I AM WHO I AM
I AM WHO I AM
- Greg Waybright
- Exodus 3:13-15 & John 8:56-59
- I Am - The True Identity of Jesus
- 35 mins 27 secs
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Study Notes
The True Identity of Jesus: I Am Who I Am
Exodus 3:1-15; John 8:56-59
We begin this weekend to think about “The True Identity of Jesus” – according to Jesus himself. At least seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus personally takes time to explain to us who he is. He says, “I am…” We’re going to look at each of his statements, week by week, this summer. I think that what you’ll discover is that each statement Jesus makes speaks to the deepest needs of your life as a human being.
With that in mind, you may be surprised that we begin this series today by thinking about a different man, a man that some of us here in Southern California might relate to even though he lived a long time ago in a place far, far away. That man grew up in a home of great prestige and influence. He received the best education possible in his nation, at the Cal Tech of the Middle East. And, interestingly, he also seems to have developed a sense of justice. So, one day, when he saw a person being treated unjustly and nothing being done, he stepped in to bring about justice with his own hands. He killed the abuser, an act that forced him to flee into the desert of Midian. When we meet him, he had met a woman and gotten married. This once powerful man had been living for 40 years in obscurity. He lived with his in-laws. He worked in his father-in-law’s business. All the dreams and aspirations of his youth were surely gone. His name was Moses. Ironically, on the day of his life we focus on today, he was wandering through a place called Horeb – it means “desolate waste”. In that unexpected place at an unexpected time, something happened that changed his life.
He saw a bush that seemed to be burning off the beaten path. And a voice out of it spoke. “This bush knows my name!” he must have thought. But then something happened that changed everything. We read about it in Exodus 3. I call the chapter, “Moses! Meet God.” It’s a report of a real event. It’s one that has been so important among God’s people that artists throughout history have tried to depict it: See Domenico Feti’s 17th C painting: And the stained glass at Notre Dame:
This reason this is so important is that what happened to Moses relates to questions every person has, e.g., Is there really a God? If so, what is he like? If I meet him, what will happen to my life?
Who is this God that Moses meets?
Moses knew something about God from his Jewish mother who had been involved in his childhood. But, it’s clear that, one day in Horeb, Moses truly met God. When Moses actually met God, it changed his life. It always does. God sent Moses from Horeb, the place of desolate waste, back to the halls of royalty in Egypt where he had grown up. You see, there had been a purpose to God having Moses grow up in a place of power. Moses understood the language. He knew how life functioned there. But now, Moses’ entire life was seen to have a purpose (as does yours!). Moses was to be the one God had created and prepared to bring his people out of slavery. But, Moses had a big question about this calling.
Moses said to God, “If I go to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ (Exodus 3:14).’”
What does it mean when you ask your God, “Who are you”? and he answers, “I AM WHO I AM”? It changed Moses’ life to meet God and discover that God is “I am”. That’s what we will be considering for the rest of our summer, i.e., how meeting the one called “I am” changes every part of our lives.
Today, let’s just ask this: What do we learn from Moses’ meeting with God?
#1: When you meet God, it is almost always due to a disruptive event. I will turn aside (“sur”) and see this strange sight (3:3).
In Exodus 3, Moses doesn’t go out one morning and say, “Oh, I think I’ll search for God today.” Instead, his encounter with God came in the course of everyday life. The Hebrew word for what happens, i.e., “sur”, is very strong and it’s used both in vv. 3 & 4. “Sur” means to turn aside from – to abandon intentionally -- what you usually do. “Sur” speaks a person who has been going along in life doing whatever he/she usually does and then -- blam!! Something breaks in. We all know that when we get into our normal life patterns, we generally get too busy to look for God – or we’re just don’t want to do so. Instead, it’s God who takes the initiative. That’s what happened: One day, Moses was going about his ordinary agricultural business when he saw something distracting just off the beaten path. He saw a burning bush that was not being consumed. Moses chose to turn aside from what he normally did. And that was his beginning.
For many people, this sort of "burning bush" is the first step in meeting God. As long as you stay in our normal comfort zone, doing what you always do, you ignore the most important things in life – like, whether there is a God who has created you for a purpose and before whom someday you will stand.
You know how it is: You may get fed up one day and say, “Why am I doing all this stuff I’m doing? What’s my life amounting to?” Those are important questions! But, then someone walks by and says, “Hey, let’s go grab some coffee” – and off you go forgetting the big questions.
Ordinary life normally leads you to want to stay comfortable the way you are. So, what is a “burning bush” moment? A “burning bush” is something that disrupts the ordinary way you look at the world and the regular way live your life.
Dr. Steve Cunningham is a scientist who was trained to believe that miracles do not happen. Then, he saw a miraculous thing happen. Steve couldn’t explain away what he saw away – and what he saw led him to know that his worldview was inadequate to explain what’s real. His whole way of thinking was turned aside – it was a “burning bush moment” for him. A burning bush is anything that pulls you out of the ordinary pursuits and patterns of your life and calls you to think about the “big questions” of the universe. Again, we human beings rarely get up one day and say, “Hey, I’m 30 years old today. I’d better go search for God!” No, usually --something has to turn us aside from our comfort zones.
So, what kinds of things can turn us aside? What kinds of things make us think more profoundly about life than we otherwise might? Sometimes, we come face to face with a miracle like Moses did or Steve Cunningham did. But, let me suggest a few other ways God might get your attention:
- People who are different – Sometimes, there are people who come into our lives who show us something of the transforming power of Christ. The testimony I’ve heard most often from people who have come to faith in Jesus as high school or college students is that they’ve met someone who was a different kind of person. It was a who loved them, forgave them, or gave them a second chance when no one else ever had done that. One student at Princeton University told me about how a teacher in high school was like this. She asked her teacher why she was different from others. The public-school teacher said, “Well, it’s because I follow Jesus.” The student told her, “I’ve always thought churchgoers were negative and self-righteous.” But the teacher said, “Well, when Jesus knows me, loves me, forgives me and gives me a second chance – and a third, fourth…, then I consider it a privilege to do the same for you in his name.” This meeting forced the student to re-think her view of people and eventually was used to bring her to Christ.
- Questions that haunt you – Some questions we human beings have force us to conclude that what we’ve been taught about the world doesn’t address the big issues of life. Min Shigamatsu shared her testimony a few years ago about growing up in China in a largely atheist context. But Min was always haunted by the “causation question”, i.e., the matter of how everything started. She would ask her mother, “I know I came from you and you came from Grandma but where did the very first mom come from?” And Min asked this question repeatedly until finally Min was given a Bible. She opened it and read, “In the beginning, God created…” Min kept reading until she came to faith in Jesus, through whom all things are created.
- Realities that you can’t control – Some of you who here at LAC have had a fresh commitment to Jesus tell me that, for a long time, you felt were doing pretty well with your life, that you had everything under control. But, you came to a point when, perhaps for the first time, you didn’t get the job you wanted. You got a “Dear John” letter from your girlfriend who told you she is going to marry your best friend. You get the news that you have cancer. You begin to discover that life isn’t manageable on your own. Your view that you’re wise enough to control things and handle life by yourself is shaken. That’s a burning bush. You’ve got to turn aside and listen.
- Emptiness that seems unfillable – Have you ever had a sense that you’re made for something more than you’ve found? You dream of success and then you get what you were dreaming of. And, you discover it’s not all you thought it would be. This may be the most powerful burning bush of all.
Here in the entertainment capital of the world, Southern CA, those few who actually do make it to the top of their professions often face this burning bush. And what we often see if that the most successful people in this material world become the most miserable people. They got what they thought life was all about and found themselves empty. Maybe you’ve been there. It’s a hard moment but it’s also one of great opportunity. Times like those are messages to you that there is something more to live for than can be found in this material world.
Has God come to you via any burning bushes like these? If so, you have to turn aside from what you usually do and take time to listen. Is God saying something to you today? Is he reaching out to you today? You must stop – and listen to hear the voice of God.
And, here I must add a word to long-time churchgoers – to those who have already come to God through faith in Jesus. Let me tell you that there is still more to be experienced with God than you have up to now. Even those of us who have come alive to God through faith in Jesus can get stuck in the rut of living life without being directed by God. I’ve found that for Christians, going deeper in our walks with God often involves regular disruptions of the kind that Moses experienced.
Sometimes, we’ve been to church for many years and maybe even to a Christian school. We can fool ourselves into thinking that we know all there is to be known about God. Then, perhaps you lose your job. You get a bad health report. You go to church and God’s Word is opened and God disrupts you and says, “I have plan and purpose for you.” It feels like he is speaking just to you – though many people are around you. It’s a “burning bush” moment.
Don’t run from burning bush moments. It may be God saying, “I have something new to do in your life.”
#2: When you meet God, you need to say yes to him. Take off your sandals… (3:5).
Something happens from v. 4 to 5 that it seems almost contradictory. The LORD speaks from the bush and says, “Moses! Moses!” In Hebrew, when a word is doubled, it intensifies the word. A big mountain is “mountain, mountain” (har-har). If it’s a person, doubling the name deepens the intensity. Here, the Angel of the Lord in the bush calls, “Moses, Moses! I want to talk to you.” Moses replies, “Here I am.”
Then, immediately in v. 5, God says, “Do not come any closer.” Do you see it? “Moses, come close!” Then, “Moses, don’t come any closer. And, then comes the command, “Take off your sandals!”
In the ancient near east, people took off sandals for one of two reasons: 1) when they were invited into the tent of a friend, and, 2) when they were required to do it by a conquering enemy. Without sandals, the enemycould not run away into the rugged desert and escape.
The Perplexing Question:
What is God like? Is he a loving God who is ready to enter into a close relationship with people like us? Or is he a holy God who says we are unholy people who must surrender to him?
It’s clear God is both. He is loving and he is holy. To take off your shoes means you are ready to lay down your conditions. Notice that God doesn’t say, “I will meet you and then you can decide if you want to take off your shoes.” He says, “Take off your shoes and then I will meet you.” You and I must say, “God, I believe you are who you say you are. I am yours. I will follow you.”
We dare never forget that God is God. He announces in v.14, “I am who I am – not what you want me to be.” People in Sothern CA believe is being spiritual but we want a god we can shape as we want – like playdough. But God is the one who does the shaping. The real God – the God who is who he is – will redirect your life. He will tell you things you do not want to hear.
This is how it will always be. God will always be who he is. God will say to you as he said to Moses, “Moses, Moses!” (Put your name here!) I am ready to come to you. I know what you’ve done in your past. I am ready and able to forgive you. More than that, I am ready to give you a purpose-filled future. I am ready to give you a new life. But, I must be God for I am who I am.”
#3: You meet God when you meet Jesus. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am! (John 8:58).”
John 8:58 is a powerful declaration that Jesus made personally. He was speaking to a group of people who claimed to believe in him (see 8:31). But, it’s clear that they did not really believe in him, i.e., they had not met him, recognized who he was, and then surrendered their lives to him to follow him as Moses did. Bottom line: They thought he was a religious leader, a good Rabbi and maybe even a person God had sent to deliver them from slavery. They thought he was a Moses-type. But they did not think he was the one who had met Moses from the burning bush. Jesus declared, “I am the I am.”
Like many who go to church, they wanted to believe in Jesus to an extent without surrendering their lives in faith to Jesus. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus keeps making the same claim. “I have not come to ruin your life but to give your life (10:10) for I am who I am.” When you meet Jesus, you find him addressing and guiding you through the biggest issues of human existence. What did Jesus say?
- Are you hungering for something? I Am the Bread of Life (John 6:35-39)
- Are you searching for a place to belong? I Am the Door (John 10:1-10)
- Do you need hope? I Am the Light of the World (John 8:12-19)
- Are you searching for guidance? I Am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18)
- Does death take everything away? I Am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:24-27)
- Are you lost? I Am the Way,
Do you have unanswered questions? I am the Truth,
Are you really living? I am the Life (John 14:1-6)
- Will you ever change? I Am the True Vine (John 15:1-9)
Let’s stop there this week and let God speak to us. As always in the Bible, the most important questions in life lead to Jesus. To understand the kind of God revealed in Exodus 3 is, you must fix your eyes on Jesus – and that starts with fixing your mind on what he did intentionally for you on the cross. In Jesus, you see that God comes down to you out of love and says to you, “Moses, Moses – (insert your own name there) -- “You must take off your shoes for I am holy and you are not. But I love you. I have found a way to bring you to God. I am holy so the wages of your sin is death. At the same time, I love you so I will die in your place. Come in faith to me and I will bring you close to God. But, be ready to take off your shoes!”
The man who wrote the Gospel of John did that. He placed his faith in Jesus. Listen to his words:
The Word, the One through whom the world was made, became flesh and lived among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and has made him known…
I have written these things that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 1:14-18; 20:31).
I have preached this sermon for the same reason – that you may believe, follow Jesus and find life in his name. I pray God is speaking to you today. If so, I don’t want you to leave this place without having a “burning bush moment”, a moment to turn aside to listen to God’s voice. So, I want you to pull down your kneelers now and let me lead us in prayer…
Chinese Study Notes
耶穌的真實身份: 我是自有永有
出 3:1-15; 約 8:56-59
這個週末讓我們思想耶穌自己所宣稱的“耶穌的真實身份”。在約翰福音中,耶穌最少7次告訴我們他是誰:“我是。。。” 今年夏天我們會一周周逐個看他的宣謂。你將看見耶穌在每一個宣謂中都戳中了人類最深層的需要。
不過你可能會奇怪為什麼我們今天要以認識另一個人來開始這個系列,這個人雖是很久前的古人,卻和今天南加州的我們有關。他長在名門望族,接受了中東最好的教育,就像我們中一些在加州理工學習的人。有意思的是他還擅自執法 ,一天他看見有人被欺負而無人理會就出手殺了那欺負人的,從此也迫使他亡命米甸。https://rastafarirenaissance.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/negeb-mountains.jpg?w=665 我們再次看到他時,他已經娶妻生子。這個曾經位高權重的人竟然落荒40年,與岳父生活在一起,打點著岳父的生計,而年輕時所有的雄心壯志都煙飛雲散。他就是摩西。我們今天看到他時,他正到了何烈地界---意思是“荒涼之處”。在這一個意外的時間、意外的地點,他的生命竟然被改變了。
他看見荊棘似乎燒著了,並有聲音對他說話。他一定想:“怎麼荊棘竟然會認識我!” 而後發生的事改變了一切。我們看出埃及記第三章,我稱這章“摩西,遇見神!”這是一件真實的事情, 對神的百姓如此重要,以至於歷史上的藝術家都在努力解讀。看看17世紀多米尼哥.法蒂的名畫http://alhatorah.org/Media/2Shemot/03/Moshe%20at%20the%20Burning%20Bush%20in%20Art/Feti.jpg以及巴黎聖母院的彩窗:
發生在摩西身上的事如此重要,幾乎與我們每個人的問題相關:真有神嗎?如果有,他是什麼樣子?如果我遇見他,在我身上會發生什麼?
摩西遇見的這位神是誰?
摩西是幼年時從他的猶太媽媽那裡瞭解神的,但在何烈山,他真實地遇見了神,而這件事改變了他的生命。就這樣,神從荒蕪的何烈差派摩西返回他成長的埃及皇宮。你看,神讓摩西在權力的花園成長有其目的:摩西懂那裡的語言、瞭解那裡的生活。現在,他生命中有一個目的(神也給你)。摩西是神所揀選、預備的,要帶神的百姓出離被奴役之地。不過,摩西對這個呼召還有一個大問題。
摩西對神說:“我 到 以 色 列 人 那 裡 , 對 他 們 說 : 你 們 祖 宗 的 神 打 發 我 到 你 們 這 裡 來 。 他 們 若 問 我 說 : 他 叫 甚 麼 名 字 ? 我 要 對 他 們 說 甚 麼 呢 ?”神 對 摩 西 說 :“ 我 是 自 有 永 有 的” ; 又 說 :“ 你 要 對 以 色 列 人 這 樣 說 : 那 自 有 的 打 發 我 到 你 們 這 裡 來”(出3:14)。
當你問神說“你是誰”, 而他回答“我是自有永有”,意味著什麼?遇見神並認識神的所是改變了摩西的生命。我們今夏就會好好思想,遇見“自有永有”的那一位將如何改變我們生命的每一部分。
今天讓我們問:我們從摩西遇見神的事件中學到了什麼?
#1: 當你遇見神時,常常因為一件奇特的事. 我 要 過 去 看 這 大 異 象 (3:3).
在出埃及記第三章,摩西並不是一早出去就說:“今天我要尋求神”。相反,他是在平凡生活中遇見神。3:3節原文意思是有意識地放棄通常做的,因著某些事的介入打破日常生活模式。就是這一天,摩西因為看見異象,就離開了他日常的畜牧工作。他看見燃燒卻沒有被燒壞的荊棘,選擇了離開他的舒適區---而這,成為了他的新開始。
對許多人而言,這種燃燒的荊棘是遇見神的第一步。只要你呆在自己的舒適區,做你日常做的,你就會忽視生命中最重要的事---比如,是否有一個神為著一個計畫造你;而你有一天要站在他面前。
也許有一天你會厭倦,就說:“我為什麼做現在做的這一切?我生命的意義是什麼?”這些是重要的問題!但可能這時有人過來請你喝咖啡,然後你又忘了大事。
日常生活會使你呆在舒適的地方。那什麼是“燃燒荊棘”的時刻? “燃燒荊棘”就是要打破你在世上看為正常的事和你一成不變的生活方式。
Steve Cunningham博士 是一位不相信神跡的科學家。後來,他看見了一個神跡,他無法解釋他所看見的,而他所看見的讓他認識到他的世界觀不足夠解釋真實的事,從而他的思想轉變了---對他而言,這就是“燃燒荊棘”時刻。“燃燒荊棘”其實就是把你從循規蹈矩的追求和習慣中拖出來,呼召你去想天地間的大事。我們人類不太會在某天早晨就覺悟說:“我今天30歲了,最好尋求神吧!” 不會的,除非什麼事把你帶離出舒適區。
什麼樣的事可以轉變我們?什麼樣的事會讓我們對生命想得更深刻一些?有時,我們會像摩西或Steve Cunninghamm面對神跡,但我要建議一些其它方法使你注意到神:
- 與眾不同的人 –有時,有一些人進入你的生命中,彰顯了神的改變的能力。我常常聽到有人見證說在高中或大學信主是因為遇到了與眾不同的人---就是愛他們、原諒他們、給他們第二次機會的人,而別人做不到。普林斯頓大學的一個學生說,她在高中遇到這樣的一個老師,於是問老師:“您為什麼和別人不同?” 那個老師說:“因為我信耶穌。” 學生說:“我覺得去教會的人都是自以為義和有負面情緒的。” 老師卻說:“當我知道耶穌瞭解我、愛我、原諒我,一次次給我機會時,我就想奉他的名對你做同樣的事。”這一次談話使這個學生再思人生觀,最終來到基督面前。
- 揮之不去的問題 –有一些問題迫使我們得出結論,就是我們對世界的知識不能回答人生的大問題。鐘民幾年前分享了她的見證,她是在中國無神論背景中長大,但她常被“起源的問題”所困擾,就是萬物如何開始的。她問媽媽:“你生我,姥姥生你,那誰生的第一個媽媽?” 她一直問這樣的問題,直到一天有人給了她聖經。她打開來讀道:“起初,神創造。。。”, 於是她繼續讀下去,遇見了創造萬物的真神耶穌。
- 無法左右的現實–教會裡有一些很委身主的人告訴我說,從前你覺得一生平順,凡事都在掌控中,但有一次,也許有生來第一次你沒有得到你想要的工作;你收到了女朋友的信說她要和你最好的朋友結婚;你知道你患了癌症---你意識到人生並非在你手中;你感到以前胸有成竹、駕馭萬事的智慧不再----這就是“燃燒荊棘”,你要回轉聆聽!
- 不能填滿的空虛 –你是否感覺到你的欲望超過你的想像?你夢想成功,然而得到了那成功後卻發現並非如你所想---這可能就是最猛烈的“燃燒荊棘”。
這裡是南加州,世界娛樂業的中心,但那些為數不多到了金字塔尖的人常常面對“燃燒荊棘”。我們常常看到在物質世界最成功的人也是最悲慘的人。他們得到了想要的生活卻發現那不過是虛空。這樣的事情告訴你生命中還有比物質世界更多的東西。
神有沒有藉著這樣的燃燒荊棘來到你生命中?如果是這樣,你需要從你日常的經營回轉,花時間來聽。今天神有沒有對你說什麼?有沒有觸動你?你一定要停下來聽神的聲音!
我也要對因信得救常來教會的信徒說幾句,你們還有比迄今為止更多的機會經歷神。就算我們這些在信之人依然會不顧神的引導而囿於枯燥的生命,就算與神親近的基督徒也會不時陷入摩西的經歷。
你可能去了教會、主日學許多年,就自我欺騙,以為認識了神。然後有一天,或許你忽然失去了工作,或許體檢出了問題;這時你來到教會,聽見神對你說:“我在你身上有目的和計畫”。儘管你周圍有許多人,但就像神只對你一人在說話,這就是“燃燒荊棘”的時刻。
不要逃避“燃燒荊棘”的時刻,也許神正在說:“我要在你生命中行新事”。
#2: 當你遇見神的時候,要對他說 yes. 脫下你的鞋… (3:5).
第4節到5節有一些矛盾地方。主從荊棘裡說:“摩西,摩西!” 希伯來文中一個詞出現兩次表示強調,比如“山,山”意味著大山;這裡主的使者在荊棘裡喊摩西,意味著強調性地要針對摩西說話。摩西回應:“我在這裡”;神卻立即說“不要近前來!” 看見了嗎?要摩西近前來說話,接著又不讓他靠近---原來神要命令他:“脫下你的鞋子”。
在古代近東,人會為兩個原因脫去鞋子: 1)當他們受邀去一個朋友的帳篷;2)當他們被征服者命令去做。沒有鞋,人是無法在坎坷的曠野逃跑的。
令人困惑的問題:
神是哪樣的神呢?是慈愛的神,預備進入我們生命中與我們有親近的關係呢?還是聖潔的神,要我們這些不聖潔的人降伏於他呢?
很明顯,神兩樣都是,既是慈愛的又是聖潔的。脫掉你的鞋子意味著你要放下你現在的生活。 注意 神並沒有說, “我要見你,那時你決定是否脫掉鞋。” 神說:“脫掉你的鞋,我才會見你。” 你我一定說: “神啊,我信你就是你宣稱的那一位,我屬你,我要順服你”。
我們不敢忘記神就是神。在14節他宣稱:“我是自有永有---不是你想像的。” 南加州的人也信神靈,但卻以為神是我們可以想像的,就如橡皮泥可以隨意捏。神卻可以塑造我們,自有永有的真神要重塑我們的生命,他要告訴你未曾聽說的事。
這才是真相,神就是神。神要像對摩西那樣也對你說話,“我要就近你,我知道你的過去,我要赦免你,還要給你一個充滿意義的將來。我要給你新生命,但我要你知道我是神,我是自有永有的那一位。”
#3: 當你遇見耶穌時就遇見了神. 耶穌說, “有亞伯拉罕之前,我就存在了! (約8:58).”
約翰福音8:58節是耶穌個人性的有力宣言,他向一群自稱信他的人說話,但顯然他們並不真信。他們沒有經歷他、認識他,沒有像摩西一樣交出自己的主權降伏於他。他們的底線是:這人是一個宗教領袖,好老師,也許是神派遣的領他們出離奴役的一個人,就像另一個摩西。他們不知道他就是摩西在燃燒荊棘那裡遇見的神,正是耶穌宣稱“我是自有永有。”
一些人去教會只是作信徒,不想憑信把自己的生命交給耶穌。在約翰福音中,耶穌不斷宣告:我來不是要毀了你的生活,而要讓你的生命更豐盛,因為我是自有永有。當你遇見耶穌時,你會發現他引導你和帶領你解決了人類自身存在的最大問題。 耶穌說了什麼?
- 你對某些事饑渴麼? 我是生命的糧 (約 6:35-39)
- 你在尋求歸宿麼? 我就是門 (約 10:1-10)
- 你需要盼望麼? 我是世上的光 (約 8:12-19)
- 你尋求引領麼? 我是好牧人 (約 10:11-18)
- 死亡會拿去一切麼? 我是生命,我是復活 (John 11:24-27)
- 你迷失了麼? 我就是道路,
你有回答不了的問題麼? 我就是真理,
你在真實活著麼? 我就是生命 (約 14:1-6)
- 你改變過麼? 我是真葡萄樹 (約 15:1-9)
讓我們這周停下來聽神說話,就像聖經所顯明的,生命最重要的問題會將我們引向耶穌。要明白神在出埃及3章的啟示,就必須轉眼仰望耶穌,開始心靈重整,成就耶穌在十字架上對你的計畫。在耶穌裡,你看見神以慈愛下來對你說:“你要脫下鞋,因為我是聖潔的而你不是。但我愛你,我就是道路,引領你到神面前。我是聖潔的,所以罪的工價就是死;但我又是慈愛的,所以我來替你死。來,相信我,我要把你帶到神那裡。不過,要準備脫去你的鞋子!”
寫約翰福音的人這樣做了,他信了耶穌,聽了他的話:
道 成 了 肉 身 , 住 在 我 們 中 間 , 充 充 滿 滿 的 有 恩 典 有 真 理 。 我 們 也 見 過 他 的 榮 光 , 正 是 父 獨 生 子 的 榮 光 。 約 翰 為 他 作 見 證 , 喊 著 說 : 「 這 就 是 我 曾 說 : 『 那 在 我 以 後 來 的 , 反 成 了 在 我 以 前 的 , 因 他 本 來 在 我 以 前 。 』 」 從 他 豐 滿 的 恩 典 裡 , 我 們 都 領 受 了 , 而 且 恩 上 加 恩 。 律 法 本 是 藉 著 摩 西 傳 的 ; 恩 典 和 真 理 都 是 由 耶 穌 基 督 來 的 。 從 來 沒 有 人 看 見 神 , 只 有 在 父 懷 裡 的 獨 生 子 將 他 表 明 出 來 。
但 記 這 些 事 要 叫 你 們 信 耶 穌 是 基 督 , 是 神 的 兒 子 , 並 且 叫 你 們 信 了 他 , 就 可 以 因 他 的 名 得 生 命 。(約 1:14-18; 20:31).
我講這篇道是為著同樣的原因,為使你相信、跟隨耶穌,因他的名找到生命。我祈求神今天對你們說話。若是這樣,我盼望你們今天每個人都得著那“燃燒荊棘”的時刻,就是轉而聆聽神聲音的時刻。我要你們跪下隨著我禱告。。。
Small Group Questions
Read John 6:35-39
- Jesus said “I am the bread of life.” He spoke this in response to the people who asked him to always give them this bread. What does Jesus response tell us?
- Jesus also said that those who come to him and believe in him will not hunger or thirst. What do you understand this to mean?
- In verse 36, Jesus said that he was standing right in front of them and yet they did not believe. Have you ever tried to share the Gospel with someone and they refused to believe no matter what you did? How does this passage help you?
- In verses 38-40, Jesus tells us the purpose for which he came down from heaven. Articulate in your own words what you understand that purpose to be.
- How should an understanding of “Jesus is the bread of life” work its way out of the life of a believer?