Listen now (Open Message then to listen now or to Save: Right Click and ‘Save Target as’) You are a young woman who has recently met a young man. The 2 of you have spent hours talking together about everything, or at least it seems so. You are so thrilled about him that you are just bursting at the seams. What is the first thing you want to do? Call your best friend and tell her all about this time you spent with him. She asks you: “What is his name and what is he like?” How would you respond? You would begin by telling her all about him and what he is like, his characteristics. You might even give names to those qualities that have drawn you to him, like Mr. Right. The words you use to describe him will tell about his character and his personality. You may even identify some of the things in your own life that might keep you from being all you can be in the relationship, things that might get in the way. But a good friend will advise you that these are all things that can be worked out together with him if there is truly a loving relationship there.
Moses was in the wilderness working as a shepherd. He was on the run from Egypt because he had killed an Egyptian for beating an Israelite slave. He had been gone from there for many years. When God comes to Moses in a burning bush and calls him to the work of leading Israel and into relationship with God. God tells Moses to go to the Israelites and tell them that God has sent him to rescue them from slavery. But Moses wants to know who he should say has called him to do this. God tells Moses to tell the Israelites that it was God, the great I AM who has sent him.
That He is the LORD, YAHWEH The covenant name of the God of Israel, the covenant keeping God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of their fathers. This name became so sacred to the Israelites that they chose to call Him Jehovah, so not to insult His holiness by speaking His name. Instead they revered His name so that it was not to be spoken. To bad they were still separated from God by the veil of their sin and rebellion. They could not enter directly into His presence. This is the same One who invites us His chosen children into His holy presence, into relationship with Him. He invites us to come behind the veil and has given us the authority to come boldly into His presence. What is He like who waits behind the veil for us to enter? Isn’t this the question most people want answered when we tell them we have entered into a relationship with someone? So, what is God like? He is an eternal God, Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. He existed before time began and will continue to exist after the end of time. Time has no effect on God in any way. Why? Because He is immutable, unchanging, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” He is as dependable today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. If He says He will do or not do something that is the way it will be. To change is to go from better to worse or worse to better. God cannot change because He is perfect. If He were to become better, more perfect than He would not be God, immutable, unchanging, the “I AM who I AM”.
He is omniscient, all knowing; Ps. 139:1-6 There is nothing He doesn’t know now or that will be in the future or even happened in the past. He is. He knows in one free and effortless act all matter, all spirit, all relationship and all events. Nothing surprises Him. He is omnipresent, present everywhere; Psalm 139:7-12 There is no where we can go to hide from Him; no act that we could commit that He would not know about, even the darkness is like daylight to Him. Love, mercy and righteousness make up His character along with His holiness. There are no figures of expression that could describe how great these characteristics are and no examples that would give a full or clearer picture. There is only one example that could help us to understand Him better, fire. He appeared to Moses in the burning bush, as a Pillar of Fire to the Israelites in the wilderness and when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Tabernacle, He was there present as the Shekinah glory. At Pentecost He came down as tongues of fire resting upon the disciples. The writer of Hebrews relates: Heb. 12:28–29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” The brilliance of the fire brings light and life, warmth and comfort. It is untouchable but inviting and comforting. Something you want to be around but cannot touch. A person’s soul mate. For one to be in relationship with God it has to be more than just an intellectual relationship, it needs to be a spiritual one. Without the spiritual there is no connection. John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” God is spirit and the only way we can know Him is by our spirits connecting with His. In our spirit the fire of God must glow or our love for Him is not true. Eph. 2 passage on the reviving of our spirits. Think of the disciples who changed the world for Christ. The thing that moved them to do all they did, to make all the sacrifices they made was a burning love for God in them, burning in their spirits. 2 Cor. 5:11-25 It has been the same for generations since. Those who had a burning passion for God in their spirits did great things for God. Think on a Teen who sneaks out to meet their girl or boy friend. Think of King David, he had a burning passion for God, his soul panted after God, for fellowship with Him. Psalm 42:1–2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? God is so wonderful, so delightful that He can meet all the demands of our hearts for the true fulfilling relationship we need, that we were designed for. Those who have entered into the presence of God, seen His glory are changed forever. Nothing will ever be able to substitute for the presence of God in their lives. These are the ones who can speak with authority of relationship with God. 2 Cor. 12:2-6 These are not those who have only studied and read the Bible, these have experienced God through His word and His Spirit. Luke 24:31–32 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Now, Wait! Don’t think that these are any more special than any of us, they are not. The only difference is that they pushed forward in their relationship with the Lord, into the throne room of God, to experience Him in their lives.
They and we can do so because it was Jesus who made the way possible for us. He opened the way when we could not. So, why do we wait outside the veil? God is calling us to enter in to be with Him. Song of Solomon 2:14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. God is calling out to us as Solomon called out to his love and she to him, to come and dwell in the place where they could be together, sharing their love for one another, with one another. A love that burned deep within each of them every minute they were apart. This is the way that God is calling out to us. We must remember that God included this love book in the scriptures, Song of Solomon, because that is the way He yearns for relationship with us. He waits behind the torn veil for us to come.
If you were to share with a friend what kind of relationship wait for you if you were willing to commit to it, what would they tell you? You have told them of all the wonderful qualities of the one who waits for you, what will they say? Stop hanging around here get going into the arms of the one who waits for you. The great I AM. Will we wait or will we go? What is keeping us from going? This we will look at next time.
Benediction: Rev. 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
