“The God Who Is”
(Heb 13:8 NIV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
(Heb 11:6 NIV) "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
I. There is much confusion today about the God who is…
A. In every sector of our society and culture you will find people have a warped view of the God who is.
B. Have you ever noticed the confusion in the arts
1. If you study art history, people have tried to depict the God who is, and you will find Him portrayed in paintings and sculptures…
2. In Renaissance paintings He is often portrayed as frail and effeminate…
3. In some paintings He bears a golden halo around his somber, solemn head holding globe and scepter
4. go to the Dali museum and you will see Him as freakish and abstract
5. Why?… because people are confused about the God who is
C. There is confusion in the media about the God who is…
1. Television, movies, newspapers, all speak volumes of how confused our society and culture is about the God who is.
2. Some in the media think God is dead
3. Some portray God as distant, uncaring and uninvolved in human affairs
4. Most of the time He is mocked as an impudent, irrelevant myth, created as an aphrodisiac for the weak and simple minded
5. Believers in the God of the bible are often portrayed in the press, TV and the movies as people who are out of touch with reality…
6. They are called religious fanatics
7. The religious right, fundamentalists who are out of sync with the times…
8. Why, because the media is confused about the God who is.
D. You can easily see there is a great deal of confusion about the God who is in our education system…
1. The educators in our public school system came to believe and accept a theory which says all that has been created came about by cosmic chance.
2. Many believe the universe was created by a catastrophic “big bang” that sent the elements into motion from which stars and solar systems have come about…
3. But you will soon notice that those who put forward this theory have no explanation about where the stuff came from to make the big bang.
4. Then when you follow the theory of cosmic chance creating all there is you come to the evolutionary theory, which again is rooted in a roll of the dice
5. By cosmic chance the right amount of sun, hit the right substance, in the right primordial ooze pool on this planet producing the very first living cell.
6. This cell, over a period of eons has reproduced itself enough times, along with several million necessary mutations, to create bones, flesh, organs, fins and scales… and we have the first fish
7. This fish, curious about the world outside it’s pond, mutated over several generations and got the ability to walk out of that pond, sprout wings and fly.
8. At some point it got tired of flapping it’s wings, mutated… and arms, legs and a tail came forth and now it began to swing from trees
9. Finally over a period of several million years, that monkey climbed out of a tree, picked up a pen, went to some university, got a PhD, and wrote a book called the theory of evolution!
10. I once was a tadp9ole, beginning to begin, next I was a frog with my tail tucked in, then I was a monkey swinging from a tree, now I’m a doctor with a PhD. & he’s teaching your kids in the university.
11. Believing in evolution is like believing that an explosion in a junk yard created a Cadillac
12. Because people are confused about the God who is
E. Don’t think this confusion is only found in our secular society… some believers are confused about the God who is
F. Many get confused when crisis blows into their lives
1. Because they can’t theologize some situation that has happened to them therefore they loose sight of or don’t really know the God who is…
2. Jesus said…
(John 16:33 NIV) ""… In this world you will have trouble…"
3. Some have prayed that their spouse would break off their adulterous relationship and return to the family, only to be served divorce papers
4. Some have been confronted with the tragedy of sickness, death, financial crisis, rebellious children, and found no answer from heaven
5. Some have served faithfully in a church and seen their Pastor fall into sin, and their faith has gotten shipwrecked because of the sin of their leaders
6. and because of their disappointment, their anger turns to bitterness, and they walk away from the God who is… because they don’t understand His ways, His nature, or know His character
G. There is confusion in many mainline, Denominational churches about the God who is…
1. You can get a good indication of this by watching Christian TV or visiting some of the churches in your neighborhood
H. There are churches today that teach and preach that the bible is not the wholly inspired, inerrant word of God
1. Some denominations have changed all the male references for God in the bible to the female or neuter gender
2. I guess they figure that since we are created in the image of God, then we ought to return the favor and create Him according to our imagination.
3. They say the teachings of the bible about sin no longer apply to us or are outdated:
a) Sin is relative to the circumstance, society or culture
b) So today you have denominations ordaining homosexuals into the office of priest and bishop saying it’s the way God created them… or that it’s just an alternate lifestyle acceptable in the eyes of God because society has changed!
4. They preach that Jesus is not God
5. They do not acknowledge his virgin birth
6. They do not accept the fact that He raised from the dead
7. They say His teachings were OK for the culture and times in which He lived, but are not relevant fro our modern times and society in which we live.
8. They say the miracles told in the bible did not really happen, they are just fabrications like the stories in Greek and Roman mythology…
9. Why… because they are confused about the God who is
I. Some believers are confused about The God who is, because of the teachings they hear from the pulpits of their Evangelical churches each week.
1. Some Pastors don’t believe Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever…
J. They believe in the God who was!
1. they believe God did the miracles written in the Old Testament times
2. and they believe Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead
3. They believe the apostles and believers in the book of Acts healed the sick, and cast out demons, and raised the dead…
4. However, they also believe that God stopped all that business, once the bible was written and the last apostle died he took all the miracles and power with him
5. so their God is the God who was…
6. He use to supernaturally intervene in the lives of people
7. There was a time when He would hear the cries of His people and respond to the simple faith of a believer, but now, His ears have grown dull, and His power subdued, He is the God who was…
K. Some churches teach about the God who could be…
1. This God will respond to your prayer if you can muster up the right measure of faith and righteousness
2. If you can come up with the formula for mountain moving faith…
3. if you are careful not to say the wrong thing and make no negative confession…
4. if you are living a perfectly righteous life, with out spot or blemish…
5. If you tithe enough, and give enough
6. if you sing in the choir, and serve enough
7. if you do all that is required you to do, then God could respond to your situation… He is the God who could be
L. Then there are those churches who preach about the God who might be
1. depending on how He feels about you today or what He has predestined for your life…
2. maybe He will heal, maybe He won’t
3. it’s all written out in the cards, and the deck is stacked in the way God wants it all to happen
4. prayer, and the believers faith bring no response from this deity since His will is set and what ever will be, will be, so “que se rah!”
5. Maybe this will be your lucky day, and He will intervene in your life, and hopefully He has not predestined you to doom, sickness, failure, and hardship!
6. He is the God who might be
M. And lets not forget about the churches who preach about the God who will be
1. In the sweet bye and bye, all my troubles and all my woes will go away
2. He will wipe away every tear from my eyes
3. He will lift every heaviness and soothe every sorrow, once I see those pearly gates
4. In the mean time, I must bear my cross in life
5. I must trudge through every trial and endure it like a good soldier for I know He is a purging and purifying me
6. I’ve just got to keep on suffering for Jesus till that day He calls me home
7. One day, hopefully one day soon, He will save me from my trials and call me home
8. Why… because He is the God who will be
N. With all this confusion, is it any wonder why people don’t come to Jesus or they walk away from their faith
O. But I want you to know today that I did not come here to preach about:
1. the God who was
2. nor the God who could be
3. nor the God who might be
4. nor the God who will be…
P. I came here to tell you about the God who is:
(Mal 3:6 NIV) ""I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
(James 1:17 NIV) "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
(Heb 13:8 NIV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
1. Get it deep in your spirit today… the God who is, does not change
2. What He was in the Old Testament, He is still today
3. What He was in the New Testament, He is still today
4. What He is today, He will be tomorrow
5. What He will be in eternity future, He is today
6. He is the God who does not change
7. there is no variation nor shadow of turning in Him
8. His nature, His character have not, nor will they ever change
9. He is not fickle
10. He is not uncaring
11. He is not impudent, nor hard of hearing
12. He is not dependent upon you to muster up enough righteousness or faith in order to move into your crisis and calm your storm
13. Yet He is touched by the feelings of your infirmities, and bids you come boldly into His throne room and find mercy and grace in your time of need.
Q. Who is this God who is?
R. What is His name?
II. In the Old Testament He revealed Himself to Moses…
(Exo 3:13-14 NIV) "Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" {14} God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'""
A. Moses feared the children of Israel would not believe him when he would relate to them about his experience at the burning bush
1. Why should they accept his leadership and follow him?
2. Who is this God who has sent you?
3. What is His name?
4. God said to Moses… tell them “I am has sent you”
B. Wrapped up in His name is His person, His character, His authority and His power
III. The God who is was revealed in the New Testament
A. Jesus stood before the religious leaders who thought they knew God, and yet they were blind to the fact that God was standing right in front of them
(John 8:57-58 NIV) ""You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" {58} "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!""
B. IN the Garden of Gethsemane, again Jesus reveals Himself as the God who is
(John 18:5-6 NIV) ""Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) {6} When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground."
1. The same “I Am” of the Old Testament at the burning bush is the “I AM”, Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
IV. In the book of Revelation the God who is reveals Himself once again
(Rev 1:18 NIV) "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
A. He is not the I was of the Old Testament
1. He is not the I could be
2. or the I might be
3. or the I will be
4. He is the God who is…
B. Throughout scripture as He interacts with His people, He reveals aspects of His nature and character, and when He does, names were given to Him
V. “I Am… Jehovah = the self Existent or Eternal (6,5238 x’s O.T. )
(Gen 15:7 NIV) "He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.""
A. Translated “Lord” this is the God of the covenant
1. He is a covenant making, covenant keeping God who is the Lord of all
(Num 23:19 NIV) "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
(Mat 24:35 NIV) "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
(Heb 12:24 NIV) "to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
2. If God said it, that settles it!
3. Hold onto your covenant promises, Jehovah, will not fail you
4. He is Jehovah
B. I am… Jehovah Adonai – husband master
(Gen 15:2 NIV) "But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?""
1. This speaks of intimacy in relationship
2. The husband master who provides, protects, and cares for His bride
3. In the Old Testament He is Jehovah Adonai, in the New Testament He is the husband of the church in Ephesians 5
(Eph 5:23 NIV) "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."
(Eph 5:32 NIV) "This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church."
4. The husband who loves His wife
5. who gives himself for his wife
6. who sanctifies his wife
7. who cleanses his wife with the word
8. who presents his wife a glorious church, without spot or blemish
9. who nourishes his wife
10. who cherishes his wife
11. who laid down his life for His wife
(Eph 5:31 NIV) ""For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.""
12. Jehovah Adonai – Jesus my husband/Master who left His father in Heaven to come and join me to Himself
13. He is the God who desires to be intimately involved with you
14. He wants to share His dreams and His desires with you
15. He wants to minister to all your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs
16. He is Jehovah Adonai
C. I am… El – Shadday – The Almighty
(Gen 17:1 NIV) "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless."
(Isa 59:1 NIV) "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear."
1. The God who brought out the children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage, is able to bring you out of your bondage today
2. The same God who saved the Hebrew children from the fiery furnace, is still God Almighty, and He is able to walk you through the fiery trial you face today
3. God Almighty delivered Daniel from the mouths of hungry lions is able to deliver you from the enemy of your soul that wants to devour you
4. The same Jesus who stood up and spoke peace to the storm, is able to calm the storms of your life
5. The same God who shook the earth till the prison doors swung open for Paul and Silas is able to break you out of any prison that keeps you in.
6. Because He is El Shadday, The Lord God Almighty
D. I am… Jehovah Jireh – God whose provision is seen in your life
(Gen 22:13-14 NIV) "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. {14} So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.""
1. What do you need today?
2. What lack to you have in your life?
3. Where is the emptiness?
4. Let me tell you of the God who is Jehovah Jireh
(Psa 34:8-10 NIV) "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. {9} Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. {10} The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."
(Psa 37:25 NIV) "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."
(Phil 4:19 NIV) "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
5. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide!
E. I Am… Jehovah Rapha
(Exo 15:26 NIV) "He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.""
(Mat 4:24 NIV) "News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them."
(Mat 12:15 NIV) "Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick,"
(Mat 12:22 NIV) "Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see."
(Mat 15:30 NIV) "Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them."
(Mat 19:2 NIV) "Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there."
(Mat 21:14 NIV) "The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them."
(Mark 3:10 NIV) "For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him."
1. I am Jehovah Rapha… I am the Lord who heals you
2. Jesus still heals
3. It’s part of His nature and Character to heal
F. I am Jehovah QaDash – the Lord who makes you holy
(Exo 31:13 NIV) ""Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy."
(Heb 10:10 NIV) "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
1. Did you get that…
2. Holiness comes from the Lord
3. I don’t earn it
4. I don’t make it happen
5. I can’t do it in and of myself
6. It’s all about the God who is who makes me holy
7. I don’t dare approach God in my holiness,
8. I come to Him by what Jesus has done for me
9. It’s the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all our sins
10. I am holy because He makes me holy
11. God said… I am Jehovah Qadash, the Lord who makes you holy
G. I am… Jehovah Nissi
(Exo 17:15 NIV) "Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner."
1. The Amalekites came out to war against the children of Israel
2. Moses lifted up his hands to the Lord as He did the children of Israel prevailed
3. It’s a picture of intercession
4. Prayer works!
5. Israel prevailed that day and Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi – meaning the Lord is my banner
6. The God who is our victory
7. Victory in every battle
8. He is the Captain of the Lord’s hosts
9. Are you afraid
10. Is the enemy closing in on you?
11. Do you feel surrounded by the enemy with no where to go…
(2 Ki 6:15-17 NIV) "When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. {16} "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." {17} And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
12. The apostle Paul knew Jehovah Nissi… when he wrote
(Rom 8:31 NIV) "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
H. I am… Jehovah Shallom
(Judg 6:23-24 NIV) "But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." {24} So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."
(Isa 9:6 NIV) "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
(John 14:27 NIV) "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
1. Peace is not an emotional state, it is the presence of a person, whose name is Jesus
2. Peace is the absence of fear… this happens when you recognize His presence with you
(Josh 1:5 NIV) "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
3. As He was with Moses, As He was with Joshua, As He was with the disciples in the boat during the storm… Jesus is with you
4. That’s where peace comes from… From Jehovah Shallom… The Lord is my peace
I. I am… Jehovah Ra’ah
(Psa 23:1 NIV) "A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."
(John 10:11 NIV) ""I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
1. My shepherd who leads me to pastures where I can be well fed
2. My shepherd who calls me by name … I know His voice, it’s very familiar to me
3. My shepherd who watches over me and protects me
4. My shepherd who comes after me when I wander off and get lost
5. My shepherd who lays down His life for me
6. I am Jehovah Ra’ah, the Lord my shepherd
J. I am … Jehovah Tsedeq
(Jer 23:6 NIV) "In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness."
K. I am … Jehovah Shammah
(Ezek 48:35 NIV) ""The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.""
(Heb 13:5 NIV) "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.""
1. Have you lost your way…
2. Do you feel all alone…
3. Are you afraid…
4. God says, I am Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is there
L. Jesus said… I Am
(John 6:35 NIV) "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."
(John 8:12 NIV) "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.""
(John 10:7 NIV) "Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep."
(John 11:25 NIV) "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;"
(John 14:6 NIV) "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
(John 15:1 NIV) ""I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener."
(Rev 1:8 NIV) ""I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.""
(Rev 1:17-18 NIV) "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. {18} I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
(Rev 2:23 NIV) "I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds."
(Rev 3:11 NIV) "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown."
(Rev 21:6-7 NIV) "He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. {7} He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."
M. Let me tell you about the God who is…
(Heb 11:6 NIV) "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
1. You must believe that He is
2. Whatever your circumstance He is
3. In your present situation He is all these things and more
N. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
1. If you will see your God as bigger than your circumstances
2. If you will trust Him to be who He said He is…
3. Then you will know Him as He truly is
O. He is not the I was
P. He is not the I could be
Q. He is not the I might be
R. He is not the I will be
S. He is the Great I AM!
