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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Today we begin a new month together, July, 2020. Normally in past July’s here in America, we’re in the midst of summer vacations, summer Baseball, summer picnics, and this week is especially exciting, as we anticipate the 4th of July holiday weekend, a celebration of the birth of the USA.
But this is not a normal summer in America, maybe not where you live either. The Coronavirus pandemic has had dramatic impact on the lifestyle of almost every person, in every place the COVID-19 virus has hit. Hibernation, closed businesses, closed schools and churches, working from home or being placed on unemployment, masks and gloves, social distancing and so much more has become a way of life for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Virtually NOTHING is the same as it was July 1, 2019, anywhere in the world. Think about that! How has your life been impacted?
This week we’re considering how the SOVEREIGN Authority of God OVER all things, can give us a sense of calm and assurance in the midst of the chaos all around us. Today, let’s pursue the concept even further. Let’s consider what it means for us when the Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Eternal, Creator, Holy God comes here, to planet earth, and lives as SOVEREIGN IN all, including IN the chaos!
The first time it happened in is the garden of Eden when God evidently frequently came and ‘walking in the garden’ with Adam and Eve, Genesis 3:8,9. Can you imagine how wonderful that experience must have been PRIOR to what happened in Genesis 3:1-7!!
The next time I’d like us to consider is when God instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle, a “Tent of Meeting” at Mount Sinai. You’ll see that conversation in Exodus 24, Moses’ first 40 day trip up Sinai to meet with God. Please take special note of God’s expectation of what HE would do there in that “Tent of Meeting”.( Exodus 29:42-46) “There I will meet with you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by My glory… There I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”
WOW, does that simply amaze you my friends? That the Creator, Almighty, Holy God would want to come and live among humanity, made in His image, but oh so sinful and forgetful. Please grasp this. This passionate desire of God for a dynamic, loving RELATIONSHIP with us is what drives Him to do outrageous things, including sending Sovereign Jesus to live among us, and even die so we could be restored into relationship with Holy God.
In Exodus 40, after Moses completed the assembly of the “Tent of Meeting” look what happened in vs. 34: “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle…So the cloud of the LORD’s Presence was over the Tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites, during all their travels.” 1 million Hebrew slaves understood Almighty, Holy, God was there, among them, day and night. The Sovereign God was both OVER all and now was IN their world with them! Can you imagine the sense of comfort they experienced, especially at night, when they saw the glowing ‘fire’ in the cloud hovering over the “Tent of Meeting”.
As you may know God gave Moses a clear plan for how this huge throng of people were to live in an organized tent city AND how they should move in an organized way, following the cloud, from one place to another. Numbers chapter 2 gives us that remarkable organizational plan. The record says: “The Sovereign LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ‘The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting, some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family…” Can you envision it? A huge tent city of 1 million people with the “Tent of Meeting” and the cloud hovering over it, in the middle of the city, and like a huge pizza pie, all the tents arranged in Tribal order in specific sections. And then a very specific marching order when they moved.
The next time I see God coming in a powerful way is when King Solomon dedicates the Temple in Jerusalem and the cloud of God’s Presence descends upon it in the same way it happened in Exodus 40. 2 Chronicles 7:1 says “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD above the Temple, they knelt down…with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Sovereign LORD…”
And then, finally, 1000 year later, angels filled the sky, startling shepherds in the field of Bethlehem, only about 6 miles from Jerusalem, and the angels said: “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people. Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the LORD. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:10-14)
You recognize that as the Christmas story, of course, and you’ll remember the shepherds ran into town and found the baby Jesus lying in a manger. To them, and everyone, He looked like any other newborn baby boy, but He wasn’t. This was the Sovereign God who had come to live here on planet earth He had created, among the human population He had created! This was now God Sovereign IN All, as He now lived here with us. Now think about that as you run through, in your mind, the story of Jesus as an infant, and later an adult.
Of course in Jesus’ adult years we really see “SOVEREIGN IN ALL” in action. Every time Jesus did a miracle, that was proof of His sovereign authority being unleashed IN our world, right?
Listen to this shocking statement from Jesus in answer to Philip when Philip said to Jesus: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.
Jesus answered: Don’t you know me Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father living in Me who is doing His work. Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves…” (John 14:8-11)
What do you hear friends? This is cataclysmic! Jesus several times claimed that He and Almighty God the Father were ONE (John 10:30). Now here Jesus is making very clear…Almighty, Creator, Sovereign GOD who is SOVEREIGN OVER All, has been living among them Sovereign IN All!!
And finally, do you remember Jesus explaining to His friends that He would be returning to heaven, after His resurrection, but God the Father would send the Holy Spirit to live with them, and be IN them! Now this takes it to an extreme, because with the Holy Spirit, now we have God, SOVEREIGN OVER all, not only living here Sovereign IN all, but now, Sovereign IN us, you and me, and all who have trusted in Jesus and been ‘born again’, reconciled to God, sealed by His Holy Spirit!! The Presence and Power of Sovereign God no longer living WITH His people, but now living IN His people! Jesus had said “I will ask the Father and He will send you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth.. You know Him for He lives with you and will be IN you! (John 14:16.17) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8)
It’s time to simply sit quietly and ponder the remarkable, amazing truth of this promise of God. In the chaos of our world, ‘born again’ followers of Jesus have every right to FEEL almost invincible, because God is Sovereign OVER all, God is Sovereign IN all, and God is Sovereign living IN them!!
Oh God, we are speechless. . .
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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