Saturday, January 24, 2015

"I Will..."

January 24, 2015

This morning, my Bible reading was from Exodus 6-11, the story of the plagues God brought upon Egypt prior to the actual exodus. In the 6th chapter, God is telling Moses what he is about to do, and in the space of three short verses (6-9), God says, "I will..." seven times. Israel must believe and obey, but their deliverance isn't based on what they believe or do, but in the sovereign act of God on their behalf. While what I believe and what I do are important, it's not ultimate. No matter how much I believe in God or how readily and completely I obey him, that belief and obedience is aways secondary. If God had not chosen to act for my deliverance, no amount of faith or obedience would be adequate to move me from slavery to freedom. Had God not acted in sovereignty and power on Israel's behalf, they would have remained slaves in Egypt, and had he not done so on my behalf, I would still be enslaved in sin.

Our faith is important, as is our obedience, but only as a response to what God has done in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sins. If we see faith and works as the means of deliverance instead of the response to it, we will remain mired in slavery, doomed to the same despair that gripped Israel while in Egypt. It is God's "I will" that changes everything. So tonight, I give thanks to the God who has already acted for our deliverance in Jesus Christ. And tomorrow, I get to join brothers and sisters in corporate praise as we celebrate the resurrection in worship together.

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