Sunday Re-cap - 7th May 2006

Knowing God Personally (Ps. 46:1, 10 & Exodus 3:14-15; 33:11-17)
by. Ps Abel Phillips

Moses asked God who He was and got a peculiar answer. God said, "Say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' . . . This is My name forever" (Exodus 3:14-15).

Jesus put flesh on God's bare-boned answer to Moses' question, "Who are You?" Jesus left heaven to show us what it means to bear His Father's name. He told His disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He also said, "I am the bread of life" (6:48), "the light of the world" (8:12), "the good shepherd" (10:11), and "the resurrection and the life" (11:25). In Revelation, Jesus declared, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (22:13). And He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). Jesus the Word of God (Jn.1:1).Jesus is the image of the invisible God. —Colossians 1:15

Exodus 33:11-17
God made known His ways to Moses. He made known His acts, or His works, to the children of Israel. Moses knew God in a way the rest of the people didn't. The rest of the people saw the works of God, but Moses knew the ways of God and God intimately.

Most Christians would prefer to see God perform mighty miracles rather than to have fellowship with Him and learn His ways.

The Benefits of knowing our God Personally or Intimately

1. To Know God Intimately Is the Way of Rest
- God says He will provide rest to those who know Him intimately. Verse 14 says, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."

2. To Know God Intimately Is the Way of Stability
-Knowing God also provides stability. Israel, who only saw what God did, was fickle. If we don't know God intimately, we'll not be a stable Christian. We'll be just like Israel was. We'll blow hot and cold.

3. To Know God Intimately Is the Way of Necessity
Not only is knowing God a good thing; it is a necessity. (Exodus 33:1-3) When God said "…I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way," and Moses replied, "God, if you're not going, I'm not going."

Conclusion:
We will only know Him by communion with Him face to face. That's what a quiet time is all about. We can’t know God if we don't spend time with Him.