Our Abounding God

OUR ABOUNDING GOD

"Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, ’The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth." Exodus 34:5-6.

ABOUNDING: "marked by great quantity; copiously supplied." …Webster. It takes a work like this to describe the attributes of God that He declared concerning Himself when He spoke to Moses.

In Exodus 33:20-23 God told Moses that He would declare His glory to him but that He would hide him in the cleft of the rock for "No man can see Me and live." It was at this time that God described His nature as recorded in Exodus 34:5-6. No one knows God like God knows Himself!

I. ABOUNDING IN MERCY

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:6-7.

II. ABOUNDING IN GRACE

"And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." I Timothy 1:14.

III. ABOUNDING IN PATIENCE (LONGSUFFERING)

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9.

IV. ABOUNDING IN GOODNESS

"And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:3-4

"For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in loving-kindness to all who call upon Thee." Psalm 86:5.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." Psalm 34:8.

V. ABOUNDING IN TRUTH

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14.

"Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, the truth, and the life."

CONCLUSION

There glorious attributes of our abounding God are ours through His dear Son...our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The poet captures this abounding greatness in the poem: "MY DEBT".

No longer a debtor to God’s holy justice,

I now am a debtor to mercy and grace.

Made free from the law through the death of my Savior,

As a bond-slave of love I with joy take my place.

No longer in fear of the law’s condemnation,

Made clean through the blood of the Crucified One,

‘Tis mine to yield all now in full consecration

As an offering of love to God’s well-beloved Son.

My debt to the law Jesus paid upon Calvary,

But oh what a debt to God’s mercy I owe!

Redeemed by His grace from the chains that enslaved me,

My debt of thanksgiving no ending can know.

….Avis B. Christiansen