Exodus Overview

We're starting a new sermon series this morning in the book of Exodus.

Why don't you turn there with me in the Pew Bible.

It's page 45, or if you brought your own Bible, the book of Exodus.

Second book of the Old Testament.

So if you're not quite familiar with the Bible, just start flipping and you'll find it soon.

We're going to jump around the book a little bit this morning.

So it'll be helpful to have it open before you.

This morning what we want to do as we start the series is give an overview of the whole book of Exodus.

If you've ever had the window seat in an airplane, you know that there are some things that you can see and notice and appreciate at 10,000 feet up in the air that you can't quite see or notice or appreciate when you're down on the ground.

So hopefully this morning we'll get the big sense of this great book before we get down into the details in the coming weeks.

Before we do that, let me just say a couple thoughts about why we're studying this book.

Exodus is probably one of the most foundational books in the whole Bible, really.

You might say that the rest of Scripture is sort of just stamped and impressed with the themes of this book.

So this morning if you're exploring Christianity, then I think this book will help you see really who God is according to the Bible and what Scripture, what Christianity really is all about.

I think one of the most spiritually fruitful things you could do is stick around for a few weeks or a few months and get to know some people and see what this book and see who this God is all about for yourself.

If you're already a Christian, then I think this book will hopefully give you not just a deeper sense of the Old Testament, as foundational as it is to the story of the Old Testament or the whole Bible, but really a richer knowledge of God.

I hope what we'll see in the coming weeks is that the book of Exodus helps us to know God better.

And ultimately help us to do that because the book of Exodus ultimately helps us to know Jesus better.

Jesus himself in many ways understood and spoke of himself as the fulfillment of what we are going to find here in the book of Exodus.

In other words, when you get this book, when you really get it, when you see it, then the gospel, who Jesus is and what he's done, will probably start to light up for you and be brilliant and beautiful to you in ways that maybe you've never noticed before.

Now this morning we're going to take our 10,000 foot overview of the book of Exodus in three big steps.

Because the book of Exodus itself sort of falls into three main parts.

We always like that as preachers when things have three main parts.

Helps our sermons have a nice little arc to them.

But I think you'll see, I think you'll appreciate that that is definitely true of the book of Exodus.

There are three main moments, three main movements.

Briefly, what we're going to see first is that God, who is God?

Exodus shows us that God is the God who saves.

He rescues his people when they're helpless to do so themselves.

And then second, what we're going to see is that God is the God who instructs.

He reveals himself and his laws and his ways and he shows his people how to live flourishing lives and good lives.

And then third, we'll see that God is the God who dwells with us.

God chooses to be present with his people in communion with them, dwelling in their midst.

That's the big arc of where we're going.

One pastor put it this way and I thought it was so good, I have to share it with you.

He said, Exodus is about the God who saves, the God who speaks, and the God who stays.

So let's look first then at the God who saves.

We see this in chapters 1 through 18 of Exodus.

That's the first big chunk.

And this part of Exodus is probably the most familiar terrain in the book.

The people of Israel oppressed in slavery under Pharaoh.

The calling of Moses at the burning bush.

The ten plagues.

The parting of the Red Sea.

This is the stuff of Hollywood movies, chapters 1 through 18.

Not always good Hollywood movies, but there you go.

But why don't we pick up with the opening paragraph.

Exodus chapter 1 verses 1 through 7.

Exodus 1:1–7

And again, if you're kind of new to the Bible, the big numbers are the chapter numbers.

The small numbers are the verse numbers.

So Exodus 1, 1 through 7.

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin.

Dan and Naphtali.

Gad and Asher.

All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons.

Joseph was already in Egypt.

Then Joseph died.

And all his brothers.

And all that generation.

But the people of Israel were fruitful.

And increased greatly.

They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong.

So that the land was filled with them.

Now, what we see here is that the story of Exodus picks up right where the book of Genesis left off.

In Genesis, God had promised to repair and rescue his broken and fallen creation somehow, someway, through Abraham's family.

Through this single family, God's blessing, his favor, his grace, intimacy and relationship with him, righteousness before him.

All of that would come to all people through this single family.

God promised Abraham that he would be a great nation.

That he would give them the land of Canaan.

And then somehow, someway, all peoples would be blessed in his offspring.

And what do we see here as Exodus begins?

Well, we see that this first part of that promise to Abraham is coming true.

No.

This nomadic family of 70 people has now multiplied and grown exceedingly strong, the book of Exodus says.

Now, if you're familiar with the opening chapters of the Bible, you're probably catching an echo there, right?

This is a definite echo of Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

In creation, God blessed the man and the woman and told them what?

Be fruitful and multiply.

And here in Exodus, like an act of new creation, in the midst of the old, God's people are fruitful and they're multiplying.

Some of the language there even says that they're swarming, which is creation, which is Genesis 1 language.

As the life that God creates just starts to swarm and burst forth with life.

And it seems that this creation mandate, the creation purpose of God is back on track with the people of Israel.

But then, Pharaoh enters the scene.

And Pharaoh enslaves and oppresses the people.

Which is not just an act of tyranny and cruelty, although it is certainly that.

But seen in the context of this story, what Pharaoh's doing is essentially opposing God.

And opposing God's creative purposes.

It's an anti-God, an anti-creation move on Pharaoh's part.

And so as chapter 1 unfolds, the situation is bad.

Very bad.

God's people seem trapped.

And God's plan to rescue the world seems on the brink of failure.

Right?

The people are far from the land of promise.

They face systematic extinction.

Every male child, Pharaoh commands, throw him into the Nile.

Because then, the only ones who would be left would be women.

And they would intermarry with the Egyptians.

And the whole race would be obliterated in probably a generation or two or less.

But with that scene set, the story of Exodus shows us the God who saves.

And first, we see that God saves with compassion.

Turn to Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25.

Exodus 2:23–25

This will be a good paragraph to just sort of plant on as we cover this first main movement of the book.

Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25.

Exodus 2:23–25

Verse 23.

During those many days, the king of Egypt died.

And the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.

Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

And God heard their groaning.

And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

God saw the people of Israel.

And God knew.

God hears and God knows the suffering of his people.

Their cry and their groan.

It's compassion.

And God remembers his covenant, his binding oath to Abraham.

And so it's as if Exodus is saying there is no chance that God is immune or aloof from the dire straits that his people are in.

And there's no chance of his plan being thwarted.

God has bound himself to them.

His steadfast love has been placed on them.

And he's overflowing with compassion for them.

He sees and he knows.

So God saves with compassion.

And then we see that God saves through judgment.

Starting in chapter 3, God calls Moses, sends him to Pharaoh.

And when Pharaoh refuses to let the people go, what happens?

God's judgment is poured out.

We'll see in a few weeks when we get to chapter 7 through 12, the 10 plagues.

And we'll see that these plagues are not just an act of judgment on Pharaoh.

And they're not just an act of judgment on the Egyptian sort of deity structure.

But they're a massive act of uncreation by the one true God.

It's almost as if the creator God of Genesis is now exercising his judgment in an act of decreation.

God is the creator after all.

And when his creatures rebel against him, God is fully just to give them what they are asking for.

The chaos and desolation and darkness of a world without a creator.

Of creation undone.

And one by one, the plagues intensify until in the tenth and final plague, death comes to all the firstborn sons in Egypt.

Do you remember the creation story?

What was the pinnacle of the creation story?

The creation of humanity.

And now, what's the deepest darkness of uncreation?

The death of humanity.

And it's very interesting, this last plague, unlike all the rest, it actually comes near to the people of Israel as well.

You see, up till now, in the plagues, God made a clear distinction between Israel and Egypt.

When the hail fell on the Egyptians, it didn't fall on the Israelites.

When the plagues came, Israel was safe.

But now, in this last plague, it seems as if the plague is coming near.

That they too are threatened by the destroyer.

But God makes a way to save them through the judgment.

He says,

In the place of your firstborn sons, take a lamb and sacrifice it.

And mark your doorposts with the blood.

And when God sees the blood, he will pass over and let them live.

You see, the lamb functions as a substitute.

In mercy, God lets his judgment fall on the lamb instead of on the son.

And he saves his people through the judgment.

Last thing we see is that God saves in power.

If you flip ahead to chapter 12 and 13, the Israelites depart from Egypt at last.

They go out.

And then in chapter 14, they find themselves hemmed in.

As they flee Egypt, they find themselves hemmed in.

By the Red Sea on one side.

And Pharaoh's armies chasing them on the other side.

And what do they do?

What is God going to do, they say?

They cry out in fear.

They start blaming Moses.

What have you done?

But then, just as God separated the waters in creation, God now, in a redemptive act of new creation, separates the waters of the Red Sea.

And the people escape on dry land.

In power.

In power, God saves his people.

And in power, God delivers them once and all.

Once and for all from their enemies.

The Israelites escape through the sea.

But as Pharaoh's armies go in, they drown as the waters fall back again.

So this opening movement shows us a God who saves in compassion, in judgment, in power.

That is, God saves with perfect love, with perfect justice, and with perfect strength.

So what about us today?

Friends, do you believe in the God who saves?

You know, as I've been thinking about it, I've been thinking of what good news these opening chapters of Genesis are.

On the one hand, we see that God saves us even when the wait seems long.

God saves us even when the wait seems long.

Exodus 2040 tells us that the people of Israel lived in Egypt for 430 years.

430 years!

And most of that time was spent in slavery.

But even though the wait seemed long, unbearably long, at the right time, God rescued them.

I wonder if you have a friend or a family member and you've been praying for their conversion for a long time.

And as the years go by, you start to doubt whether God really is a God who saves.

Or maybe you're stuck in some besetting sin and you keep failing and falling again and again and again.

And you ask, is God really a God who saves?

But Exodus is telling us this morning that even when the wait seems long, God with perfect love, perfect justice, perfect power is a God who saves.

I mean, think about this on a cultural level.

You know, this weekend we're celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, right?

On Monday, who stood up in the name of Christ and opposed injustice and racism in our country for the sake of the gospel.

One of the great heroes of our faith in many ways.

And yet still, we wrestle and we battle with these injustices and with slavery and with racism.

And we think, oh, the wait is so long.

God, are you going to save?

Are you going to rescue us?

But, with perfect love, perfect justice, perfect power, God continues to be a God who saves even though we wait.

Friends, how much greater confidence can we have today than the Old Testament people had today in the fact that God saves?

Even though the wait seems long.

Think about it.

As the story of the Bible continues, the 400 years of slavery and Exodus are then matched at the end of the Old Testament by 400 years of silence.

After the last prophet Malachi spoke of a coming deliverer, 400 years, the people waited and waited and waited.

But then at last, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

You see, the wait seemed unbearably long, but at last Jesus came and redeemed us.

Redeemed us.

Redemption.

That's Exodus language.

So, friends, for us today, the greatest wait is actually over.

Our sins have been forgiven.

God's Spirit has been poured out.

God's Spirit has been poured out.

Even when the wait seems long, God saves.

We also see from this first part of Exodus that God saves even when the way seems impossible.

Even when the way seems impossible.

After all, what chance, what chance did this oppressed group of refugees, the Israelites, have against the greatest empire of that day?

The Egyptians.

What chance did they have when they stood facing the Red Sea?

The way seemed impossible.

Maybe you wonder the same.

If God were to really take stock of your life, if he were to really judge you by your moral efforts,

and how well you've loved him as your creator with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,

and how well you've loved your neighbor as yourself, how would you fare under that examination?

You know, if we took just the last few months of your life,

if we took just the last few months of your life or my life,

and we projected not just your deeds, but we projected your words and your thoughts sort of around the room

in the place of these stained glass windows,

sort of on a running loop so that everyone could see,

that would be an uncomfortable experience to say the least.

You might doubt whether anyone in the room would look at you favorably if they saw all that.

And the people viewing the tape would be flawed and infallible human beings just like you and just like me.

But now, friends, imagine standing before a holy God, your creator,

the God of perfect love, justice, and power,

with your whole life on view before him.

And you think, how could he possibly view me with favor?

How could he possibly accept me,

given how far short I've fallen,

of loving him as he deserves,

and loving my neighbor as myself?

The way seems impossible.

And yet,

just when our way seems lost,

God himself makes a way through the sea.

And when our lives seem lost,

God himself provides a lamb,

a substitute.

Jesus comes and lives the life that we were supposed to live,

and he dies the death that we deserve to die,

so that if we believe in him,

God's judgment might pass us over,

and we might walk safely through the sea,

on the solid ground of Christ's own moral record,

and not our own.

You see, friends,

God saves,

even when the way seems impossible.

But the book of Exodus doesn't end there.

God saves his people from slavery and death,

in chapters 1 through 18.

But what does God save them for?

In chapters 19 through 24,

we see that God is not just the God who saves,

but the God who instructs.

God speaks to his people at Mount Sinai.

He makes a covenant with them.

He gives them his law,

his Torah,

his instruction,

the core of which are the Ten Commandments in chapter 20.

And in so doing,

God makes them a nation.

He makes them a people with a purpose.

Look at Exodus chapter 19,

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

starting in verse 4.

This will be the sort of paragraph

that we kind of camp on

in this second big section of Exodus.

Exodus 19,

Exodus 19:4

verse 4.

This is God

speaking to the people through Moses.

God says,

God calls them a kingdom of priests,

a royal priesthood,

the whole people.

They're meant to display

God's glory to all the earth.

Having been saved by God's love

and justice and power,

now in response to that saving grace,

they're to embody a whole new way

of being human.

And the way in which they're to order

their life together to do that

is according to God's own instruction.

So friends,

this morning,

do you believe in the God

who instructs?

Do you believe in the God

who speaks?

At 10,000 feet,

let me just highlight two things

in this middle section of Exodus.

And the first thing we see

is that God instructs us

for our good.

God instructs us

for our good.

He instructs us for our good

because the heart of the moral law

shows us how life works best.

If God really is our loving creator

after all,

then certainly God must know

how this human machine

is meant to run.

Just like the software engineer

knows best how the program

she has spent years designing

is meant to run.

Now, to be sure,

some of the rules

and some of the regulations

here in Exodus

are intended for Old Testament Israel

specifically as a nation.

In chapters 21 through 23,

in particular,

we have a big block

of what's sometimes called

case law.

And these are particular laws

that are meant to help

Old Testament Israel

regulate its national life together.

And today,

as we kind of go back

in the story

and read those chapters,

we have to read them

in light of the whole

storyline of the Bible.

Now that Christ has come

and established

his new covenant church,

these sorts of particular laws

are no longer directly applicable

to us

because the fullness

of God's salvation has come

and the church is no longer

a nation state.

It's a multicultural,

transnational,

spiritual family

united in Jesus.

Now, however,

what we're going to see, though,

is that as we come

to those chapters in detail,

that even those case laws

point us down

into principles

of God's loving

and just character.

and then they can point

to us

out some directions

for how God created us

to live today.

But more of that to come.

What we really want to see

this morning

is that God instructs us

for our good.

And if that's true,

then we need not be afraid

that if we heed

God's voice,

if we heed the way

in which he's spoken to us

through his word

and follow his instructions,

we need not worry

that somehow

we'll be missing out.

Sin, friends,

is very deceptive.

It always promises us

life and joy

and happiness

and security.

But sin is like

a computer virus.

On the surface,

it sort of pretends

to be this fun little app

optimizing your user experience

while all the while

it's sort of destroying

your operating system

from the inside out.

Now, of course,

some of God's instructions

might seem a little

counterintuitive at first.

And they will certainly

seem countercultural.

After all,

if God is the God

of all creation,

of all the universe,

the transcendent God

of everyone

and everything,

then every culture

is going to find something

in God's instructions

that seem a little

countercultural

and a little more

uncomfortable.

But they will seem

counterintuitive at first.

After all,

God is God

and we are fallen

human beings.

And yet,

whether it's the command

to worship only one God

exclusively,

or whether it's the command

to have sex

with only one person

exclusively

in the lifelong covenant

of marriage,

or whether it's the command

to be radically just

and generous

to your neighbors,

especially the sojourner

or the widow

or the fatherless

or the immigrant,

all of God's instructions

are for our good.

And because they're

saving God's word for us,

we need not be afraid

that in following them

we'll be missing out.

In fact,

just the opposite.

This is how we live

into our calling

of being a royal priesthood,

of presenting to the world

the whole new way

of being human,

to reflect God's glory

and God's character

the way he created us to.

But God's law

is for our good

in a second sense.

The law is for our good

because it continues

to reveal to us

how much we need a savior.

Now, it is very clear

in the structure of Exodus

that the giving of the law

comes after the salvation

from Egypt.

God doesn't give Israel the law,

so that they might earn

or merit his favor

by keeping it.

That was never the intent

of the law.

God rescues his people

and accepts them

by grace always.

But as much as the law

functions to show us

how to live in light

of God's grace,

it also demonstrates

how much we need

God's grace.

After all,

no one keeps the law perfectly.

In fact,

when Jesus came

and he taught the law,

he didn't minimize it.

He actually pointed

to its deepest implications.

You shall not murder,

Jesus said,

one of those famous

Ten Commandments.

He said,

that's really about your heart.

Do you hold anger,

bitterness,

prejudice,

frustration

against your brother

or sister

or neighbor?

Do you curse them

in your heart?

Do you refuse

to forgive?

If so,

then you've fallen

short of God's design.

You've fallen short

of God's glory.

And you need not

merely try harder.

You need to do more

than just try harder.

You need a redeemer.

You need someone

who's going to give you

a new heart

in place of your old heart

and give you his spirit

to battle your flesh,

your sinful nature.

You know,

I think sometimes

it would do us good

as Christians

to have seasons

when we meditate

on the Ten Commandments

and think through

some of their

deeper implications

for how we're meant

to live.

You know,

Jesus himself

gave the example.

Let's think about

that command

not to murder.

Do you see

how deep down

it's a command

not to hate,

not to be bitter,

not to be angry?

You know,

you might try

taking an exposition

of the Ten Commandments.

The Westminster

Larger Catechism,

something you can find

very easily online,

takes each of these

Ten Commandments

and just blows them out

and shows all the ways

in which they might

have ramifications

for our lives.

It might be good

to take one of those

and do some

spiritual self-examination

to kind of read through it

slowly or prayerfully

before God.

And the point of that

would not be

to just wallow in guilt,

but to see afresh

how desperately

we need a Savior,

how lost we are

without Christ,

and then to come

to a richer appreciation

of how He has lavished

His grace upon us.

In Him,

in Christ,

we have redemption

through His blood,

Ephesians 1-7 says.

Note again

that Exodus language,

redemption.

In Him,

we have redemption

through His blood.

And what is that?

The forgiveness

of our trespasses

according to the riches

of His grace

which He lavished

upon us.

So friends,

God instructs us

for our good.

So God saves

and God instructs,

but there's one

final movement,

one final motion

in Exodus.

God dwells

in our midst.

Chapters 25-40

of Exodus

are taken up

largely

with the detailed

instructions for

and then the building

of the tabernacle.

And you think,

golly,

that's a lot of chapters

on how to just

build a tent.

Now,

what was the tabernacle?

The tabernacle

was essentially

a portable worship site

that the Israelites

could take down

and set up

as God led them

through the wilderness.

But the important thing

to see

about this tabernacle.

And one of the reasons

why there's almost

to us

just an insane amount

of detail

for this thing,

they're almost

sort of enjoying

the fact

that they get

to design

and build

and construct

this tabernacle.

Well, why?

Why are they taking such,

why does Exodus

take such delight

in this thing

to spend so many

chapters on it?

Well,

because that's

the place

where God

promised

to dwell

in the midst

of his people.

Let's look at

Exodus chapter 29,

Exodus 29:43

verse 43.

Exodus 29,

Exodus 29:43

verse 43.

This will be

our third kind of

little set of verses

to just camp on

as we think about

the big themes

of Exodus.

Exodus 29,

43.

Verse 43 says,

There,

there at the

tabernacle,

I will meet

with the people

of Israel

and it shall be

sanctified

by my glory.

I will consecrate

the tent of meeting

in the altar.

Aaron also

and his sons

I will consecrate

to serve me

as priest.

I will dwell

among the people

of Israel

and will be

their God

and they shall

know that I am

the Lord their God

who brought them

out of the land

of Egypt

that I might

dwell among them.

I am the Lord

their God.

Friends,

in the echoes

of the minds

of the ancient

Israelites

and the echoes

of all of our minds

is something

that we've lost.

Way back

in the furthest

reaches of the

human story

there was a garden

and in that garden

God dwelt

in the midst

of us

and we had

an intimate

communion

with him

that was

unceasing

and unchanging.

And now here

in this little tent

in the middle

of a dusty

wilderness

God says

I'm reclaiming

that space

again

and I'm going

to dwell

in the midst

of my people.

The tabernacle

was going to be

the place

where heaven

touched down

to earth

where the

infinite God

condescended

to dwell

in the midst

of the finite

where God

dwelt in the midst

of his people.

You see

God didn't save

them from slavery

merely so they

would just follow

his instructions.

He saved them

from slavery

so that he might

live in constant

communion with them

so that they

might enjoy

his presence

and live in

relationship

with him.

It's hard

for us to grasp

how stunning

that is.

Friends,

what we know

from the whole

Bible is that

the triune

God

exists

and will

exist eternally

in infinite

fullness

of joy

without a

single need

at all

for perfect

happiness.

And that God

who doesn't

need us

one bit

chooses to

condescend

and stoop

to dwell

in our midst

how radically

fascinating

and thrilling

is that?

And again,

I want to just

point out two

applications of

sorts

of this

tabernacle

section of

Exodus.

I think we see

at least two

things at the

big picture level.

First,

God dwells

with us

no matter

where we are.

no matter

where we are.

Essentially,

God is saying

to Israel

at this point,

okay,

you dwell

in tents,

I'll dwell

in a tent.

And then

when they're

settled in

the promised

land,

as the Old

Testament story

goes forward,

he'll say,

you dwell in

houses,

okay,

I'll dwell

in a house.

And the

temple in

Jerusalem

replaces the

tabernacle.

You dwell

in tents,

I'll dwell

in a tent

with you.

You dwell

in a house,

I'll dwell

in a house

with you,

to be with

you.

But it

doesn't even

end there.

In the

New Testament,

we see that

God goes

even further.

In the

Gospel of

John,

John 1:14

chapter 1,

verse 14,

he writes,

and the

word became

flesh and

dwelt among

us,

as if God

said,

you dwell in

flesh,

I'll dwell

in flesh,

to be with

you.

And that

word dwell

in John

is the

same word

for tabernacle

in the Old

Testament Greek

version,

as if God

were saying

the word

became flesh

and tabernacled

among us.

When the

word became

flesh,

when Jesus

walked the

earth,

God literally

dwelt in

our midst.

He was

fulfilling what

that tabernacle

was all about.

The tabernacle

all along was

pointing ahead

to the day

when God

would really

come and

dwell in

our midst.

And note

how John

goes on,

if you're

familiar with

that passage,

you don't

need to

turn there.

He goes

on and

says this,

he says,

the word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us

and we've

seen his

glory.

Glory as

of the

only son

from the

father,

full of

grace and

truth.

You know,

the end of

the book of

Exodus,

the book of

Exodus ends

with God's

glory filling

the tabernacle.

A glory so

heavy,

a glory so

powerful,

a glory so

thick and

weighty that

Moses can't

even enter

the tent.

That same

glory would

come down

on the

temple in

Solomon's

day and

the same

thing would

happen as

if God

was saying,

I'm here

in your

midst.

And John

says in the

New Testament

that the

glory of

God is

found

ultimately

and finally

in Jesus

Christ.

And one

day,

Christ will

return in

glory and

the glory of

God will

cover the

earth like

the waters

cover the

sea.

And the

book of

Revelation

says in

the new

creation,

there's not

going to be

a tent or

a temple

because God

will be there

and we will

be in his

midst.

But you

know,

even now,

even with

Christ ascended

to the right

hand of the

Father,

as we await

that great

day,

his presence

has still

not left

us.

Jesus

has sent

his spirit

to abide

with us.

And because

we're united

to Christ

by faith

and filled

with his

spirit,

God now

dwells in

our midst

no matter

where we

are.

And this

all connects

to that

tabernacle

and temple

storyline of

the Old

Testament.

Do you

not know,

Paul said

to the

church in

1 Corinthians,

do you

not know

that you

yourselves

are God's

temple and

that God's

spirit lives

in you?

It's no

longer a

tent in

the wilderness

or a

temple in

Jerusalem.

Those things

are as

obsolete now

as an

eight-track

tape.

And you're

thinking,

what's an

eight-track

tape?

Exactly!

Because the

risen Lord

Jesus has

ascended to

the Father

and poured

out his

spirit,

no matter

where the

church

gathers,

no matter

where the

individual

Christian

finds herself

or himself,

there God

dwells.

there is

something more

spiritually

powerful and

beautiful and

amazing in a

simple gathering

of Christians

than in the

most elaborate

temple in

all the

world.

Right there,

God takes up

intimate

relationship with

his people,

with you,

if you're in

Christ.

This is why

the earliest

Christians could

sing hymns in

prison cells.

This is why

Christians could

do something as

counterintuitive as

civil disobedience,

because no matter

where they were,

nothing could

separate them from

the love of God,

the presence of God,

the intimate

dwelling of God in

Christ Jesus our

Lord, no matter

where they were,

God was there.

Second thing to

point out is

this, God

dwells with us

not just no

matter where we

are, God

dwells with us in

full knowledge of

who we are.

God dwells with us

in full knowledge of

who we are.

You know, if you've

been keeping track,

you may have

realized that there

are two pretty big

parts of Exodus that

we haven't really

highlighted yet.

The grumbling in

the wilderness of

chapters 16 through

18 and the making

of the golden calf in

chapters 32 and 34.

Now, when you view

the book as a whole,

you notice that each

of these episodes is

preceded, comes right

after, an incredible

display of God's power

and love.

He parts the Red Sea.

He comes down in a

blaze of smoke and

lightning on Mount

Sinai.

And how do we

respond?

After seeing God

split an ocean for

us, we grumble

that he's brought us

into the wilderness

to starve.

After seeing God's

incomprehensible glory

on Sinai, we erect

a golden calf, an idol,

and worship him how we

please.

And in full

knowledge of our

grumbling and our

idolatry, when God

would be right and

just to abandon us to

our own aching stomachs

and our own false

gods, when God ought to

leave us, the end of

Exodus says, God

stays.

When we blamed God for

our hungry stomachs,

and when we traded God

for a false idol, and

when we took God in our

own hands and condemned

him and beat him and

crucified him and mocked

him, still God stayed.

Even on the cross, God

stayed.

In love, God stays to

bear away our sin, to

create a holy people for

himself, and to

magnify the unspeakable

glory of his grace.

God dwells with us in

full knowledge of who we

are.

Let that sink into your

hearts this week,

brothers and sisters, as

you go out into the world,

and as you feel the shame

of your failures and the

dings and bruises and

scrapes and scratches of

trying to live for Christ in

the world, yes, God

dwells with you in full

knowledge of who you are,

and he stays.

And so that's Exodus.

God saves, and he

instructs, and he dwells in

our midst.

And as we've been seeing

throughout, Exodus itself is

an unfinished story.

The last word in our English

translation of Exodus,

anyway, is the word

journeys, which means that

there's still a lot of road

ahead, right?

But where does the story,

where does the journey find

its climax?

It's not in the conquest of

the land in the book of

Joshua.

It's not in the reign of

David in 1 and 2 Samuel.

It's not in the return from

exile in the prophets.

No, the climax goes even

further to Jesus Christ,

because he is the one who has

saved us in compassion

through the judgment of the

cross and the power of his

resurrection.

And he is the one who

instructs us and dwells with

us through his word and

through his spirit.

So if we want to see the

glory of God, the glory of

God of Exodus in its greatest

detail, we look to the face of

Jesus Christ.

Friends, where else can you

find such a God?

You know, perhaps you will find

a religion or a God who

instructs.

Maybe that's your view of God.

God lays down laws and rules

and spiritual principles to

follow.

But you know, at the end of the

day, when you fall short of

those instructions, or when the

spiritual practices don't seem

to satisfy, those kinds of

gods rarely ever save.

Perhaps you have a God who

dwells in your midst, who's

present, who's there.

But often that God is so

nameless and so faceless and so

general that you can't really

have a relationship with it.

It's more of a force to

harness than a person to love.

But look at Exodus, and through

Exodus, look at Jesus Christ and

see the God who saves and who

instructs and who dwells.

And if you see him, worship him.

And in worshiping him, trust him.

And trusting him, love him and

follow him.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Father, we thank you that at the

heart of the scriptures, you

reveal yourself as a God who

saves.

Lord, you saved your people from

the terrible tyranny of Pharaoh

and slavery.

And Father, wonder of wonders, you

have rescued us from the slavery and

the tyranny of sin and death

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord, we pray that our hearts

would be softened by your spirit

to trust you and to love you and to

follow you.

Lord, especially this weekend as we

think about celebrating tomorrow,

we pray that you would make us a

church that in all the ways in

which those who've gone before us,

like Dr. King, have stood up in the

name of Christ to proclaim your

liberty and to want to see that

liberty lived in our midst.

Oh God, give us the courage to

continue that legacy.

Help us to be freedom people, that

in the freedom of Christ, we would

go out and really pray and speak in

love for freedom.

We ask all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, friends, after we place our

faith in Jesus, then what?

One of the first things that Jesus

tells us to do is to be baptized.

And that is what Abby Stevens and

Fallon Lampert are going to come up

to do today.

Baptism is a sign of what Jesus has

done for us, and it's a sign that

we've been united to him through

faith.

Jesus died and rose again.

And through faith, our sins have been

washed away in his death, and our new

life has begun in resurrection.

And so, baptism...

And so, baptism...

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