THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED AMONG US
Text: Luke 1:1
Introduction
Read with me once again Luke 1:1
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand - to set forth in order a declaration…
of those things which are most surely believed among us."
Brethren, we have a firm declaration right here [The Bible] – concerning the things we believe.
Our weekly Bible study allows us the opportunity of opening the Word of God
To see through Chapter and Verse – both what we believe and why we believe it.
Recap
Now it’s no secrete that in the world – people believe in many different things.
So far in our study, as Christians - we have been exploring the fact that we Believe in God.
Only this isn’t just a broad generalised statement...
Because we believe specific things about God – and about His very Nature and Character
As revealed to us through the Scriptures.
For example, in our previous lessons together, we have seen:
The Existence of God, The Evidence of God and The Eternal Nature of God.
We further added to this our understanding to the fact that
God is All Present, All Knowing...and All Powerful.
Now today, I want to talk about three more things that we know and believe about God.
And that is that – 1) God is Lord, 2) God is Light and 3) God is Love.
This is what we believe. But don’t take my word for it – let’s see it in the Bible together.
1) God Is Lord
First of all let me declare - God is LORD.
Now the primary title LORD that is used in the Scriptures is the Hebrew word Jehovah
And it just has a wonderful wealth of meaning when you study it out.
Essentially it can be translated to mean: “The Existing One;”
And it comes from a root word simply meaning “to be”.
And I love this title of our God
Because it reminds me that no matter how bad things seemingly get,
God is a reality.
He does exist…
He is real…
And He has always been - and always will be. Amen!
Turn with me to Isaiah 45:5-6
5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
So who is God – He is the LORD!
Couple of things to note here.
Firstly, we believe that God is LORD – because this is what He calls Himself
I am the LORD…God says, that’s fairly definitive.
Now interestingly, there are two main Words Translated as “Lord” in the Old Testament
There Jehovah which is used in all uppercase letters in your Bible,
And there is Adonay which is used with capital L and then lower case letters.
And in both instances the title “Lord” emphasises a position with both power and authority...
And the right to rule and reign.
Now “Jehovah” - the word for LORD used here in Isaiah
Has a great deal of meaning.
Firstly, it is used in what language scholars refer to as the to be verb
That is to say, this is the outward expression of one’s self existence.
The English equivalent to the to be verb is - “I am”.
And please note here how God says “I Am - the LORD…”
And since Jehovah itself is used in the to be verb – meaning I Am
In affect, what God is saying is: “I Am, that I Am”.
That’s interesting - isn’t it.
Because in using His own name, God is making a definitive statement about His existence
And remember Jehovah means the “existing one”
I am the LORD, and there is none else, …“I am that I am”...
there is no God beside me:
Please Turn with me to Exodus 3:14-15
In the context here – we find God calling out to Moses from the Burning Bush.
And as God begins to reveal His plan and purpose for Moses life,
Moses gets apprehensive and asks “Who shall I tell the people has sent me?”
Now notice God’s response in verse 14:
14 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.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD [Jehovah] 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 for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
God said: “I Am That I Am – You tell them I Am has sent you to them!”
“Thus shalt thou say - The LORD [Jehovah] has sent me. This is my name forever!”
This is what God has chosen to call Himself – and He doesn’t stop here either,
Because He continues to declare and proclaim His very existence to us
Time and time again in the Scriptures.
Listen to these verses:
I Am the First and the Last… (Is 44:6)
I Am He that Comforts You… (Isa 51:12)
I Am Your King… (Isa 43:15)
I Am Your Redeemer… (Isa 60:16)
I Am Your Saviour… (Isa 60:16)
I Am Your God… (Is 41:10)
I am the LORD - Jehovah!
Truth is God declares His existence to us in the Old Testament hundreds of times,
Because He says I am the LORD!
Yet what makes this all even more exciting
Is when we really begin to understand that
The Jehovah of the Old Testament...
Is personified to us through Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
I want you to listen now to what Jesus declares of Himself in the New Testament:
I Am the Bread of Life… (Jn 6:35)
I Am the Door… (Jn 10:9)
I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life… (Jn 14:6)
I Am the Good Shepherd… (Jn 10:1)
I Am from Above… (Jn 8:23)
I Am the Son of God… (Jn 10:36)
I Am Risen… (Mat 26:32)
I Am with You Always… (Mat 28:20)
God is Jehovah… He is the Ever Existing One…
And He is Personified to us through the life of Jesus Christ.
God spoke to Israel and He said - I am the LORD thy God
“I Am that I Am…” - There is no God beside me.
Do you understand who God really is
Because He has always been,
And He will always be…The LORD our God!
This is what we Believe!
2) God Is Light
So point number one – we believe that God is LORD.
But do you know what else God is – He is Light.
Turn with me to 1 John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
So who is God – He is Light.
Now can you begin to grasp that – because I have to be honest,
I struggle to understand this a little bit - God Is Light!
You know the only way I can really begin to grasp and understand this
Is to open the Word of God and let Him reveal to me – His glorious light.
Do you want to see the light of God?
Turn with me to Exodus 33:17
Now we are going to work through this account pretty quickly,
But when you have time – I encourage you to read this chapter in more detail.
In the context here – we find Mosses making a request of the Lord to see His glory.
Let’s pick up our reading now in verse 18: And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
This is Moses request to God: “I just want to see your splendor...I want to see your glory”
Now remember – God is light!
If you want to get a glimpse of God – you are going to have to come to terms with His light.
And I have to tell you all something about God’s glorious light – its intense!
Take a look at Verse 20: And He said [the Lord], Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
God says: “I know your heart and I hear what your saying Moses...
But you don’t know what your asking,
Because no man in the flesh – could look upon the full glory of my face and live.”
God is light – and the truth is none of us could handle the full light of His presence...
Not in this present sinful form...wow! Verse 21:
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory [my light] passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
God said to Moses – “I’ll give you a glimpse of my glorious light – but your not going to see all of it.”
But do you know something – getting a mere glimpse of our Lord’s light is more than enough.
Turn with me to Exodus Chapter 34.
Obviously we are skipping over quite a bit of detail here,
But in short, Moses remains with the Lord on top of Mount Sanai...
For quite some time after this glimpse of glory.
But like I said – just getting a glimpse of God’s glorious light is enough. Verse 28:
28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist [knew] not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
Now two things effectively stand out to me here:
Firstly, Moses wants to see and to embrace Gods glorious light in his life…
And His face and His countenance begins to reflect that light before others.
And guys this is really a wonderful picture of Christianity.
This is how it ought to be – we get close to God and get a glimpse of His glorious light,
And then we in turn set out to share and to shine that light before others.
If we are going to be reaching out to others…
This is what we are going to be reaching out with - It’s the light and glory of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 8:12 - I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
God is light – if you are going to be talking to people about God
You are going to be sharing and reflecting His light to them.
In fact, that is exactly how God desires to shine His light before others – it’s through us.
What did Jesus say in the New Testament – He said: I am the light of the world:
And then He turned to His disciples and He said: Ye are the light of the world. (Mat 5:13)
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
Now this is the first thing that stands out to me – Moses gets close to God
And he begins to shine out and to reflect that glorious light before others,
And this of course is what God has called us all to do – to shine that light before men.
That’s why my Church is called the Lighthouse! It’s because this is what we are about.
Of course, the next thing that is noteworthy here,
Is that all of the other people around Moses – didn’t know how to handle that light.
I mean look what happened, verse 30 says: …they were afraid to come nigh him.
They just didn’t want to have anything to do with that light.
Read with me verses 33 and 34:
33 And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out.
You see, because of where Moses was at in his personal walk and relationship with God,
He began to reflect the Lord’s glorious light before others – the sad thing is...
Most were not in a position to receive that light,
And in the end that light was vailed before the people so they couldn’t see it.
And you know what – this is the plight of the whole world.
It’s a constant struggle between the light and the dark.
Now God is light – but sadly not everyone wants to accept the light. John 3:19 says this:
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
If you are a product of this world – you will be content to live in darkenss,
But if you are a follower of God – you will be drawn to His glorious light.
Philippians 2:15 talks about how we are: ...In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Ephesians 5:8 says:
8 For ye were at some time in darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: [therefore] walk as children of light:
I also like 1 Thessalonians 5:5 which simply says:
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. You see we are the Children of Light – because God is light
And this is what we believe! Amen.
3) God Is Love
So God is Lord...and God is Light...
But do you know what else we believe – we believe that God is Love!
This is all summed up rather well for us 1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
So John records - we believe and are assured that God loves us!
And then he says why – it’s because God is love
All that God is - is made up of Love
All that God does – is motivated out of love
All that God wants – is to love us.
Now guys I have to tell you all something – love is not a word it is an action!
You don’t just talk about it – you show it – that’s true Love!
God doesn’t just talk about love – He openly demonstrates and proves that love.
Romans 5:8: But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
That’s not talk – that’s action!
The term commendeth in the Greek by the way means:
“to set in place” or “to stand with”.
You see, God has set on open display His love through Jesus Christ
And He stands by that love – so that we can be in no doubt.
Right so keep you finger here in 1 John and turn with me to Romans Chapter 8
Because God is Love – He cant help but love us!
Let’s see it – look at verse 35:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God is love; - this isn’t just idle talk mind you...but proven through action.
And Paul says: “I am persuaded that nothing can separate us from Gods love”.
We can depend on God’s Love! There is no question of it...
And it has never been in any shadow of a doubt.
Everything God has done for us – has been set in place because of His love for us.
Jeremiah 31:3 - Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
In other words - it’s a love that will never come to an end.
Now – this is where things get challenging for us...
Because we know how much God loves us.
It’s in His very nature and apart of every fabric of His being...
And what is more, He has openly proven His love for us, time and time again.
The challenge then - is that we follow in His footsteps and love one another.
Not just talk about it – but actually do it.
1 John 3:11 - For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 Thessalonians 4:9
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
Now back to 1 John 4 – lets pick up our reading in verse 7:
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us [again this is love openly proven and actioned], because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [propitiation really speaks of the sacrifice necessary to forgive our sins]
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
God is love – and what does He want us to do – love one another.
You see this is the key to everything we do here - isn’t it
Its understanding first God’s Love – and then sharing that love with others.
This is what we are to be reaching out to others with – the love of God.
Jesus said in John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
And then He tells us why this is so important – be He says:
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
This is what makes the difference – its not what you know
And its not what you say – its not the hard and fast letter of the law,
Its love that makes the difference.
If you want to share God with others – Share His love
If you want to follow the Lord with your life – then learn to love one another.
For God is Love – this is what we believe.
Conclusion
So in summary then – are you sure in what you believe?
Because through the Word – we can have absolute assurance.
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand, to set forth in order a declaration - of those things which are most surely believed among us.
Today, through the Scriptures, I hope you have gained some certainty in this,
Because we believe whole heartedly in God.
And more specifically, we believe that God is LORD
We believe that God is Light...
And we believe and are assured of the fact - that God is Love
And ever time we reach out with the truth to others...
Its with an understanding of these things that we reach out with.
