He Is Here!

He Is Here, Really!

DSW@UCC1-28-07

Most of us go to church and expect to entertain the presence of people we know. You may have thought to yourself oh, when I see Betty I’ll ask her about the recipe of her meat balls, when I see Phil I’ll talk to him about that Redskins game…

When we come to church we prepare to see people.

But did you come today expecting to entertain the presence of God?

He is here you know.. I mean, Really… He Is Here!

Think for a moment you have gathered in the presence of the one who knows what earth looked like before to was took form. The one who saw the look in Jonah’s face when he was spewed out of that big fish. The hands that held back the waters of the red sea for Moses and the Hebrew children as they escaped form Egypt are in this room that we gather in today.

We are in the presence of greatness today. What have you brought to show your gratitude. To give honor, to offer blessing?

Did you come to stand in awe, did you come to celebrate his glory, ask him a question, tell him thank you, plea for mercy, offer him praise, serve him or did you come to church this morning just expecting to find people.

If you came just expecting to find people then I am here to tell you. Aim a little higher.

In adjusting our scope I’d like for us to…

1. Perceiving His Presence

It has been God’s desire to have his presence dwell with man from the beginning.

Consider this… When God created Adam and Eve it appeared that it was his practice to visit his creation in his literal presence

Gen 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Think about it God was truly with man… I wonder what he looked like, I wonder what language he spoke… Was his voice deep and booming, or soft and calming.

None the less God was with man in the Garden. Wow... But man sinned and because man sinned he had to remove man from his presence… man and God had to be separated. Because God is holy, he could not be in the presence of sin. And man, because of his disobedience became sin. Man was expelled

from the garden because of the tree of life was accessible if man ate of that tree he would live eternally with sin and could never enjoy the presence of God again. God had a plan to correct that.

Man’s sin grew rampant so man had to destroyed to restore order. He sent the flood and saved one man, his family and a two of every creature he made at creation… Noah.

God again assured man of his presence in the form of a rainbow after the flood.

He spoke verbally to the patriarchs

He presented himself to Moses and the Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day.

He instructed Moses to build a tabernacial to house his presence while his people were wandering in the wilderness.

God showed his presence through the many miracles in the old testament. In the New Testament, God walked with man again this time in the form of a human being in the body of Jesus the son of God.

He was born like you and me, he laughed like us, he cried like us, when he stubbed his toe it hurt like when we stub our toe.

He was completely human like us in every way except one… he had no sin. He was God. This gave him the unique ability to be the only human who ever lived who was capable to make restitution for the sin that was first committed by Adam and for every sin we have committed. This could be paid for, by this one who was human but completely sinless.

This is what is meant in 2 Cor. 5:21 21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus did die for each man and woman who has sinned (by the way that is every one of us) ro 3:23 tells “all have sinned and fallen short.” We are also told that Jesus is our only hope. John 14:6 says “6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.