Sermon # 34 - A Life That Pleases God Series

Today’s meditation is based on Matthew 3:17, “A voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him."” (ERV)

God the Father testified about His Son Jesus, that He was pleased with Him. Jesus was thirty years old when He began His public ministry. At the commencement of His ministry as Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan and came out of the water, this was the declaration that was made by God the Father. For the first thirty years, the life that Jesus led with His family, at the temple and in society was authenticated by God the Father on that day.

The question we need to ask ourselves is whether the lives that we lead is pleasing to God in the family, in society and in the church as well. We live in times when this aspect is neglected, and people chose to lead lives that vary from place to place. There is a certain lifestyle at home and a different one for society, and another one for the church. We must examine ourselves to check if our lives too are pleasing to God just as the life of Jesus was to God the Father. Many have a faulty understanding that because we live in this period of grace, that God will overlook and forgive all our sins, and we can live any way we want to.

Let us study the bible to see those things that God was not pleased with, and thereby we can try to set out lives in order to be those that will please the Lord.

The people God was not pleased with

We read in 1 Corinthians 10:5, “But with most of them God was not well pleased:” (DRB)

This is the testimony about a certain group of people (the Israelites), most of whom God was not pleased with. These are the words recorded in the New Testament, and are written for us as examples and warnings. Many were the wonders that God had performed for them, and these people had been recipients of God’s bounteous blessings, but in spite of this their lives were displeasing to God.

The bondage breaker

The Israelites were in cruel bondage to the Egyptians for many hundreds of years.

We read about this in Deuteronomy 26:6-8, “And the Egyptians afflicted us, and persecuted us, laying on us most grievous burdens: And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers: who heard us, and looked down upon our affliction, and labor, and distress: And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders:” (DRB)

The Israelites were oppressed and enslaved by the Egyptians for more than four hundred years, and had gruesome burdens placed on them. In those times of utter distress, the people called out to God to help them. As they called on the Lord, the Lord gave heed to their cries. God saw their affliction, hard labor, distress, and had compassion on them. The Lord intervened to perform mighty signs and wonders with His powerful and outstretched arm. God brought the Israelites out of slavery when they were unable to help themselves in any way.

For all those hardships and difficulties that we face, other people cannot help us overcome all of them. However, when we call on the Lord, He is ever willing to come to our rescue and to deliver us from all our troubles. We worship a living God, and when we call on Him, He will answer us.

The slavery of the Israelites is an example of the slavery to sin that people are bound in today. There are many who are so entangled with sin that they are unable to free themselves from its clutches. We come across many people who seem to have it all, and have the appearance of being happy on the outside, but oftentimes there is some sort of hidden vacuum inside of them. They are gripped with unwarranted fears of the future.

Jesus came to set us free

Just like the people of Israel, if you call on the Lord sincerely, you can be sure that He will deliver you from all the sins and curses that you are bound with. This God did by sending His Son Jesus into the world who shed His own precious blood on the cross to save us from our sins.

We read about this in Galatians 1:4, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present wicked world, according to the will of God and our Father:” (DRB)

Jesus came down and graciously bore all our sins on Himself, so that we can be set free from the bondage of sin and every curse. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus will be set free from all their enslavements to sin. If you are burdened in your heart with the weight of sin, pray to the Lord Jesus and ask Him to be the Lord of your life, and to deliver you from all your sins. Only Jesus can redeem you because He is the only one who died and rose again from the dead. Jesus can set you free, and the bible calls this the gift of salvation. Those who have been set free are now on this journey towards the Promised Land which is heaven.