Getting To TRULY Know God
Why do we think God is so angry?
In Exodus 34, we see Moses climb the mountain early in the morning to see the glory of God. He desires to KNOW God's glory. The glory of God is His "weightiness" or "heaviness" in the Universe and in our lives. The heavens declare the glory of God, says Psalm 19. People are made for God's glory, says Isaiah 43. The glory of God is what we are made for. The glory of God is what knowing God is all about.
When Moses asks for glory he gets a sermon! Notice how God reveals His GLORY to him:
Exodus 34:5–7 (NIV) Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
God comes down and PROCLAIMS who He is! This is how we come to know Him. He has given us the gift of communication. When preachers preach the Bible, we participate in revealing the glory of God! So what should we be preaching?
God is not nearly as angry as you've heard.
Notice the long list of goodness that comes from the proclamation:
First: God is COMPASSIONATE. He feels for us. Jesus was MOVED with compassion in Matthew 9 when He saw the condition of people. Exodus opened with God hearing and knowing the anguish of His enslaved people. He acted out of HIS compassion NOT their deservedness.
Second: God is GRACIOUS. We do not deserve His kindness. He treats us better than we deserve. That is what Israel has learned thus far. It is also what we learn from the cross. Through the cross we see our sin judged on Jesus so that we might walk free! That is FAR MORE grace than any of us deserve... ever.
Third: God is SLOW to ANGER. Again, God is not the vengeful angry anti-you deity you've believed for so long. He is patient with sinners. The fact that so many in our world continue an evil course without divine retribution is not them "getting away with it" but God being patient to save them! A good Jewish boy, Peter would write about this: 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
In Exodus 34, we see Moses climb the mountain early in the morning to see the glory of God. He desires to KNOW God's glory. The glory of God is His "weightiness" or "heaviness" in the Universe and in our lives. The heavens declare the glory of God, says Psalm 19. People are made for God's glory, says Isaiah 43. The glory of God is what we are made for. The glory of God is what knowing God is all about.
When Moses asks for glory he gets a sermon! Notice how God reveals His GLORY to him:
Exodus 34:5–7 (NIV) Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
God comes down and PROCLAIMS who He is! This is how we come to know Him. He has given us the gift of communication. When preachers preach the Bible, we participate in revealing the glory of God! So what should we be preaching?
God is not nearly as angry as you've heard.
Notice the long list of goodness that comes from the proclamation:
First: God is COMPASSIONATE. He feels for us. Jesus was MOVED with compassion in Matthew 9 when He saw the condition of people. Exodus opened with God hearing and knowing the anguish of His enslaved people. He acted out of HIS compassion NOT their deservedness.
Second: God is GRACIOUS. We do not deserve His kindness. He treats us better than we deserve. That is what Israel has learned thus far. It is also what we learn from the cross. Through the cross we see our sin judged on Jesus so that we might walk free! That is FAR MORE grace than any of us deserve... ever.
Third: God is SLOW to ANGER. Again, God is not the vengeful angry anti-you deity you've believed for so long. He is patient with sinners. The fact that so many in our world continue an evil course without divine retribution is not them "getting away with it" but God being patient to save them! A good Jewish boy, Peter would write about this: 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Fourth: God is ABOUNDING in LOVE and FAITHFULNESS.
His love is not fickle and His faithfulness is never shorthanded. He will love and be faithful even when you don't and aren't. God always follows through on His love and Paul will remind us that NOTHING in all creation can separate us from it.
Fifth: God is FORGIVING of our wickedness, rebellion and sin.
The God you may be so afraid of is more interested in forgiving you than you are in being forgiven. The Hebrew word for "Forgiving" means to "lift up and carry away." That is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Fifth: God is FORGIVING of our wickedness, rebellion and sin.
The God you may be so afraid of is more interested in forgiving you than you are in being forgiven. The Hebrew word for "Forgiving" means to "lift up and carry away." That is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
And yes. After 6 incredibly positive adjectives about God's goodness to hurting sinners we come to know He is also completely just. He does not leave the guilty unpunished. Notice the phrase, "the guilty." It is not those who are simply sinful He punishes... it is those who are GUILTY... that is condemned. These are people who refuse His compassion and forgiveness. These are those who stay in their sins when the way out is to simply confess them! Jesus put it like this: John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The guilty are those who could have been forgiven and rejected it. The guilty are those who think they do not need forgiveness. The guilty are those who reject God's compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness and forgiveness... which I could never understand.
So why do we think God is so angry?
Perhaps it's because someone misrepresented him.
Perhaps it's because Satan is such a good liar.
Or perhaps it is because deep in the human heart is something that always twists who God is... original sin... the inheritance of our fathers. It bears false witness that no matter how much good of God we see every single day the sun rises... we still think He's out to get us.
The only option is to wake up to what He proclaims! To hear the Word! To PREACH God's grace and love for sinners as much as possible! Because news this good is often hard to accept. It's our nature to be pessimistic. But the scriptures prove us wrong on God. He's good! He's loving and kind! And He's ready to receive you now!
Open the door.
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