Below is a copy of a Post Sunday Follow-Up message. \u00a0Each week on Monday or Tuesday we pick one point of the previous Sunday’s message and we try to dive a little further into it. \u00a0In this Post Sunday Follow-Up we look at the name of God and why it is so important and why it should be treated with such reverence. \u00a0If you would like to receive this each week or for more information on the teaching ministries of Westlake Baptist Church please e-mail us at westlakebc@gmail.com \u00a0Hope you enjoy!<\/p>\n
This past Sunday we started talking about learning to pray like Jesus prayed. \u00a0We studied Luke 11:1-4 with our focus on verses 1 and 2. \u00a0Lord willing, we will look at verses 3 and 4\u00a0this Sunday. \u00a0The main point of this past\u00a0Sunday\u00a0was that when we pray, we need to come into God’s presence and not just give Him a laundry list of needs and\/or wants, but rather we need to take time to worship Him for who He is. \u00a0Who exactly is this God that we are praying to and trusting to answer our prayers? \u00a0That is the focus of this e-mail.<\/p>\n
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In the story of the burning bush we see the name of God. \u00a0In English Exodus 3:14 says, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” \u00a0I AM in the Hebrew is “yehweh” which is where we get Yahweh. \u00a0You have have even seen it has Jehovah. \u00a0In English you will see it written as LORD (all capital letters). \u00a0Yahweh, Jehovah, or LORD all refer to the personal name of God. \u00a0It is important to remember that names in the Bible have important meanings. \u00a0“Yehweh” means “He is” and as you can see in the verse it says “I AM.” \u00a0This speaks to the fact that God is self-existent. \u00a0He needs nothing or no one for Him to exists, He exists because it is His nature to exist. \u00a0Not only is God self-existent, but He is also eternal. \u00a0I AM is another way of saying, I have been ,I am, and I always will be. \u00a0There has never been a time nor will there ever be a time in which God doesn’t exist. \u00a0His name also shows that all things have their existence in and from God. \u00a0We see this further in Scripture in John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. \u00a0The same was in the beginning with God. \u00a0All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. \u00a0In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” \u00a0John 1:1-4 are so theologically rich, but I will resist the temptation to break it all the way down. \u00a0What we should notice is this, the Word (John’s reference to Jesus) was with God from the beginning. \u00a0In verse 3 we see that God is the Creator of all things. \u00a0In verse 4 we see that God is life. \u00a0Therefore, without God not only would there have been no creation, but life would not exist without God. \u00a0So by calling Himself, I AM, He is pointing to the fact that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all life. \u00a0But Yahweh reveals even more about God in Exodus 3:15, ” And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.” \u00a0By referring to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is revealing to Moses, Israel, and to us that He is a covenant God. \u00a0To help that make sense we need to understand why God revealed Himself to Moses here in Exodus 3. \u00a0Israel had been in slavery to the Egyptians for 400 years (prophesied in Gen. 15:13-16). \u00a0God promised in Genesis 15:13-16 that He would deliver Israel from their slavery. \u00a0God in Exodus 3 says in verse 7 that He has seen their affliction and heard their cry. \u00a0God is coming to Moses for two reasons. \u00a0First, it is to fulfill the prophecy in Genesis 15 about delivering Israel from their slavery after four generations. \u00a0The second reason deals with the first in that God had to deliver Israel from their slavery so that He could lead them to the Promised Land He told Abraham that his seed would have. \u00a0God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 that they would have a land of their own, they would be a great nation, and the world would be blessed through Abraham’s seed. \u00a0So in Exodus 3, God tells Moses to tell the nation of Israel, the very God who created everything, is the same God who made the covenant with Abraham, and is the same God who is now going to deliver them from slavery and lead them to the Promised Land. \u00a0God wants Israel and us to know that the promises He makes, He will fulfill at the right time. \u00a0So this one name shows us that God is the Creator, the Redeemer (Israel from slavery in Egypt, us from sin through the cross), and He is the covenant maker and fulfiller.<\/p>\n
Notice in Exodus 3:15 the last phrase, “this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.” \u00a0The world will know who God is by His name, I AM (Yahweh, Jehovah, LORD). \u00a0It is a unique name, no one else is Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, or Covenant Maker and Fulfiller. \u00a0That is why when we get to the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20 we see God protecting His name. \u00a0Exodus 20:2 says, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” \u00a0There we see LORD (all capitals) again to remind them of who is doing this. \u00a0Verse 3 of Exodus 20 says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” \u00a0God is saying you can’t have anyone before Me, because there is no one like Me. \u00a0That goes back to telling Moses to tell Israel that “I AM” sent him. \u00a0Who else is like God? \u00a0Who can you compare Him to? \u00a0The answer is that no one is like Him and no one can compare to Him. \u00a0Don’t put anything that was created in front of the One that Created everything. \u00a0We see that again in verse 4 about not making any graven images. \u00a0Then in the Third Commandment we see that we are not to take His name in vain. \u00a0We aren’t to use God’s name flippantly or lightly, because His name is a reminder for Israel and the world of who He is and what He has done. \u00a0When we use God’s name lightly or without regard we are devaluing who God is and what He has done. \u00a0We are essentially saying there is nothing special about God, that we could have done any of the things that He did if we wanted to. \u00a0When we speak the name of God we are remembering His work in creation and in redemption. \u00a0We see those two themes in heaven that the angels and saints of all time praise God for in Revelation 4 and 5. \u00a0Let us therefore remember when we speak His name or when we go to Him in prayer, that the same God we are praying to and asking for help, is worthy of our praise because of His work in creation and in redemption. \u00a0So let us come into His presence to worship Him, to focus on Him first, then may we remember that this same God created everything in the right order, He sustains all things, and so as we ask in prayer, may we know if He could create something out of nothing, He can surely change and work in my situation no matter what it is. \u00a0This same God gave His Son when we had nothing to offer Him in return that we might be forgiven and given eternal life. \u00a0There is nothing too hard for my God!<\/p>\n
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Serving Him,<\/p>\n
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Pastor Justin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Below is a copy of a Post Sunday Follow-Up message. \u00a0Each week on Monday or Tuesday we pick one point of the previous Sunday’s message and we try to dive a little further into it. \u00a0In this Post Sunday Follow-Up … Read More