

And they start condemning God through their mediator, Moses.

And they say, essentially,

what have you done bringing us out of Egypt?

Life was good back in Egypt.

Don't you remember, Moses,

how good life was back in Egypt?

Yeah, they were harsh to us,

and they treated us like lowly slaves.

And oh, yeah, of course,

there was the whole incident

where they were throwing our children

into the Nile River.

But that was on us.

We were the ones being obstinate and disruptive.

We'll be better this time.

We'll go back to slavery

where it's familiar and safe,

as if it's safe at all,

to go back to slavery.

And we'll be better this time, right?

And then they say this sarcastic line.

They say, is it because there are no graves in Egypt

that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

That's such a low blow, right,

to Moses, who has just delivered them

from this wicked, terrible situation.

You see what has happened here.

The crossroads in which they are standing,

the fear that they are experiencing

has caused them to become delusional.

They're starting to rewrite history,

their own history.

If you recall, the night before Exodus 14,

the Israelites are celebrating

the fact that God has delivered them,

that he has given them this Passover lamb

to cover and atone for their sins,

that he was going to make a way for them

from slavery to freedom.

They're worshiping God.

They're dancing.

And now they're wanting to go back to slavery in Egypt

because the fear they're experiencing

at this crossroads.

They're looking down all of the roads

and each road appears to be a dead end

and their present fear has caused them

to forget their past oppression.

All right?

They have short-term memories

when it comes to the oppression

they experienced before.

And the same is so often true for us.

Like the Israelites,

when we find ourselves

at difficult crossroads,

where difficult decisions have to be made,

or when an old oppressor

or an old struggle

or an old bad habit

is like hot on our tails,

wanting to enslave us,

wanting to bring us down,

wanting to allure us back

to our old behaviors,

our old way of life.

We are prone to look back

at our old way of life

and think to ourselves,

it wasn't that bad.

It wasn't that bad.

But it was that bad, right?

It was that bad.

We just so quickly forget how bad it was.

We think that our old life,

the familiar,

can satisfy us

when we know in our heart

that it won't.

You see, your old life

wants you to forget

how bad it was before.

It wants you to feel like

there is no escape.

It wants you to feel like

your only option is to concede

and start walking backwards.

It wants you to feel hopeless.

It wants you to feel stuck.

But don't forget

what life was like before.

Don't forget

what the oppression

that you experienced before.

My friends,

there is no joy

in jealousy.

Ever.

Why would you go back to that?

There is no rest in rage.

There is no peace and panic

and there is no love and lust.

Never.

Right?

Why would we go back to that?

We know these things,

but when we find ourselves

at crossroads,

like in Exodus 14,

our fear,

it causes us to forget

our past oppression

and then go back to it.

But I want to remind you

that at these crossroads,

you aren't stuck.

Okay?

You can look to the left,

you can look to the right,

you can look backwards

and forwards,

and they may all look

like dead ends.

But thankfully,

it goes to an out-of-the-box thinker.

And in Exodus 14,

we see him graciously pave

another road

that takes them

straight through the sea.

Verse 13 and 14,

Moses says these words.

He says,

Fear not,

stand firm,

and see the salvation

of the Lord,

which he will work for you.

The Lord will fight for you,

and all you have to be

is silent.

In other words,

stand still

and watch God work.

You can't save yourself.

You are stuck.

But I can save you.

Right?

He's saying,

I'm going to get you through this.

I'm going to make another way.

All you have to do

is just stand still

and be silent.

But here's the thing,

we don't like standing still

and being silent.

Right?

Especially when it comes

to our salvation.

We feel like we have

to contribute something,

anything,

to our salvation.

standing still

and being silent

requires us

to trust in God

more than ourselves.

It requires us

to relinquish

the one thing

that we hold so dear,

and that is

our sense of control.

Right?

We have to believe

that God knows

what's best for us.

We have to believe

that God is for us,

that he is with us,

and that he loves us

more than we can fathom.

We have to believe

that serving God

is more life-giving,

it is more satisfying,

than serving Pharaoh.

Everyone serves something

or someone, right?

Everyone serves a Pharaoh.

My Pharaoh may be

different than your Pharaoh,

but it's the exact same Pharaoh.

Right?

It's a Pharaoh

who wants to pull you back

into an old way,

an old pattern,

an old habit.

It's a Pharaoh

who demands

your full allegiance,

and then when you try

to escape,

he hunts you down

and tries to put

the shackles back on.

Now, what is your Pharaoh

this morning?

What Pharaoh

are you prone to serve?

To rephrase this question,

what do you serve

to give your life meaning?

If it isn't God,

it's a Pharaoh, okay?

And it can be

a very good thing

that we turn into God things,

and when we do that,

those things become

worthless things.

All right?

Is it your job?

Is that the thing

that you are serving

to give your life meaning?

Is it your reputation?

Is it your hobbies?

Is it your family?

Is it your friends?

Is it your looks?

Is it your parents' approval?

What is it

that you serve

to give your life meaning?

After winning

an Academy Award,

Reese Witherspoon,

she held her new trophy

tightly to her chest,

and she said these words.

She said,

I'm just trying to matter,

and you have all

made me feel tonight

that I might have

accomplished that.

You see what

Reese Witherspoon has done?

She has made the opinions

of others her Pharaoh.

She was serving them

to get meaning.

Madonna says this

about her life.

She said,

my drive in life

comes from the fear

of being mediocre.

I push past

one spell of it

and discover myself

as a special human being.

But then I feel

that I am mediocre

unless I do something else,

because even though

I have become somebody,

I still have to prove

that I am somebody,

and my struggle

has never ended,

and I guess

it never will.

She's swimming upstream.

She's serving a Pharaoh

that can't meet her needs.

Exodus 14 shows us

that the struggle

that she faces,

the upstream swimming,

it can end.

We aren't stuck

at this crossroads,

because God has graciously

entered the crossfire.

Did you see this

in verse 19,

what God does?

Verse 19 says,

then the angel of God

who was going before

the host of Israel

moved and went

behind them,

coming between

the host of Egypt

and the host of Israel.

I don't know why

we missed that.

We kind of glossed

over that point.

That God moved

from being in the front

to going to the rear

to shield and defend them

from the Egyptian superpower.

You see,

God stands between

the Israelites

and their enemies.

He says to Pharaoh

with that action,

if you want to attack,

if you want to condemn

my people,

you have to go

through me first.

You have to go through me

and good luck with that.

Right?

And he says the same thing

to your Pharaohs as well.

He says,

if you want to get

to my child,

if you want to condemn

my child,

you have to go

through me first.

And my friends,

that is some really,

really good news.

That we have a God

who shields us

from our enemies.

Now this may surprise you,

but my favorite part

about being a campus minister,

it isn't going snowboarding

with my cadets

or beating them

and bowling.

They're all so terrible

at bowling.

It isn't even officiating

their wedding ceremonies,

which is like

such a joy.

My favorite part

about being a campus minister

is when a cadet

comes to me

with tears

streaking down their face

with their head

hanging low

because they feel

the weight of their guilt

and their shame

and I get to be the one

who reminds them

of Romans 8 verse 1.

Romans 8:1

There is now

no condemnation

for those who are

in Christ Jesus.

I get to say that to them

over and over

and over again

to press that truth

into their soul

so they believe it.

There is now

no condemnation

for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

In other words,

when God stands

between you and Pharaoh

and he says,

you can't condemn my child,

he is saying

to your sin,

you can't condemn them.

He's saying

to other people's opinions

of you,

you can't condemn

my child.

He's saying

to you

when you try

to condemn yourself,

you can't condemn

my child

because there is

no condemnation

because I shield

them from it.

The other thing

that God does here

is he not only

shields them

from Pharaoh

but his deliverance

is decisive.

Right?

Did you notice this?

In Romans 8 verse 1

Romans 8:1

it says,

there is now

no condemnation.

I love that word now.

I love that Paul

threw that word in there.

That present tense reality

that we now experience

no condemnation.

As Christians,

we live

in an objective

no condemnation reality.

Even if

we live our lives

as if we are still

under condemnation,

we're free from it.

Okay?

In Exodus 14,

the Israelites'

deliverance

was decisive.

It was a now

deliverance.

Okay?

In one moment

they were doomed.

In one moment

they're on this side

of the Red Sea.

They're on the

condemnation side.

And then in the next moment

they're on this side

of the Red Sea.

They're on the

justification side.

In one moment

it happens like that.

It was a decisive shift

from being in slavery

to being in freedom,

from being under death

to being in life.

And this is the paradigm

of our salvation as well.

The Red Sea

is our paradigm.

Okay?

When we cross over

decisively from life,

from death to life.

In Christianity,

God brings us

from death

into life

in a decisive act.

every other religion

says that justification,

it's the process,

it's being right

with God,

becoming right

with God.

Justification

is a process

in every other

religion

except for

Christianity.

Okay?

In every other religion

it says,

do this

and do this

and do this.

Follow all these rules

and regulations

and maybe you have

what it takes.

Maybe you're strong enough

to earn your way

into heaven

or nirvana

or enlightenment.

This is what

they essentially say.

They say,

okay,

you can't go left,

you can't go right,

you can't go back.

So start swimming

even though you can't swim.

Like how cruel

do you have to be

to like throw someone

into water

and say,

swim your way to shore

when they can't swim.

That's essentially

what every religion does.

every religion

entails

telling its followers,

try harder.

Keep trying.

It's on you.

And as a result,

in those systems,

there is never

any rest.

There's never

any assurance

of salvation

because you never know

if you've done enough,

if you've swam far enough.

You never know

if you've reached the shore.

Every religion

says start swimming.

When Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones,

one of my favorite theologians,

when he would,

he would want to figure out

where somebody stood spiritually,

he wouldn't beat around the bush.

He wouldn't overcomplicate evangelism.

He would just ask him this question.

He said,

are you a Christian?

And if their response

was,

well,

I'm trying,

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

would go on to explain

that their answer

indicated that they had no idea

what Christianity

was all about.

What makes one a Christian

is not a change in effort,

but a change in status, right?

It's your status

that changes your effort.

It's not your effort

that changes your status.

We can't get that backwards.

This status change

is decisive, right?

On my wedding day,

I went from being

not married

to married

in a moment.

My marital status

changed

in a decisive declaration,

I now pronounce you

husband and wife.

In that moment,

my life changed.

Something decisive

had changed

in my status.

Now,

what if someone

came up to me

12 years later

and asked,

hey Jeff,

are you married?

And I said,

well,

I'm trying.

That'd probably be

a very confusing

response for them

to hear,

and if my wife

was overhearing,

she'd probably

smack me upside

the top of my head.

There's no

I'm trying

in marriage.

You are either married

or you aren't married.

There's no

like middle ground

called

I'm trying.

Okay?

And likewise,

you are either

a Christian

or you aren't

a Christian.

You're either

on this side

of the Red Sea

or you're on

this side

of the Red Sea.

You're either

on the condemnation

side

or you're on

the justification

side.

There is no

I'm trying

middle ground.

The I'm trying

middle ground

is really called

lost.

Through faith

in Christ,

you cross over

from death

to life.

You cross over

from being

in Pharaoh's

kingdom

and under

his rule

and reign

to being

under God's

kingdom,

under God's

rule and reign.

When you cross

over,

you go from

being out

of God's

family

to being

in God's

family

in a moment

and you're

in that family

forever.

You cross over

from being

under God's

curse

to being

under God's

blessing.

Have you

crossed over?

are you

in God's

family?

Are you

a citizen

of God's

kingdom?

Are you

a part

of his

church,

Christ's

bride?

I pray

that you

are.

Have you

crossed

over?

Listen,

you don't

cross over

because of

the quantity

or the

quality of

your faith.

You cross

over because

of the

object of

your faith.

The object

of our

faith being

the one

who can

part the

waves,

the one

who is

gracious,

when we

are

faithless,

the one

who stands

between us

and Pharaoh

and acts

as our

shield and

defender.

It's the

object of

our faith

that matters.

In Exodus

14, it

shows us

that crossing

over from

one side

to the

other, it's

by God's

grace alone.

In that

verse, it

says,

fear not,

see the

Lord's

salvation,

that he

will work

for you.

Look, it

wasn't long

ago.

It was

probably like,

I don't

know, a

few minutes,

30 minutes,

an hour or

so before

the seas

part, that

the Israelites

are accusing

God of

abandoning

them.

They're

essentially

mocking God

and mocking

his mediator.

They're

demonstrating

how faithless

they truly

are.

Faith wasn't

exactly the

Israelites'

strongest

attribute.

Right?

But get

this, they

still crossed

over.

over.

They still

crossed

over, and

they crossed

over with

all of their

mess, with

all of their

doubts, with

all of their

struggles, and

guess what?

God still held

back the

water.

Even though

each Israelite

had a

different quality

of faith,

they were

all equally

saved.

Likewise, in

Christianity, you

cross over with

all of your

mess.

you cross

over with

all your

doubts, with

all your

struggles.

You don't

have to

clean yourself

up first.

You don't

have to

prove yourself

worthy.

You don't

have to

swim a

little bit

first.

As we're

going to

see next

Sunday, I

get to be

here with

y'all for

two weeks

straight, which

is awesome.

This week, we're

really focusing

on justification.

Next week, we're

going to focus

on sanctification.

Next week, we're

going to see

that until

you're on the

justification

side of the

Red Sea, the

sanctification

process cannot

begin.

But here's

the thing.

You can't

cross over the

sea on your

own.

And we know

it, but we

try so hard to

get across.

To get across, you

need a mediator.

You need someone

who's going to

obey God's

word and who's

going to part

the waters and

is going to

make a way

when there was

no way before.

You need someone

who would be

faithful for

you.

You see, when

the Israelites

were standing at

this crossroads

and the Egyptians

are right on,

like they're hot

on their tail,

their first

reaction, it's

like their

natural response

was to start

accusing God,

to start blaming

God for

abandoning them.

They essentially

say, you did

this to us.

Like some gods

you are.

You brought us

out of Egypt

just to die in

the wilderness.

We'd rather

serve Pharaoh

than you.

That's what

they say to

the God of

the universe

who just

delivered them

from Egypt.

And how does

God respond to

their faithlessness?

He turns to

Moses, the one

person who was

faithful, the one

person who wasn't

accusing God of

abandoning them,

the one person

who was faithful

throughout this

process, and he

rebukes Moses on

behalf of the

Israelites'

faithlessness.

The one person

who didn't

deserve to be

rebuked was

rebuked because

of his role as

their mediator, as

their representative.

And as a result,

he essentially

takes upon

himself the

Israelites'

faithlessness, and

he gives them his

faithfulness.

He gives them the

favor that God has

bestowed on him

so that he could

part the waves and

that they could walk

on dry ground.

Moses was a great

prophet, but we

know on this side

of the cross that

Moses was ultimately

a foretype of a

greater prophet who

would bring about an

infinitely greater

redemption.

It was the night

before Jesus'

crucifixion, and he

retreated to the

Garden of

Gethsemane, and he

found himself at the

most terrifying

crossroads.

Moses.

His enemies

surrounded him.

In a sense, he was

stuck.

He was boxed in, but

unlike the Israelites,

Jesus had the power to

save himself.

This was the man who

fed the 5,000.

He created nothing.

He created something

from nothing, right?

This is the guy who

walked on water, who

healed the lame,

healed the blind,

who raised people

from the dead and

cast out demons.

That's how powerful

Jesus is.

Jesus could have

Thanos snapped

all of the, all of

his enemies

out of existence.

He could have

snapped them into

dust, but that

wasn't the road that

he chose.

Instead, he took the

road that led to a

cross where he would

die in our place.

You see, in

Gethsemane, Jesus

cried out to God.

But unlike the

Israelites who cried

out to God in an

accusatory way, Jesus

cries out to God in

this faith-saturated

prayer in which he

relinquishes control

and he says, not my

will, but your will.

And he knew what that

prayer meant.

With those words, he

chose a road that

would take him to a

cross.

He chose the road of a

criminal so that we

could take the road

of adoption.

He chose the road of

a slave so that we

could take the road of

freedom.

And he chose the road

of death so that we

could take the road of

life.

He chose the road that

would lead him into the

chaotic waters of

death.

In order to

construct an

imperishable road with

his blood that leads

us to new life.

It's the great

deliverance story.

As you head into

2020, you have a lot

of difficult decisions

to make.

There aren't many

guarantees in life, but

this is one thing that

we all know is certain,

and that is that trials

will come your way.

The Christian life does

not promise an easy

life.

In fact, it promises the

exact opposite.

In 2020, you're going

to face some difficult,

terrifying crossroads.

You're going to have to

make decisions that are

costly.

You're going to have to

make decisions that are

painful.

You're going to make

decisions that may alter

the trajectory of your

life and those around

you.

But if you're a

Christian, when you find

yourself at these

difficult crossroads in

2020, and you feel the

enemy closing in, you

feel that old way of

life luring you back, I

pray that you will let

these words that Moses

said to the Israelites

wash over you again and

again, day after day.

Fear not.

Stand firm and see the

salvation of the Lord,

which he will work for

you.

Through faith in Christ,

you are standing not on

the condemnation side of

the sea.

And that changes the way

that you do life.

You're on the

justification side.

So strive to make

decisions in 2020 that is

in accordance with that

reality.

Make decisions that say,

I believe that my

justification is true.

You can face the most

terrifying crossroads with

confidence and you can

make very difficult

decisions because you

know that the God who

sent his only son to die

for you, he will not

leave or abandon you

now.

He will make a way

because that's the kind

of God that he is.

And that's the promise

that he makes to us each

and every day.

Have you crossed over?

Amen.

Let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father, we

thank you for this

paradigm of salvation

that you have shown us

in Exodus 14.

Because of your

overwhelming grace,

that you have decided

to free us from a life

of oppression and bring

us into a life of

freedom.

Not because of anything

that we have done, but

because of your sovereign

grace alone.

We pray that you would

continue to shield and

defend us from the

enemy, that you would

keep us from the

allurements and the

enticements of this

world.

Keep us from Pharaoh's

grip.

We thank you that you

love us so much that you

would send your only son

to pave a new road with

his blood into life.

We pray these things in

Christ's name.

Amen.