The Ministry of Life for the Body, Message 5

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body, Week 5

Being a Qualified Servant of God by Having the Complete Experience of a Called One

In the last 3 messages, we have learned a lot about how to deal with ourselves, starting from our natural constitution, our heart and our spirit. These are the crucial steps for the preparation of our life to be usable to God. However, before we start serving Him, we need another important step. We need to see God's revelation first.

Please note that this revelation does not refer to God's appearance in visions or dreams with clear instructions of what to do. It is great if you have that kind of experience, but that is not necessary for the start of your services for Him. In order to serve God effectively, we must first see His clear revelation in the bible regarding what we are to God, who He is, and who/what our enemies are.

Sun Tzu writes in his recipe of how to win a battle that, "one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles." Likewise, as a soldier in the spiritual warfare, if we have a right understanding about ourselves, our God and our enemies, we will never lose any battle.

Parenthetically, if we observe the pattern of the apostle Paul's writing, particularly the books of Romans and Ephesians, we will see that he also realises this. He usually teaches about our "position" first, and then our "practice." Our "being" must precede our "doing." Our "condition" must come before our "conduct." He dedicates the first 11 chapters in the book of Romans, and the first 3 chapters in the book of Ephesians to affirm the truth about who and whose we are in Christ. Only when he finishes this, he then starts writing many practical instructions in Romans 12-16 and Ephesians 4-6. This is because our "doing" must be shaped and energised by our "being," not the other way round.

Are you ready to see the revelation now? We are going to learn something about the calling of Moses in Exodus 3-4, which is perhaps the longest calling in the bible. And in these 2 chapters, God reveals some important things that we need to know before serving Him.

I'm sure you have heard this story for many times, as I have. And I learned new things almost every time I read or listened to the teachings from this story. In this message, I'm going to pick up only 3 points from the story. I hope that you will get some new practical points from this message.

A revelation of what we are to God.

And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2 NKJV)

At the age of 80 years old, Moses encounters Christ (the Angel of the LORD) as the flame of fire in a bush, while he was tending his flock. The bush was burning with fire, but not consumed by it. It is a great revelation of God to Moses.

What does this revelation mean to Moses and to us? I have never thought about this before. I thought it was just a revelation of God in an attractive way to draw Moses' attention. However, it is not just a different way of God's revelation. It teaches us some lessons about what we are to Him.

The word "bush" here is likely to be a "thorn-bush," as rendered by the Recovery Version. It represents the fallen "man."

If you remember, thorns and thistles are the curse from God, resulting from the fall of man (Genesis 3:17-18). On the third day of creation, God created grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit (Genesis 1:11). God intended the fruit tree to be fruitful. But instead of bearing fruit, it now also bears thorns and thistles.

Since the fall, we have also been cursed because of sin. We are like a thorn-bush, which can bear no fruit. Without God, we are nothing. We can do nothing to please God. Even the best deed we can do, it is no better than just a filthy rags in His eyes (Isaiah 64:6).

I think Moses knows this very well. He used to try saving his people by killing an Egyptian. He might have done a right thing, as God wanted to deliver His people from the oppression in the Egypt. But he obviously did it in a wrong way. He relied on his own strength to serve God in his own way. He looked to the right, to the left, to the front, and to the back. But he missed one thing, which is the most important. He did not look up to the heaven where God is. He trusted in his own natural constitution without asking God what to do and how to do. Consequently, he had to spend the following 40 years in the wilderness, working as a lowly shepherd. And he now is about 80 years old when he encounters God. He is at the age of a grandpa or great grandpa, and it may not be a good idea to start a big project in his life. He now has no enough strength to fight anyone. He thinks he has only a few years left in his life, as he perceives that it is not easy to live up to the age of 80 years (Psalm 90:10). It should not be difficult for him to realise that he is just a thorn-bush.

Given that we are just a thorn-bush, does it mean that we are worthless? By no means. We are not worthy for His love and favour at all. But the vision that Moses sees has something in the midst of the thorn-bush. It is "a flame of fire," which represents the holy God Himself, as fire signifies the holiness of God. God is the One who dwells in the bush (Deuteronomy 33:16). The holy and great God is in the midst of the fallen, sinful and lowly man!  We, the thorn-bush, have God, the fire, burning within us. God and us become one. This can happen because of God's grace, which is defined as "undeserved love," "unmerited favour," or "God's Riches At Christ's Expenses." The Son of God became the Son of Man, so that the sons of man can now become the sons of God. God and man can now become one through the redemptive work of Christ at the cross! What a wonderful truth it is! What a gracious God we have!

Yes, Moses has nothing to boast about at that time. His natural constitution has been broken down during the 40 years in the desert. However, he is still usable to God, and, as the bible tells us, he is going to be one of God's greatest servants throughout history. This can happen because he, a thorn-bush, has the holy God burning within him. And so have we! We have God burning within us. If only we let God terminate our natural constitution and bring it to the resurrection, God can do great things through us as the corporate thorn-bush. This is our privilege to co-operate and co-ordinate with Him in His move on earth. Even though God does not need our ability or capability to accomplish His work, He chooses to work through us! Would you like God to do great things through you today?

Moreover, we can see that even though the fire is burning in the midst of the bush, the bush is not consumed. This fact teaches us that the fire is not using the thorn-bush as fuel. God Himself is the fuel of the fire. Our job is just to be what God created us to be - a vessel of honour through which God manifests Himself to others for His glory.

I have heard some real stories about the enthusiastic ones who had actively served the Lord until they eventually became burned-out. They then stopped all the services for Him. Some of them even stopped following the Lord. This may be implied that they used their own natural constitution as fuel in the services for the Lord. That is not a right way to serve the Lord. We need to rely on God Himself as the source of energy, and we will thereby never be burned-out.

A revelation of who God is.

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
¹⁵ Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' (Exodus 3:14-15 NKJV)

Praise the Lord that He reveals Himself to man. We can never know anything about God unless He graciously tells us who He is. And here He tells Moses that He is "I AM WHO I AM," in verse 14, which also is the meaning of His name "YHWH" (the written name of Israel's God), "Yahweh" (the likely pronunciation of YHWH), or "Jahovah" (the consonants YHWH plus the vowels of adonai, which means "lord" or "master" and is used instead of "YHWH" when the Jews read the Scripture) in verse 15. Most modern bible translations use the word the "LORD" in capital letters instead. This is the first time that God made Himself known by name. In relationship to the creation, He is called "Elohim." But here, His name in relationship with man is revealed.

"I AM WHO I AM" may be translated as "I will be who I will be" or "I will become who I will become." He is the great "I AM," who is self-existing, and ever-existing. He was in the past, He is in the present, and He will always be in the future. He is the uncaused cause, depending on nothing apart from Himself. He is the all-inclusive One. He is the reality of all positive things on this earth. If only we have Him, we will need nothing else. As the psalmist says in one of my favourite psalms that, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You; My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:25-26 NKJV)

Moreover, He further explains that He is "The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."  He is God of the living, or God of resurrection (Matthew 22:29-33). And praise the Lord that all of us who are in Christ has already been crucified, buried, and resurrected with Christ. Therefore we must be and do everything in resurrection for the building up of the body.

A revelation of what our enemies are.

He have already learned about our side, God and us. Now we are going to learn about what or who our enemies are.

In Exodus chapter 4, God reveals 3 miraculous signs for Pharaoh to Moses. These are not just 3 miracles. They also teach us about the 3 battlefronts of Christian life: Satan, the flesh, and the world.

1. The rod becoming serpent

² So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
³ And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),
⁵ "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." (Exodus 4:2-5 NKJV)

What does Moses use the rod for? As a shepherd, he uses it for his work. He needs the rod and staff for the guidance and the protection of the flock. But when he casts it on the ground, it be comes a serpent, which represents Satan.

This miracle teaches us that Satan is one of the battlefronts of Christian life. He rarely appears in a scary form as some may think. He usually uses something good or persuasive to draw our attention from God. Our work or business may replace God in our priority. God uncovers that Satan is behind this scheme.

What should we do then? We need not to quit the job, or throw away all the instruments we have. But we need to keep in mind that  we need to handle it carefully. As God shows that the serpent becomes a rod again when Moses takes it by the tail, all things can be used for God's glory if we deal with it properly.

2. The hand becoming leprous

⁶ Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.
⁷ And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. (Exodus 4:6-7 NKJV)

This miracle reveals the nature of our flesh, the second battlefront of our life. When Moses takes his hand out from his bosom, it becomes leprous. This signifies that the essence of our flesh is sin. It is the constitution of sin, rottenness, and corruption.

That is why the bible strongly warns us that we are not to walk in the flesh. On the contrary, we are to walk in Spirit. And God has made this possible to us by the finished work of Christ and by the power of the indwelling Spirit within us. We are now free from the law of sin and death, as we are walking according to the Spirit. Let's be spiritually-minded so that we may obtain life and peace! (cf. Romans 8:1-6)

3. The water becoming blood

⁸ "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.
⁹ And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land." (Exodus 4:8-9 NKJV)

Nile is the river that waters Egypt, providing the richness to the land. It signifies this world that entertains us and becomes the enjoyment to many people. But what is its real nature? In it nature, the world, our third battlefront, is just like the blood of death, which poisons us or even kills us. We must not be distracted by the persuasiveness of this world, "for all that is in the world --- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life --- is not of the Father but is of the world." (1 John 2:16 KJV) But let's find true enjoyment only in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, we are to be aware of the 3 battlefronts, but we need not to fear them. Christ has already had victory over all of them. Christ has already had absolute victory over Satan, world and flesh. All we need to do is just to trust in Him, rely on His strength and power, and defeat the enemies! This may be a lifelong process. But believe me that we will ultimately have the absolute victory over them when we will reign with Christ forever!

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body, week 5.

• The Holy Bible Recovery Version, Footnotes of Exodus 3:14-15 and Genesis 2:4.

• Bridgeway Bible Commentary on Exodus 3:13-22.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)