Sermon # 1- Life Changing Questions Series

We read in Matthew 9:27-28, When Jesus left that place, two blind men followed him. They shouted, "Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Jesus went into a house, and the blind men followed him. He said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they answered. (GW)

The above mentioned incidence is of two blind men, who followed after Jesus, begging Him to have mercy on them and heal them. When Jesus entered a house they too followed after Him, to which Jesus asked this pertinent question, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ to which they answered in the affirmative.

In this series we will study in detail the various questions that Jesus asked. The questions Jesus asked help us understand many important matters pertaining to God and to our lives.

An introduction

The first question God asked

Adam and Eve were walking in unison and fellowship with God, but when they disobeyed the only command that God gave to them, they hid from His presence, for their intimate communion with God was broken. The question God asked Adam was, ‘Adam where are you?’ God could have ignored Adam and Eve, or could have destroyed them that very instant for their disobedience, but God in His love decided to come searching for them. It was not that God did not know where they were, He knows everything, but He had to ask that question to help Adam realize his fallen state.

Our relationship with God is broken when we too like Adam and Eve choose to walk away in disobedience, and rebellion to the commands of God. The question God posed to Adam is one that we too should ponder on. It is a question that should make us analyze if we are those who do the will of God, or are in disobedience to His will. Are we those who obey God no matter what, and are we those who in spite of every loss or difficulty we still are walking in obedience to God instead of living a life that is humdrum?

The question God asked Moses

If we read the book of Exodus, there is a detailed account of Moses, and the way God used him to deliver the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh. When Moses was tending the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, God met Moses in a burning bush. Moses was terrified when God called him to go back to Pharaoh to lead the people of Israel out of slavery, for Moses knew better than anyone else the power, and strength in the hands of the harsh Pharaoh, as he had grown up in that very same palace as the king’s son.

God had to perform the first miracle for Moses, just to make him believe that it was He who called him. So God asked Moses this question, ‘What is in your hand?’, and Moses replied that he only had an ordinary shepherd’s staff or rod. In other words, Moses was telling the Lord that he was only fit to be a shepherd, who could tend sheep. The Lord had to remind Moses that the one who called Him was the ‘I am’ and so He told Moses, throw your rod down. When Moses did that he must have been stunned to watch the rod turn into a snake. It was only then He understood that God had a greater plan for him, and through him. God then asked Moses to bend down and pick up the snake, and it changed back into a rod in the hands of Moses.

Many of us may not be aware of this, but on the crown of Pharaoh, King of Egypt is the figure of a snake. The Lord was reassuring Moses that the authority of Pharaoh, would be brought under the hand of Moses, and the rod in his hand was more than enough for God to achieve it.

The question that God is asking us today is what do we have in our hand? Regardless of what little we have, the Lord is willing to take it and use it if we allow Him to do so. We thank God for the questions recorded in the word of God for they make us ponder, and realize that the God we believe in is an awesome God.

The question God asked Elijah

Elijah was a mighty prophet of God, whom God used singly against the hundreds of prophets of Baal to establish that the God of Israel was the true and living God. However, when faced with a threat from Queen Jezebel, he ran as far as he could and hid in a cave. The question God had to ask Elijah was, ‘What are you doing here?’ for Elijah forgot his position and standing that he had before God.