Week 2: The Great I AM

Transcription

1 Week 2: The Great I AM Rev. Dr. Dirk Rodgers, Executive Pastor Bethany Church

2 Sermon Notes: Week 2: The Ten Suggestions? The Great I AM 1. A Challenge You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. Deuteronomy 5:8-9a This commandment challenges our feeble human attempts to remake God in our own image. Our mental idols are just as wrong, just as dangerous, just as sinful as the distorted images of God that we dig up from the ancient world. 2. A Warning You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Deuteronomy 5:9 Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem. Amos 2:4-5 God has been patient as He waits for generation after generation to come back to Him. God waits some nine centuries since Moses first issues this warning, until at last He does act. He allows the Babylonians to destroy the city and the temple of Jerusalem, and to take the people once more into captivity. Now that they were in captivity, who would save them? Now that they were in real trouble, they needed the real God to show up. They needed the God who defines Himself as the great I AM. The question is never whether God is on our side. The question is always whether we are on God's side. We do not get to define God. He defines Himself and He defines us.

3 3. A Promise I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Deuteronomy 5:9-10 Each generation receives a new chance to change direction, to resist the errors of the past and embrace God's promise of a blessed future. The word, love appears twice in verse 10, but two different Hebrew terms are used: one that describes God s love for us and a different term that describes our love for God. The word referring to God s love for us speaks of an unconditional devotion and loyalty to His people, a covenant love that is unbreakable. The word referring to our love for God speaks not of a perfect love, but a love that regards God as a loving Father and remains obediently faithful to him. We must live within the rules that our Father has established for His household. This is the love that He requires of His sons and daughters, because He created us, and He knows what is best for us. Conclusion If we continue to define God according to our own wishes, we will continue to do our own thing. And, if we continue to do our own thing, we will continue to mess ourselves up. The truth is, therefore, that we need God to tell us who He is, and He needs to tell us who we are. God has in fact revealed Himself in Scripture and, ultimately, in the person of Jesus. God also tells us who we are, that we are His children, destined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). And the pathway to that end, the pathway to God s blessing, begins by submitting to the one God who declares Himself to be the Great I AM.

4 Connect Group Discussion Guide: Week 2: The Ten Suggestions? The Great I AM OPENING Why do you think that religion often seems to divide people rather than unite them? Leaders Notes: Pastor Dirk listed the mentioned the following estimates in his sermon: Some 10,000 different religions (World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001) More than eight of out of ten people in the world, some 5.8 billion people, identify themselves with some religious group The number of people world-wide who identify with a religious group will actually increase by You can check out the following web links, which were the sources for the pastor s comments: GOING DEEPER Why do you think that people would actually worship images of gods made of wood or stone? Leaders Notes: Here is a helpful link on the early religions of Canaan that surrounded the ancient Israelites. The web page includes video links to further teaching. Do you agree with Pastor Dirk s statement that our mental idols are just as wrong, just as dangerous, just as sinful as the distorted images of God that we dig up from the ancient world? Why do you agree or disagree?

5 Do you think we as Christians allow our culture to adversely change our understanding of who God is? Why or why not? CHALLENGE Determine whether you personally are allowing the culture to change your understanding of God. How will you go about correcting that influence? Continue to have your family or Connect Group learn the Ten Commandments together. Here are the first two commandments: o 1 st You shall have no other gods before me. o 2 nd You shall not make for yourself an idol.