Series: Exodus
Title: The Gospel of I Have and I Will
Text: Exodus 6: 1-8
Date: April 30, 2017
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
After God used Pharaoh to show Moses and his people that they were utterly helpless with no power to free themselves from Pharaoh’s bondage, our text begins, “Then!”
Exodus 6: 1: Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
After God made them see they were absolutely helpless to deliver themselves—God said, “Now shalt thou see what I will do…”
Are there any sinners here this morning? Oh, yes, we are all sinners. But are there any that know you are totally incapable of lifting a finger to help God save you? Only then will we cease boasting in what we have done and what we will do and trust God for what does.
God declares here “The Gospel of ‘I Have’ and ‘I Will’” As we read this text note how many times God says “I have” and “I will.”
Exodus 6: 2: And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 4: And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5: And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6: Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
Proposition: The gospel is the message of salvation accomplished for helpless sinners by God alone!
THE GOSPEL OF GOD’S NAME
Exodus 6: 2: And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
The gospel is the declaration of God’s name. As soon as God began declaring to Moses what he would do in saving his people, the first thing God declares is his name—“God said unto him, I am the LORD.”
God always attaches the promise of the works he performs for his people to his name: verse 6: Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out…; verse 8: I will bring you in to the land I promised and I will give you an inheritance…I am the LORD…verse 29: the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: now go tell Pharaoh everything I promised to do for my people and to him.
My grandfather used to tell me, “When you speak your word to someone fulfill your word because it declares your name. Then when a person hears your name they know it is the name of one who fulfills his word.”
For the same reason, whenever God promises the works he will do, he attaches his name to his promise. His word is sure because he will not allow his name to be polluted. His name will be glorified and praised by his people. God is about to make many promises to the children of Israel. Since his name is attached, later God said,
Ezekiel 20: 13:…the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness:…14: But I wrought [worked] for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
This is why God’s name is connected to his works of salvation throughout scripture.
Psalm 23: 3: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 54:1 [David said] Save me, O God, by thy name…
Psalm 79:9: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
1 Samuel 12: 22: the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD [‘because the LORD hath sworn’] to make you his people.
1 John 2:12: I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
What is God’s name? His name is God Almighty—El Shaddai—El (God) Shaddai (Almighty). It means more than power alone. It expresses the power and sufficiency of God to establish all his covenant promises for his people and with his people.
His name is LORD, Jehovah. When you read all caps “LORD” and all caps “GOD,” it is Jehovah. It means the existing One “which is and was and is to come.” (Rev 1: 4) This is God’s redemptive name because it is the name of our Savior, our Deliverer as seen in Revelation 1: 4.
The best way I know to convey the glory of God’s name is reading Isaiah 40. Here we see that God Almighty, the LORD Jehovah is Christ.
Isaiah 40: 9: O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 10: Behold, the Lord GOD [the Lord Jehovah] will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11: He [the Lord Jehovah] shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young…22: It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity…28: Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not,…29: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength…31: …they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
I answered a man by email this week. I used the name God in my reply. He wrote back that he was shocked that not once did I use the name Jesus. Oh yes I did! By using the name God is used Jesus’ name. The Lord Jesus is the Lord Jehovah, God Almighty, El Shaddai, the great Shepherd of his sheep. So first the gospel is God declaring the glory of his great name.
THE COVENANT OF GOD
Exodus 6: 4: [Speaking of the patriarchs, God says] And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5: And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6: Wherefore say unto the children of Israel,…”
The gospel is the declaration of the covenant of God. Here, God calls it “my covenant.” We sometimes refer to it as the covenant of grace and covenant of redemption. Scripture calls it: a Covenant of Peace (Isa. 4:10; Mal. 2:5), a Covenant of Life (Mal. 2:5), a New Covenant (Jer. 31:31) and an Everlasting Covenant (Heb. 13:20).
God says “I have established my covenant.” The three persons in the Godhead establish God’s covenant. God the Father purposed it, God the Son purchased it, God the Holy Spirit performs it within. But the work of redeeming God’s elect and presenting us without spot to God is established by Christ his Son. By his works, representing his people, Christ established his covenant for us.
The Holy Spirit also established his covenant “with” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because Christ was their Surety—“And I have also established my covenant with them,…” We are not saved by a covenant conditioned upon our works or our will. In Christ their Surety, God established his covenant “for” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by his cross work. Then through Christ the Mediator, through the Holy Spirit, God established his covenant “with them”, through his work in their hearts. But it was God who established his covenant. They performed no part to establish it. So it is with us.
By his covenant, God promised—“to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.” It was a picture of eternal life in glory given to his people in Christ. John declares the covenant God establishes for and with his saints,
1 John 2:25: This is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
Since God always remembers his covenant, he makes his covenant with all Abraham’s spiritual seed—God’s elect—in every generation. This is pictured in the natural children of Abraham. God said, “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel,…”
Moses here is a type of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant. Since God established his covenant with the fathers, promising by Christ, he would give all his offspring heavenly Canaan, God hears his elect in our bondage and remembers his covenant.
At the set time, God says to Christ, “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel,…” Christ is the Covenant and Christ is the Mediator of the covenant. Therefore, Christ has the covenant privilege of setting his people free from our bondage and revealing the everlasting covenant in our hearts. Therefore, at the time appointed by God, he sends Christ to each of his elect to set us free, pictured in God sending forth Moses. God said of Christ,
Isaiah 49: 8: I give thee for a Covenant of the people, to establish the earth…9: That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth;
Men who boast in their free will would rob Christ of that glory! But not if Christ speaks! When Christ the Covenant enters his child, a new heart is created, a new will. By Christ our Covenant being formed in us, God writes his laws on our hearts. The word “laws” means “doctrines.” Christ writes the doctrines of his everlasting covenant promise on our new hearts, making us willing in the day of his power! He writes on hearts the law or doctrine of faith, the law or doctrine of righteousness, the law or doctrine of sin, the law or doctrine of love, and so on.
GOD’S WORKS
Exodus 6: Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8: And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
The gospel is the declaration of God’s works. It is the declaration of the works of God in fulfilling all his covenant promises for his people. Here are pictures of God’s spiritual works, his spiritual promises.
First, the gospel is the declaration of God’s work of redemption and deliverance by Christ, “I am the LORD, [notice his name attached] and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.”
The gospel is the declaration of God’s will, not man’s will. God promises “I will” redeem and deliver you with “my” outstretched arm and great judgments. Redemption from the law and deliverance from our sin nature is only obtained by Christ the Arm and Power of God. He delivered us by accomplishing great judgments for his people in righteousness on the cross.
Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
And Christ delivers us out from the bondage of our sin nature and out from the bondage of this world. Notice the word “out of”
Revelation 5:9…for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Also, the gospel is the declaration of God’s work of fulfilling his promise to take us and be a God to us, “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God.” He sends Christ into our hearts by the Holy Spirit and takes us to himself like he sent Moses and took them. God is a God to his people! It means whatever our need—spiritual or temporal—God shall provide!
In addition, the gospel if the declaration of God’s work of fulfilling his promise to make his people know him, that he alone is our Redeemer, “and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” The whole purpose of God is to glorify his great name before the eyes of his people—“ye shall know that I am the LORD your God!”
Furthermore, the gospel is the declaration of God’s work of fulfilling his promise to bring us into the land he promised to give for an inheritance, “And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.” He brought us into Christ and made us joint-heirs with him of all Christ’s eternal inheritance.
Romans 8: 15: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Ephesians 1: 11: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Since all God’s promise to us are in, by and through Christ, we cry with David,
2 Samuel 23:5: Although my house be not so with God;…although he make it not to grow.
Although my earthly, fleshly tabernacle is full of sin and God does not make it to grow any better.
2 Samuel 23: 5:…yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire,
2 Corinthians 1: 20: For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
This is the difference between the true gospel and the false. The true declares “salvation is of the Lord.” We speak only of God’s will and God’s works.
Psalm 145: 4: One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 5: I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. 6: And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. 7: They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness…10: All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. 11: They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; 12: To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
Romans 8: 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate…30: Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
It is “he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all.” It is he that “with him also freely gives us all things.” It is God that justifieth. It is Christ that died. It is Christ that arose again. It is Christ that maketh intercession for us. “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Rom 8: 32-37)
John 6: 28: [But] What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29: Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
And faith is not of ourselves it, too, is the gift of God’s grace unless we boast. (Eph 2)
The only time his saints talk of our will or our works is to declare “all our righteousness’ are filthy rags.” Any good work in us is by God’s power who worked it in us to the praise of his glory!
Philippians 2: 13: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
The gospel is the message of the will and work of God! Salvation is of the LORD! Oh, God according as you will, make this everlasting covenant of grace with your people and glorify thy name!
Amen!