Three Things God Desires

“Three Things God Desires”

February 27, 2005

Intro: As we approach the Easter season, a very important question seems to cross the minds of people as they reflect on the story: “Why did God do it?” It is a great question and one that needs to be answered to help us better understand the events of Easter.

The reason has a lot to do with the desire God has for us and the plan he gave us.

God’s greatest desire is for us to give him glory.

The basic meaning of the word glory is “heavy in weight.”

It is the idea of giving value to something. Such as “I put a lot of weight in that person’s opinion.” It defines respect and preciousness.

In dealing with precious metals, silver is lighter than gold. Platinum is heavier than gold. The more weight, the higher the value.

For us it means to give weight or honor to God.

Today we are going to look at three desires of God that have to do with the concept of glory.

I. God desires to reveal his glory.

God is all about letting people in on how glorious he is. We may in our human mind not understand this because it seems like being vain or prideful. But there is nothing more glorious than God. So when God calls us to worship him in his glory, he is really saving us from wasting time with other pursuits.

We have a great picture of God revealing his glory in the book of Exodus.

The nation of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years. This was God’s chosen people, and yet they had been captive in this pagan nation for all of that time.

Moses is called by God to bring the people out of slavery and to take them to the Promised Land.

This set up a cosmic showdown between the gods of Egypt and the one true God.

To demonstrate his power and authority, God brought plagues on Egypt. Each plague struck directly at an Egyptian god. In all there were 10 plagues and the God of Israel overpowered the gods of Egypt.

The meaning of the term plague in the original language is a military term meaning “to strike a blow.”

In other words, God was “striking a blow” against the false gods of Egypt.

The final plague was death to the firstborn that convinced Pharaoh to send the Israelites away.

“‘On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.’” Exodus 12:2

After this, Pharaoh sent the Israelites away. But he changed his mind and pursued them. The nation of Israel was trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. Then God responded to their cries for help.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.” ‘And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’ So the Israelites did this.”

Exodus 14:1-4

God uses an incredible miracle to reveal his glory to humans.

**Exodus 14:21-31

Moses’ Father- in -law declared:

“He said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.’” Exodus 18:10-11

God revealed his glory by rescuing his people.

II. God desires us to recognize his glory.

Part of the problem in our walk with God is we fail to recognize the awesome glory of who he is. We fail to see God in the everyday of life.

Astronaut James McDivitt, who circled the earth 62 times told a Foreign Press Club audience in Rome:

“I did not see God looking into my space-cabin window, as I do not see God looking into my car’s windshield on earth. But I could recognize his work in the stars as well as when walking among flowers in a garden.”

God told the nation of Israel that other nations would hear of all he had done for them and would tremble before them.

“‘I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.’” Exodus 23: 27