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GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
June 23, 2001 RADIO MESSAGE #377
Christ in Exodus #70
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The four blessings bestowed by Christ to Moses in the present text are identical to those He bestows to believers today.
I. "You have found grace in My sight" (v.12). God's grace is His unmerited favor to sinners, who otherwise merit only His wrath (Romans 3:23; 6:23). This blessing is sovereignly bestowed, as He declares "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" (v.19), while at the same time dealing in wrath with all others (Romans 9:15, 16, 18). This is the first of God's blessings to His people, and the reason for all other blessings (note the order in vv.13a, 17). For example, Noah was delivered from destruction in the deluge which destroyed the world because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). This blessing also recurs throughout the life of a saint (note its second occurrence in v.13). For example, Lot was "righteous" when he dwelt in Sodom (2 Peter 2:7), but he afterward was delivered from the destruction which befell that city because he found grace and increased mercy in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 19:19).
Likewise, believers today have found grace in Christ's sight. We are told so in the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:1-6, which has its greater fulfillment in the church of Christ. They who found grace in God's sight while in the wilderness (v.2) are told they were loved by God with an eternal love (v.3a), and therefore drawn by God to Himself (v.3b), and therefore made to prosper (vv.4-6).
II. "I know you by name" (v.12). Christ by virtue of His deity is omniscient, knowing all things and persons (Colossians 2:3; John 2:24). It therefore should not surprise us that He knew Moses' name at the burning bush (Genesis 3:4). But He furthermore knew Moses in a special manner: not as a mere acquaintance, but as one to whom He "spoke ... face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (v.11; Numbers 12:7f).
Likewise, Christ knows believers today by name. He knows them by name because they belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1; John 10:3, 14). (Indeed, this knowledge of them is the very seal of the "solid foundation of God" [2 Timothy 2:19].) He has known them by name from eternity past, when their names were inscribed in His Book of Life (Revelation 13:8). They therefore will not be among those of whom He will say at the last day, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:21-23).
III. "My presence will go with you" (v.14). Christ is omnipresent by virtue of His deity, for which reason He is identified as "Him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). But He here refers to His special presence as the "Angel of Jehovah's Presence" Who had already in love and pity saved and redeemed Moses at the Red Sea, and Who would bear and carry him all the rest of his life (Isaiah 63:9). This special presence of Christ distinguished Moses and Israel from the other nations (vv.15-17; cp. Deuteronomy 4:7, 34).
Likewise, the presence of Christ goes with believers today. This is the fulfillment of His promise just prior to His resurrection (Matthew 28:20): "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Although Christ with regard to His humanity is presently in heaven, His special presence is nevertheless with His people in the person of His Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18). (See also Acts 18:10a & 23:11.) The same "Angel of Jehovah's Presence" who led Moses in Old Covenant times does the same for His saints in these New Covenant times as their Shepherd (Psalm 23).
IV. "I will give you rest" (v.14). This was not that physical rest which Christ promised Israel would find in Canaan (Deuteronomy 12:9f; 25:19a). Moses did not enter into that rest (Deuteronomy 34:1-5). Rather, this rest is part of the "reward" Moses received through forsaking the world and coming to Christ (Hebrews 11:24-27).
Likewise, believers today receive the same rest. Christ exhorts us to "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" &@150; "rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28f). This rest is that of peace and tranquillity in the soul, the assurance of salvation and justification through the righteousness of Christ.
Moses of old, and believers today, have received all these blessings through faith in Christ. Will you receive them?