series: Exodus #
verse: Exodus 14:15-31 #
Main Idea: #
True freedom is to live on the boundary of goodness. How do we escape the enslavery of sin and ourselves? God didn’t just deliver the Israelites to be freed from the Egyptians. He rescued them for the purpose of being God’s people. It wasn’t the power of the Israelites that brought their salvation. It was by walking in the path that God has opened for them.
There are three ways to escape from our daily burdens and burdens to a life of true freedom that God has designed. #
We escape not by finding our own way, but by following the correct voice #
In verses 15-18, we find that the Israelites are paralyzed by fear and overwhelmed. It’s important to note that during this time, Moses drowned out the noise and focused his attention on God. Oftentimes, it’s not that we “stop listening to God”, rather that we pay too much attention to the outside voices in our minds and hearts. We need to stop trusting ourselves and trying to lead our own lives. Unfortunately, this is the cultural phenomeon of today, but it’s not the virtue to follow. Isaiah says that “our heart is deceitful” and that it will steer us in the wrong direction. No matter how much you may think you’re righteous and kind-hearted, we are shaped by sin and is driven by fear and secularity. Stop leaning on your own understandings. True freedom comes from putting all trust away from yourself and placing it on God.
We escape not by dodging danger, but by walking through it #
God doesn’t offer escapes from danger. He allows us to go through struggles and stands by us at every turn. It reminds us that he’s an omniprescent God that is constantly protecting us. Humans are, to a fault, calculating and kniving, and we try to minimize failure, embarassment, etc. to the greatest extent of our ability. But this plagues our decision making and also places way too much importance on how we are perceived by others rather than God. But we must trust that we are capable of difficult things, and that God is always by our side during every step of the way. If you walk with God, but never do anything risky or lean into discomfort, ask yourself, “Have I settled into a type of lifestyle that avoids the Red Sea in its entirety?”. The God who saves, is also a God who leads us through the impossible. We don’t want to keep chasing comfort, but instead a genuine relationship and trust in God.
We escape not by seeing less, but by seeing God clearly #
The Israelites didn’t just emerge from the Red Sea unscathed. They observed the Egyptians that were in pursuit and saw their deaths. It demonstrated to the people of Israel that it could have been them that were dead in the water. God isn’t just powerful, he is holy and faithful. Seeing the effects of his mercy helps us see that God is not only victorious over death, but also over all of our shortcomings. This is why we must look to the Cross and the life of Jesus. Jesus took the wrath in our place, so that we would no longer be a slave to death. We often forget what Jesus delivered us from, and we minimize his impact in our lives. We need to keep opening our eyes to see the glory of the one who truly saved us. We are incapable of fully serving God without this vision. A heart of service will follow suit as a natural consequence of truly believing and understand this.
Call to action #
Keep listening for God, keep walking through the valley with God, and keep looking toward God. God sent his one and only son to die on the Cross. And he wasn’t sent to be beside us, but he took our place.