i will be your god-final

8/7/2019 I will be your God-Final

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As we follow Jesus Christ, two of the greatest tools we haveto help us grow as believers are: reading the Bible, andprayer.

However, sometimes reading the Bible can be difficult.Although the Bible consists of 66 different books written bymany different people, it is one story from beginning to end.It is the story of God and his relationship with his people.

Our purpose today is to talk about one of the main themesthat run through the entire bible that can help us tounderstand what God is doing in the world. God is still

writing this story today, and we are a part of that story.

There is one main theme that runs through the Bible. Andthat is:

God wants to be our God and he wants us to behis people.

Let's start at the beginning of the story, in Genesis, whereGod creates man and woman, and then follow this storythrough the bible to the book of Revelation.

We start with the seven days of creation. God created the

heavens and the earth for his people, so that they wouldhave a place to live and work and play.Each day God creates something new. The first day hecreated Light, and said it was good. Then on the second dayhe separated the waters and created the sky. Then hebrought forth the land and produced vegetation and trees,and called that third day good.

On the fourth day he created the sun and moon and stars,and separated day from night.


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The fifth day, God filled the seas with living creatures andthe air with birds, and commanded them to increase and fillthe seas and the air after their own kind.

God then created the creatures that move along the ground,and wild animals and livestock on the sixth day. He thencreated man and woman and put them in the Garden to takecare of it. But unlike everything else God had created so far,only man and woman are said to be created in the image ofGod.

What does it mean when we ask why God created humans inhis image? I think it means that he had a special plan forthem. He wanted to be their God, and he wanted them to behis people. ?

God did not speak humans into existence.

Gen 1 26 Then God said, Let us make humankind in ourimage, according to our likeness; and let them havedominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of theair, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of theearth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon theearth. 27 So God created humankind in his image, in theimage of God he created them; male and female he createdthem. 1 26

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Genesis says God formed man from the dust of the earth andthen breathed life into him. When he created Eve he took arib from Adam to form her. God gave special attention tohumans. He created them unlike any other living thing onearth. He created them in his own image. He placed the veryessence of himself into them. He was their God, and theywere his people.


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God also created a special place for them to live and had aspecial relationship with him. God walked with them andtalked with them in the Garden.

Humans were free to interact face-to-face with God. Godgave them everything they needed to live. He also gavethem one instruction they were not to eat the fruit of thetree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 3 8 That evening they heard the Lord God walking in thegarden, and they hid from him among the trees. 3 8

It says in this verse of scripture that God was walking aroundin the Garden in the evening. Why? He would come into thegarden to look at his work and to visit with Adam and Eve, totalk to them and ask how they were doing. He enjoyed beingwith them. He had a special relationship with them. He hadgiven them everything they needed for a good life. ?

But there were problems on that one day. They had donesomething wrong, and now they were afraid of God, and didnot want to visit with him. In fact, they were hiding from him.Why? ?(Here maybe we can ask if anyone knows what hadhappened.)Then Eve met the serpent. He convinced her that God was

hiding the truth from her and Adam. He convinced her to eatthe forbidden fruit. When they ate the fruit, their eyes wereopened. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. Sin hadentered into the world.

This made God very angry and he sent Adam and Eve out ofthe Garden. They no longer had the close personalrelationship they once enjoyed with God.


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Not only were Adam and Eve sent out from the Garden, butGod cursed the ground as well. Adam and Eve could nolonger enjoy all that God had given them. Now they wouldhave to work hard all their lives in order to make enoughfood to survive. When they planted seeds, the ground wouldalso produce weeds and thorns.

Gen 3 17 And he said to the man, You listened to your wifeand ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of whatyou have done, the ground will be under a curse. You willhave to work hard all your life to make it produce enoughfood for you. 18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you willhave to eat wild plants. 3 17

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The weeds and thorns are not only physical, but they arealso a symbol of their spiritual lives. Because of sin Adamand Eve became more and more distant from God. Theirspiritual lives produced weeds and thorns. It was unfruitful.

We read the stories of what happened in the world afterAdam and Eve left the Garden. They had two sons, Cain andAbel. Cain killed Abel. The world became more and moresinful.

By the time of Noah, the Bible tells us that people would onlythink evil things all the time. Gen 6 5 When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth

was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, he wassorry that he had ever made them and put them on theearth. He was so filled with regret that he said, I will wipeout these people I have created, and also the animals andthe birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them. Butthe Lord was pleased with Noah. 6 567

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God was sorry he created humans and he sent a flood todestroy the world. Only Noah and his family survivedbecause they alone chose to obey God. God blessed Noahand his sons and told them to "be fruitful and multiply and


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fill the earth." Soon, the world became populated once more.but once more, they fell into sin.

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Then, God called a man by the name of Abraham to leave hishome and travel to a land that God would give him. 12 1 2 1 The Lord said to Abram, Leave your country, yourrelatives, and your fathers home, and go to a land that I amgoing to show you. 2 I will give you many descendants, andthey will become a great nation. I will bless you and makeyour name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

God promised to bless Abraham and to make hisdescendants into a great nation. He also promised that hewill be Abrahams God and the God of the descendants ofAbraham. God told Abraham:Genesis 17 7"I will confirm my covenant with you and yourdescendants after you, from generation to generation. This isthe everlasting covenant: I will always be your God andthe God of your descendants."

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Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had two sons Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau grew up and had families oftheir own. Jacob had 12 sons -- who became leaders of the12 tribes of Israel. During a time of great famine, Jacob tookhis family into Egypt. Egypt saw that the Israelites weregrowing in numbers, and began to treat them as slaves.

They lived in slavery for 400 years. But this was still part ofGods plan to have a people for himself.

God called Moses to lead the Jewish people out of slaveryinto the land that he had promised Abraham many yearsbefore. God told Moses:

Exodus 19 5"If you will obey me and keep mycovenant, you will be my own special treasurefrom among all the peoples on earth; for all the earthbelongs to me."


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God gave Moses the Ten commandments and otherinstructions on how his people were to live their lives. We

see God at work with the people of Israel. He reminds themagain and again that He wants to be their God, and that hewants them to be his people.

Lev 26 12 I will walk among you and be your God,and you will be my people.

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He says that if you are going to be my people, you have a

choice to make: Either obey me or disobey me. Whateveryour choice, there will be consequences for your decision. :

God tells the people what will happen if they choose not toobey him and to be his people.()Deut 30 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and

death, between Gods blessing and Gods curse, and I callheaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Chooselife.20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful tohim, and then you and your descendants will live long in theland that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob. 30 19 20

I think God is asking us the same question today. Whatchoice will you make? What is your decision? Will you be mypeople?? ? ?After leaving Mt-Sinai we follow Gods people, the people ofIsrael, as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years.They finally reach the land that God promised to give them.

But once they are living in the land, we quickly see that thepeople turned away from God.


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In the book of Judges we can see a cycle of sin andrepentance and then sin again over and over. Judges 3 31. Israel sins. 7 7 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,forgetting the Lord their God, and worshiping the Baals andthe Asherahs.

2. God sends an enemy country to conquer them and punishthem for sinning against God;

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8 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,and he sold them into the hand of King Cushan-rishathaim ofAram-naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaimeight years3. They repent of their sin and cry out to God to save them.9 9 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lordraised up a deliverer for the Israelites, who delivered them,Othniel son of Kenaz, Calebs younger brother.

4. God sends someone to deliver them and they defeat theenemy who is oppressing them.10 10 The spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel;he went out to war, and the Lord gave King Cushan-

rishathaim of Aram into his hand; and his hand prevailedover Cushan-rishathaim.

5. Finally, there is a time of peace until the judge dies, thenthey return to sinning against the God how wants to be theirGod.

11 12 11 So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz

died.12

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD,and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king ofMoab power over Israel.


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Later, Israel becomes a nation and God gives them a king.He chooses David, because he was a man after Gods ownheart.

After David dies, all those who became king after him startto do the same thing, and they sin again and again. Godwants to be their God, but the people act as if they dontwant to be his people.

The writer of the history of the kings of Israel tells the storyof each of the Kings who ruled, and tells us what kind of Kingthey were. One kind is mostly good, doing what is right inthe eyes of God, or,

15 3 4 2 Kings 15 3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord,just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 However, the highplaces were not taken away; the people still sacrificed andmade offerings on the high places.The second kind of king only does evil in the eyes of God.

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2 Kings 23 32 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,just as his ancestors had done.

God sent enemy countries to attack Israel to punish them fortheir sin, but he did not give up on his people. His promisewas still good: he wanted to be their God and he wantedthem to be his people. But he made a new promise, that hewould send someone who would help them to obey God.

The prophet Isaiah is one of the prophets who told thepeople about Gods promise to help them. 11 1 2 Isa 11 1 The royal line of David is like a tree that has beencut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, soa new king will arise from among Davids descendants. 2 And

the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him(read text)


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Israel kept sinning against God, and things were reallygetting bad for Israel. God sent the prophet Jeremiah toIsrael to warn them that they were not keeping their part ofthe promise to be Gods people. As a result, they were goingto be conquered by an enemy nation.

Although God was going to judge the people for theirdisobedience, he also promised that he would do somethingto help them to be the people of God. He said he wouldmake a new covenant with them, and instead of giving themthe 10 commandments written on a piece stone, he wouldwrite his commandment on their hearts.Jer 31 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with thehouse of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put mylaw within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I willbe their God, and they shall be my people.

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But they had to wait for Gods promise to be fulfilled. Finally,500 years later the time was right, and God sent his son Jesusto be born of a human mother.Gal 4 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent hisSon, born of a woman, born under the law

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Jesus was sent to remind people of what God wanted: Hewants to be our God and he wants us to be his people.

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In Mark 12, a Jewish leader asked Jesus what was the mostimportant of the Ten Commandments. This is what Jesussaid:

1. 12 29 30


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Mark 12 29 Jesus replied, The most important one is this:Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love theLord your God with all your heart and with all your soul andwith all your mind and with all your strength.

God wants to be our God, says Jesus, therefore we must lovehim with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

2. 12 3131 The second most important commandment is this: Loveyour neighbor as you love yourself. There is no othercommandment more important than these two.

If we are to be the people of God, we must love our neighboras well.

What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Wecan look back at what the prophet Isaiah said to the peopleof Israel who were following God only with their lips, but notwith their heart:? Isaiah 58 5

6 7 Isa 58 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day forpeople to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing oneshead like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is thatwhat you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 Is notthis the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains

of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set theoppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to shareyour food with the hungry and to provide the poorwandererwith shelter when you see the naked, to clothethem, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

To be a people of God, we must act as people of God. Isaiahoffers ways in which to do this: give clothing to those whoneed it; give food to those who are hungry, give shelter topeople who have none, free people from prison.

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To say it another way, we can show God how much we love


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him, and want to be his people, by showing love to ourneighbors.

You do not want to be hungry, homeless, in need of clothing.God says that if you love your neighbor as yourself, do forthem as you want someone to do for you. That is what itmeans to love your neighbor as yourself, and to show thatyou want God to be your God.

Not only did Jesus preach the message that God wants us tobe his people, and that he wants be our God, he made itpossible for this to happen.

5 10 Romans 5 10 For if while we were enemies, we werereconciled to God through the death of his Son, much moresurely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

By the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the sonof God, God has brought us into a new relationship with him

It is because of his death that we can have new life ashis people.

It is because he was raised from the dead that we canhave power in our lives to be his people. He does thisthrough the Holy Spirit, which he gives everyone whobelieves in Jesus Christ.

I dont know if you have asked yourself this question, but theone question that we havent answered yet is, why doesGod want us to be his people?

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Paul wrote a letter to Christians living in the Greek city ofCorinth to warn them about going to pagan temples andworshipping idols. 6 16 17 18


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2 Cor 6 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols?For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, I willlive in them and walk among them, and I will be their God,and they shall be my people.17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate fromthem, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I willwelcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall bemy sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

The reason why they should not go to temples to worshipidols is because God is making his people into a templewhere he can live. The Jewish people believed that Godlived in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Now, because God lives in Jesus Christ, so he wants to live inus. All of us together are a temple where God lives. Noticewhat Paul says at the end of this verse:

I will be your father, and you shall be my sons anddaughters, says the Lord Almighty.

So each of us are a piece that God is using to build histemple.

Our job is to keep our part of the temple clean so that Godwill want to live there.

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Eph 2 19 Consequently, therefore, you are no longerstrangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of thesaints and members of the household of God, 20 built on thefoundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himselfbeing the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, joinedtogether, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whomyou also are built up together into a dwelling place of God inthe Spirit.


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Finally, in the last book of the bible, we read that God isbringing time and history to an end. He is restoringeverything back to what it was like in the garden with Adamand Eve. Notice what he says here: 21 3 Revelation 21 3 And I heard a loud voice from the thronesaying,See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell withthem as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himselfwill be with them;

So we have come completely around the circle to the goalthat God put in place at the beginning of history, and whathe has been working on since the beginning of time.

(Talk about the idea of an overview of the bible that will helpus to understand the bible better when we read it, and whichwill help us to grow as Gods sons and daughters.)

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Exodus 33 15 Then Moses said, If you dont personally gowith us, dont make us leave this place. 16 How will anyoneknow that you look favorably on meon me and on yourpeopleif you dont go with us? For your presence among ussets your people and me apart from all other people on theearth.

i will be your god-final

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