The Preface to the Ten Commandments - 06/19/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Romans, chapter 5, as we look at these words this morning, these books in Romans are precious books.

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Chapters 5 and 6 are some of the best, most exciting, most kind in their words for each one of us.

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So Romans, chapter 5, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

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Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

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And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the

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Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time,

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Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.

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But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners,

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Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

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For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

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More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

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Therefore, just as in sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

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For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

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Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of one who was to come.

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But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man,

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Jesus Christ, abounded for many. And for the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.

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For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

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For because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man.

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Much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man,

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Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to the condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

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For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

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Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

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So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. So let us pray. Our Father in heaven, this is the

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Lord's day. The best day as we gather to worship with God's people.

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It's also the best part of our time of worship as we hear the word of God preached and proclaimed.

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Pastor Jason has prepared, and now may the Holy Spirit be the power behind his words.

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The words will have little meaning if they do not reach our ears and our hearts.

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So we ask you, Lord, block out all distractions for a few moments so we receive only the good news of our

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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. Last week we began a new sermon series on Exodus 20, verses 1 through 17, which contains the

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Ten Commandments. In our study of the Ten Commandments, there are three goals that we are hoping to accomplish.

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The first goal is that each one of us will come to a greater understanding of the Lord God. Our desire is to come to a greater understanding of his names, his nature, his character, and his attributes.

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The second goal is that each one of us will come to a greater understanding of what is required by the

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Lord God. Our desire is to come to a greater understanding of the will of God for our lives.

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What does the Lord God want from me? What does the Lord God require? The Ten Commandments answers these questions.

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And the third goal is that each one of us will come to a greater understanding of how these things, the character of God and the will of God and the requirement of God, how these things to proclaim the

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Lord Jesus Christ. How can we use these things to make disciples of all nations? The law of God is a tutor to lead sinners to Christ and thus our evangelism should be founded upon the moral law of God.

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Now by way of reminder, last week we discussed primarily three things. The first thing we discussed was the relevance and the practicality of the moral law.

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The civil law and the ceremonial law have been abrogated but the moral law, the

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Ten Commandments are eternally binding and perpetual because the moral law reveals the law giver.

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The moral law reveals the character of an infinite, eternal and unchanging God. The Lord God does not change nor does his law.

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Secondly, we discussed the purpose of the moral law. The law is a mirror. The law reveals our sin.

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It reveals our great and desperate need for a Savior. The law is a map.

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It reveals to us the will of God. It reveals to us what is pleasing to the Lord God and what is displeasing to the

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Lord God. The law is a muzzle. The law is a restraint.

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The law restrains the sinful actions of men. Thirdly, we also discussed the proper interpretation of the moral law.

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There are five rules that must be applied in our study of the Ten Commandments.

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There is the biblical rule. Every commandment must be understood within the context of the scriptures.

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There is the inside -outside rule. The law of God is internal as well as external.

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It demands inward integrity as well as outward conformity. The law of God is spiritual.

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There's the two -sided rule. Every commandment is both positive and negative. If a duty is commanded, then the contrary sin is forbidden.

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And if a sin is forbidden, then the contrary duty is commanded. There's the rule of categories.

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Each commandment stands for a whole category of sins. Each commandment not only governs the specific sin mentioned, but also all the sins that lead up to it and all the supposedly lesser sins of the same kind.

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The last rule we looked at was the brother's keeper rule. In addition to keeping the law of God ourselves, we're also required to help others keep the law of God.

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As our brother's keeper, we must do everything in our power to help other people walk in obedience to the law of God.

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If we're to fully appreciate and unlock the height, depth, and breadth of the

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Ten Commandments, then all of these things, its relevance, its purposes, and its proper interpretation must be taken into constant consideration.

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Now one more thing before we move on. It's very important to remember that Christians are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor as administration of condemnation.

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The law cannot justify you. The law cannot redeem you. The law cannot save you.

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The law is not a Christ, but a pointer to lead us to Christ.

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The law points us to Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Jesus Christ alone.

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However, we are under the law as a rule of life. We are under the law as a standard of sanctification.

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The Lord God desires that we, the children of God, be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, who in His earthly life perfectly kept the law of God.

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He perfectly kept the will of God. He perfectly fulfilled every single commandment in the law of God.

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Beloved, the moral law reveals the full duty of the Christian life. It shows us how to live for God's glory.

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It gives us a better grasp of God's righteous standard that was perfectly followed by the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And when we know what the law of God specifically requires, then we can better understand how to please and glorify the

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Lord God in our daily walk with Him. Please join me to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 20, verses 1 through 17.

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Let's look at the text together. Exodus 20. And God spoke all these words, saying,

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I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

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You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous

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God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

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But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

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You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

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Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

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But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

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For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day.

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Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the

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Lord your God is giving to you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

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You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

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You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

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This morning we're going to be looking at Exodus 20 verses 1 and 2, the preface to the

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Ten Commandments. And in these verses we see the origin of the Ten Commandments, verse 1, and a detailed description of the origin of the

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Ten Commandments, verse 2. Exodus 20 verses 1 and 2, and God spoke all these words saying,

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I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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God spoke all these words. God spoke all these words in his own person.

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The origin of the Ten Commandments is the Lord God himself. He is the lawgiver.

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In the previous passage, Exodus 19, a description is provided of the setting in which the

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Lord's law of God was given. And in this chapter, we are given great insight into the nature of this glorious and awesome

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God who spoke all of these words. On the third moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they camped at the foot of the mountain.

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And Moses went up the mountain to speak to the Lord God. And the Lord God said to Moses, Exodus 19, 10, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day.

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For on the third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

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And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.

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Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. On the morning of the third day, the

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Lord God indeed descended upon the mountain. In great power and in great glory, the

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Lord God descended upon the mountain with thunder and lightning, with fire and with smoke, and with a very loud blast of a trumpet.

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The mountain itself was completely engulfed in smoke, for the Lord God had descended upon it in fire.

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The whole mountain trembled and shook greatly. The people in the camp trembled and shook greatly, because they had just come into the manifest presence of their creator, an infinitely almighty and awesome

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God. Have you ever experienced or found yourself in the direct path of a natural disaster or a calamity?

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I've experienced mudslides and forest fires while growing up in Washington State. In college,

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I lived in Southern California, where I commonly experienced earthquakes. As a young man,

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I was caught in a very severe storm off the coast of Alaska in a 56 -foot trawler.

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The wind was howling, the rain was horizontal, there was almost zero visibility, and the swells were close to 30 feet high.

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The boat was rolling and rocking from side to side while going up and down massive and treacherous waves.

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I was below deck in a survival suit, praying that we would make it to port safely.

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In 2005, which was one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons in all of recorded history, we were living in Clearwater, Florida, and we were ordered to evacuate our home on multiple occasions.

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It's a very uneasy and eerie feeling to be in the presence of something so powerful, so dangerous, so life -threatening, recognizing that you have absolutely no control, you have no say over what is happening to you.

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In the presence of a natural disaster, you feel minuscule and fragile. You feel utterly insignificant and trivial.

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It's a very frightening and sobering place to be. So you can just imagine the sheer terror and the trepidation that the

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Israelites must have felt being so close to the presence of the

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Lord God, a God who is holy, holy, holy. Imagine the thunder, the lightning, the fire, the smoke, the earthquakes, and then an angelic trumpet blast growing louder and louder and louder until the

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Lord God spoke in a mighty clap of thunder. To be in such close proximity to an omnipotent, almighty, and glorious God, a

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God who lives in unapproachable brilliance and majesty, this must have been a truly terrifying and awful encounter.

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And it was after these fearful and glorious manifestations that in Exodus 21,

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God spoke all these words. The Lord God first revealed himself to the

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Israelites in great power and in great glory, and then he gave them further revelation of himself, his name, his nature, and his works.

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Exodus 20, verse 2, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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Now there is a lot of theology that is packed in this one verse. The Lord God reveals himself by name.

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I am the Lord. He also reveals himself as the

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Lord your God. The Lord God is not a God who is far off, but he is a

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God who is near. He is a God who is present, and he is a God who is personal.

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And it was this present, personal, and near God who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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The Lord your God is a faithful, redeeming, and liberating

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God. Beloved, if there was any question or hesitation or indecision as to whether or not to obey the

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Ten Commandments, the preface provides us with the obvious answer. The Lord God has the right to tell us what to do and what not to do because he is the

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Lord. And because he is your God. And because the Lord your

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God is faithful, redeeming, and liberating. Therefore, we are bound to keep all of his commandments.

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This was true for the Israelites, and likewise, this is true for the church.

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Let's take a closer look at each one of these descriptions in greater detail. Exodus 20, verse 2, I am the

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Lord. Notice that the term Lord is in all capital letters. Anytime you see the term

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Lord in all capital letters, this is a reference to the Hebrew word Yahweh, or Jehovah, which refers to the essential nature of God.

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This term is derived from the verb which means to exist, to be, or to become, which reveals to us the independence and the self -existence of the

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Lord God. In Exodus chapter 3, the Lord, all capital letters, appeared to Moses in the wilderness in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

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Moses was told by the Lord to return to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel out of the hands of the

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Egyptians who were violently oppressing them. And Moses responded in apprehension.

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He said, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? The Lord God answered him and reassured him.

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He said, Moses, I will be with you. The Lord God assured Moses of his divine guidance and his divine presence, but Moses was still a little bit uneasy.

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Moses said to the Lord God in Exodus 3, verse 13, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the

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God of your father has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name? What shall

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I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am.

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And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you.

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God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel. The Lord, the God of your fathers, the

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God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus

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I am to be remembered throughout all generations. The name of the

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Lord God is a reflection of his being. God is the only self -existent being.

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God is the only self -sufficient being. God is the only one who has life in and of himself.

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The Lord God needs nothing outside of himself, for he is the great I am.

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And he is to be forever remembered as the great I am. Beloved, the great

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I am who spoke to Moses from the midst of the burning bush, the great I am who answered

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Moses in thunder and who spoke the law to the Israelites, the great I am is none other than the

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Lord Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ claims this title,

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I am, as his own. In the book of John, the Pharisees asked the

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Lord Jesus Christ if he was greater than their father Abraham. And Jesus answered them in John 8, 54, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.

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It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. But you have not known him.

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I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you.

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But I do know him, and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.

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He sought and was glad. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen

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Abraham? Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was,

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I am. This declaration was nothing less than a claim to full deity.

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Jesus Christ took and applied to himself the sacred name of the Lord God, I am, reaffirming his divine nature, reaffirming his divine essence, reaffirming his infinity, his immutability, and his absolute supremacy.

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In fact, all throughout the book of John, the Lord Jesus Christ refers to himself as I am.

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But not only does he refer to himself with this title, he also combines this name,

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I am, with seven magnificent metaphors to express more richly his saving relationship to the world.

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I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door of the sheep.

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I am the good shepherd. I am the true vine. I am the resurrection and the life.

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I am the way, the truth, and the life. Who is the

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Lord? Who is the great I am? Who is the only one who is self -existent and self -sufficient in himself?

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Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is the great I am.

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Jesus Christ is God. In Christ, the fullness of God dwells bodily.

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Jesus Christ is the great lawgiver, and thus we owe him our obedience. We owe him our service.

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We owe him our praise, our honor, and our worship. For he alone is worthy.

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For he alone is the great I am. However, not only is the

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God who spoke all these things described as the Lord, all capital letters, he is also described as the

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Lord, your God. Exodus 22,

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I am the Lord, your God. The statement is worded in the second person singular, which indicates that the

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Lord has a very unique and special relationship with each and every one of his children.

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The Lord is your God. God is not a mysterious, unknown, and impersonal

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God. Rather, he is near, he is known, and he is personal. The Lord God is your

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God. John Calvin remarked, God first shows himself to be the one who has the right to command and to whom obedience is due.

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Then, in order not to seem to constrain men by necessity alone, he also attracts them with sweetness by declaring himself the

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God of the church. In the New Testament, this truth is unfolded even further by revealing the

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Lord God as our Father. In the book of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, we're instructed to begin our prayers by calling upon the

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Lord God as our Father. Pray then like this, our

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Father in heaven. It's interesting, in Exodus chapter 20, God is first introduced as the great

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I am, and then he is introduced as the Lord your God. In Matthew chapter 6, the order is just the opposite.

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God is first introduced as our Father, reminding us of our personal relationship with him, and then he is introduced as our

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Father in heaven, reminding us of his transcendent nature. By drawing attention to God as our

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Father, the Lord Jesus Christ is reminding us of the unique and personal relationship that we possess with him.

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Yes, our Heavenly Father is the Lord. Yes, our Heavenly Father is transcendent.

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He is over and above all of his creation. He is far different from his creation. He transcends his creation.

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But he is also our Abba. He is our Daddy. And our

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Heavenly Father desires a close and intimate relationship with us, his children.

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Ephesians chapter 1, verses 4 through 6, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

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The result of God choosing us in him before the foundation of the world, the result of God's predestination, is our adoption as his sons and daughters.

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In eternity past, just as we were chosen to be holy and blameless before him, we were also chosen to be adopted into his family.

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The doctrine of adoption is a beautiful and encouraging doctrine. The doctrine of adoption refers to the legal process of going to court and lawfully adopting a child.

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Adoption refers to our relationship with the Lord God. It involves a change of both our status as well as our condition.

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Adoption is a declaration or an alteration in our legal status. In other words, we stood as strangers before the

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Lord God. But through adoption, the Lord God has made us his children, with all the legal benefits and privileges that a natural born child would possess.

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At the moment of our conversion, we repent of our sin, we place our faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, we then become a child of God. Previously, we were children of wrath, we were children of disobedience, but now we are children of the

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Lord God. Adoption follows conversion and is an outcome of placing our faith in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. John 1 .12, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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Man does not become a child of God through blood or through any racial or ethnic heritage.

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Man does not become a child of God through his own efforts, through the will of the flesh, nor does man become a child of God through a system of works, through the will of man.

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Rather, man becomes a child of God by receiving him, by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Jesus Christ alone.

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The Lord God has no sons who are not identified with his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

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No one comes to the Father except through the Son. And it is through the Son, it is through Christ Jesus, that we receive all of the benefits of adoption.

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As a son of the Lord God, I am now able to approach the Lord God as my

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God, as my Heavenly Father. J. I. Packer, in his book

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Knowing God, remarked, If you want to judge how well a person understands

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Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having

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God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand

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Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the

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New Testament new and better than the old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely

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Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. Father is the

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Christian name for God. But not only do we call the

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Lord God our Father, not only do we possess a close and intimate relationship with the

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Lord God, this relationship is a saving relationship. Exodus 22,

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I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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The Lord God brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. He brought them out of the house of slavery.

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And in a similar fashion, the Lord God has brought you out of the Egypt of your sin. The Lord God has brought you out of your slavery to Satan.

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The Lord God indeed is a gracious and redeeming God. There are two

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Greek terms that are very closely related to the term redemption, agoradzo and ex -agoradzo.

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Agoradzo means marketplace, or to be in the marketplace, to attend the marketplace, or to do business in the marketplace.

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And ex -agoradzo means away from the marketplace, out of the marketplace.

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And together these terms refer to the buying, the selling, and the trading that occurs in the marketplace.

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And in the New Testament, these two terms are used to describe the spiritual purchase or the redemption of a sinner.

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Ephesians 1, verses 7 through 9, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ.

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Next, the Greek word translated redemption refers to the liberation procured by payment of a ransom.

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It refers to the release affected by payment of a ransom. Literally, it means to be bought or to be purchased out of the marketplace.

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In other words, redemption refers to the Lord God's purchase of sinners. It refers to the

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Lord God's liberation of sinners. It refers to the Lord God's deliverance of sinners.

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Just as the Israelites were delivered from their bondage to the Egyptians by the Lord God, so also have we been delivered from our bondage to sin by the

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Lord God by the payment of ransom. The term ransom means to release upon receipt.

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It means to set free. It means to deliver or to liberate. Ransom is the technical term that is used to describe the price that was paid.

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Ransom describes the transaction. In New Testament times, there were millions of slaves throughout the

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Roman Empire. Some slaves had been born into slavery. It was all they ever knew.

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Some slaves had been once free men but had been conquered by Rome and they were forced to live out the rest of their days under the

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Roman yoke of slavery. Still others had become slaves by falling into debt and the only way for them to repay their debts was to become a slave and to work off the amount that was owed.

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Whatever the cause, a slave was not a free man. A slave was not his own man.

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A slave was not able to do as he wished. The will of the slave was subservient to the will of the master.

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For all intents and purposes, slaves were property. Slaves belonged to and were held in bondage to their owners.

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And the only way for a slave to become a free man was for the slave to be redeemed.

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And the payment of that redemption was the ransom. The actual price that was paid.

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Beloved, all men are born in desperate need of redemption. All men are born into slavery.

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All men are born into bondage to sin. Contrary to what many believe, man is not born innocent and free.

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Rather, man is born guilty and enslaved. Man is conceived in sin.

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He is brought forth in iniquity. Romans chapter 8, verse 7, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

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For it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot. Second Corinthians 2 .14,

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the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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Do you know the reason why man is hostile toward the Lord God? Do you know the reason why man does not submit himself to the law of God?

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Do you know the reason why man does not accept or understand the things of the Spirit of God? Because a slave obeys his master.

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Because a slave belongs to his master. A slave does not have a will of his own.

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Slaves are in bondage to their masters. John 8, verse 34, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

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There is no freedom for the natural man. The master of the natural man is sin and sin is irresistible.

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The natural man cannot resist sin. The natural man is enslaved to do the will of his master.

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There is no free will. There is only bondage to sin. The only way for a slave to become a free man is for that slave to be redeemed.

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He must be delivered. He must be freed. He must be liberated by payment of ransom.

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And what is the cost of redemption? What does it cost to redeem a fallen man?

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What does it cost to deliver a sinner out of the yoke and bond of slavery? The cost of redemption is blood.

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The cost of your redemption was blood. The ransom paid was a ransom of blood.

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For men to be redeemed from the bondage and tyranny of sin, someone had to die because the wages of sin is death.

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Hebrews 9 .22, Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood.

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And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

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Beloved, you cannot dicker with the Lord God. You cannot haggle the price of the ransom.

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Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Sin demands a price and that price is blood.

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It is either your blood or the blood of a substitute. And this is the gospel.

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Second Peter 2 .24, He himself, referring to Jesus, bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

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By his wounds, you have been healed. The Greek word translated bore literally means to carry or to bring up or to bear up.

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And this term was often used in relation to a sacrifice or to an offering. It meant to bring up to the altar.

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It meant to put something up on the altar. He himself, the

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Lord Jesus Christ, bore our sins in his body. He picked up our sin.

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He carried our sin in his body on the tree. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily and without coercion offered himself up as a sacrifice for sinners.

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He himself carried up to the cross our sins in his body and he offered himself as a sacrifice and as atonement for sin.

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The perfect Lamb of God was our substitute. The perfect Lamb of God was our propitiation.

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He bore the wrath of God in our place. He died the death that we deserved.

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He died the death that we had earned. The blood of Christ has saved us from our sin.

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The blood of Christ has saved us from judgment. The blood of Christ has saved us from an eternity of suffering.

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Beloved, our God is a redeeming and liberating God. Our God is personal.

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He is our Abba Father who desires a close and intimate relationship with each one of his children.

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Our God is the great I am, the creator, the sustainer, and the final goal of all creation.

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Our God is the law giver. Beloved, our God is Jesus Christ.

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And it is through Jesus Christ, it is through his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection that the

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Lord God is our God. And as such, he has the right to claim legal authority over us.

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The law comes from our God, who is our Savior, who is our

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Lord, Jesus Christ. God spoke all these words, saying,

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I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

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Therefore, you shall have no other gods before me. You shall have no other gods before the

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Lord your God, which is the first of the Ten Commandments, which is where we'll pick up next week.

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Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your redemption.

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Lord, we stood before you as a stranger. We had no hope. We were without God.

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We knew nothing. And yet in your goodness, you drew us to yourself.

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Lord, we thank you for the salvation that is found in Christ Jesus. We thank you,

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Lord, that not only did you choose us before the foundation of the world, you predestined us to be adopted into your family.

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And we share all of the benefits. We are joint heirs with Christ. And Lord, I pray that we would live in light of these tremendous blessings.

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So often we get caught up in the things of this world, in the allurements of this world, and we forget who we truly are.

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We are the sons and daughters of the King. Lord, I pray that we would live in light of these things.

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So help us, Lord, not to be anxious. Help us not to be fearful. Help us not to be depressed about our current circumstances.

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But help us look past all of these things and look to the reward. Help us to look to our inheritance, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

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We pray, Lord, that we would set our minds on all of these things. Help us, Lord, to live in the light of who we are in Christ Jesus.