You can only title this next passage, "I AM." This is Exodus 3:13-18.
Then Moses said to God, "If I come 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." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: 'The LORD, the 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 thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey." ' And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'
Perhaps they would remember God's promises to make them a great nation and to deliver them to their own land. But here's the rub. In Pharaoh's way of thinking, "What God, worthy of respect, would identify himself with these lowly slaves, and if he did, why would he think for a moment that Pharaoh would listen to what he is asking?" You see, there's trouble on the horizon that you would only ever be willing to step into if you do believe that you are a chosen child of the eternal covenant-keeping LORD, the I AM, the LORD of heaven and earth; and you believe that he will be with you and unleash his power for your good. You see, if you're ever going to follow God, you have to have two things in place, his identity and your identity.
As a child of God today, that God is for you who he said he is to Moses. Do you believe that he is who he says you are? Is your life shaped by a deep trust in his existence, his unchanging character, his promises, his power, and his grace? Does that form your thoughts and desires, your words, your choices, your behavior? Do you panic when you see trouble down the road as if you were facing it all by yourself? You see, Exodus preaches to us the truth of God's presence, the gospel of his unchanging trustworthiness, the gospel of his promises, the gospel of his power. All of these things point us to Christ who came so that we would inherit God's promises, live in his presence, and be enabled by his power. In Christ, we are the Israel of God. The I AM is with us and for us forever!
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. What has typically shaped the way you think about God and his character? What have been the lenses by which you view him and his way of relating and connecting with you? Your circumstances? Your upbringing? Your personal thoughts and/or experiences? Church? Scripture? Other people/believers? What kinds of conclusions have you come to about the character of God as a result of those lenses?
2. As you consider what the Bible teaches about how God relates to his children, how has that either lined up or been in contrast to your personal perspective on God's thoughts and feelings toward you? Why is it so important to consistently come back to Scripture in order to understand the truth about God's posture toward you as his child?
3. Would you say that your life has been shaped by a deep trust in God's existence, his unchanging character, his promises, his power, and his grace? Why or why not? How does your trust or lack of trust in him shape your thoughts and desires, your words, your choices, your behavior? Would you say that your trust in him directly impacts those parts of your life? If not, why not? Do you panic when you see trouble down the road as if you were facing it all by yourself?
4. How can you always rest confidently in the fact that God is with you and for you? What can you proactively do to remind yourself of those biblical truths? Who can you surround yourself with to remind you of those biblical truths?
5. In what ways are you preaching the gospel of his unchanging trustworthiness, his promises, his presence, and his power to yourself? Why is there comfort in the fact that we are, in Christ, the Israel of God?
For Younger Children:
1. What does it mean that God is always with us and for us? How can we know that he is always with and for us?
2. How do I feel about you as my child? How, then, do you think God feels about us as his children?
3. Why does Jesus help us see for sure how God feels about us?
For Older Children:
1. Why do you think it's so easy for us to get mixed up about who God is and how he feels about us? If we feel something that's different from the way the Bible talks about the truths of God, what should we believe? Why?
2. What typically makes you panic or get really anxious? If you knew that God was always present with you as you went through life, would that change anything about your anxiety?
3. Why does Jesus help us see for sure how God feels about us?
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