CWC Old Testament Lesson Easter Sunday - KB Kuschel
Exodus 15:1-12
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
Reminders of Easter: Flowers, Eggs, Rabbits, Butterflies,
Moses and the Red Sea???
IA1 Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years. They had become forced laborers who built the pyramids and other public works projects. God sent the ten plagues to convince the Pharaoh to let them leave Egypt. Pharaoh let them go.
2 Israel began the journey away. Pharaoh changed his mind. Pharaoh’s chariots and army came charging after Israel. Israel was caught between the enemy army and the Red Sea.
B1 Who are the enemies in your life? Sometimes people are. We are being inundated with anti-bullying presentations. Why? Because people do bad things to other people. Their actions hurt us physically. Their words hurt us emotionally. Their opposition hurts us spiritually.
2 Who is the worst enemy in your life? You are. Why? Listen to St Paul. Rom 7:19 What I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing.”
3 Who is another enemy? The devil. His whole purpose is to disconnect you from your relationship with Jesus. Listen to Peter: 1 Pet 5:8 Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
4 Who is the last enemy we should mention? This enemy shuts down our bodies. This enemy wants to put an end to our existence. Listen to Paul 1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy.... is death.
C1 Jesus engaged all our enemies. People like the Pharisees tried to get Him to sin by backing Him into a corner. It never worked. He never caved in. They did. The confrontations always ended like this. Luke 20:40 No one dared to ask him any more questions.
2 The devil did his best to get Jesus to sin. None of the temptations were successful. They always ended the same way. Matt 4:11 Then the devil left him.”
3 Jesus died. That’s what we commemorated on Friday. But today we are reminded. Rom 6:9 Death no longer has mastery over Christ.”
D1 Why was Jesus of Nazareth able to overcome all of our enemies? Because Jesus of Nazareth is the LORD. The LORD has become our salvation. How do we know that for sure? Because of His resurrection. Human beings aren’t strong enough to conquer temptations to sin from other people or the devil. Human beings can’t conquer death. Only God can. So St Paul wrote:Rom1:4 He was declared with power to be the the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 There is a practical, spiritual consequence for us because Jesus conquered all our spiritual enemies. It means that those enemies can’t dish out the consequences of our sins: We can’t be judged guilty and sentenced to punishment. How do we know that? Jesus resurrection proves that His work to wash away our guilt was successful. God declares us to be “Not Guilty” because of the work of Jesus. : Listen to Paul once more: Rom 4:25 Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
He is not here. He has risen. The LORD has become our Salvation.
Sing Hymn 152:1-3
IIA1 What did the LORD do to become salvation for Moses and the Israelites? 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. Because of God’s action Moses and Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry land.
2 But He acted again. 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Thus the words: The LORD has become my salvation.
B1 The LORD has also acted in order to become our salvation. The first thing He did was take on Himself our humanity. He had to do that. In order to engage our enemies for us He had to be in exactly the situation in which we are when they engage us.
2 Then as a real human being He could experience being trapped in a situation where both options offered to us are sin. Then He could experience real doubt about God’s desire and ability to care for us. Then He could experience real desire to focus on what we can see and touch rather than the supernatural, spiritual world. Jesus did experience all that. And He never sinned. So He can cover us with His holiness and make us acceptable to God.
3 As a real human being He could experience death and separation from God for us, so that God could justly free us from that punishment for our sins, because we have already suffered it in our Substitute Jesus.
C1 Last week when you were in that situation where your two choices were to either lie or hurt somebody, how come you didn’t do either? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He gave you the wisdom to figure it out.
2 Last week when the devil was trying to convince you that God doesn’t care about you since He has again let you experience chest pain and shortness of breath, how come you still are convinced that God loves you? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He gave you the strength to overcome that doubt.
3 Sometime in the future when physical death grabs you, how come you are going to be able to continue to live forever? Because you are connected to Jesus, and He will allow you to continue to live forever with Him.
D1 Do we have any proof that Jesus can grant us this unending life? Yes. He resurrection. Jesus said: John 14;19: Because I live, you also will live. John 11:25: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
2 Do we have any proof that Jesus can grant us the wisdom and strength to live out our relationship with Him appropriately? Yes. His resurrection. Rom 6:5 If we have been united with Christ in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
He is not here. He has risen. The LORD has become our Salvation.
Sing Hymn 152:4 & 5
IIIA1 How did Moses and the Israelites respond to what God had done? 15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? They responded with words of praise.
2 Moses and the Israelites also responded by continuing on their journey back to Palestine. Why did they do that? Because God told them to. They responded with actions of obedience.
B1 How do we respond to what God has done for us? With our words of praise. When I ask people, “Why do you come to worship Jesus every week?” the first answer I usually get is “Because I want to hear the Word of God and stay locked in to Jesus.” As the game show host says, “Good answer.”
2 There is another equally important answer. When you sing and say, “2 “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, all the rest of the people present hear that. The Christians are reminded by you that Jesus lived and died and rose for them. That is why the LORD has become their salvation. That reminder is used by the Holy Spirit to lock them into their relationship with Jesus. Words of praise.
3 There is yet a third answer. When you sing and say, “3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?, all the rest of the people present hear that. The nonChristians are informed by you that Jesus lived and died and rose for them. That is why the LORD has become their salvation. That information is used by the Holy Spirit to bring them into a relationship with Jesus. Words of praise.
C1 How do we respond to what God has done for us? We live our lives confident that the LORD is going to continue to keep His promises to us. He will provide for us as long as we are on this earth. He will protect us until it is time to be with Him. He will keep our trust that Jesus lived and died and rose for us strong. He will be with us always and get us through the difficulties and problems of life. Actions of praise.
2 How do we respond to what God has done for us? We live our lives confident that He will equip us to be good parents, good children, good workers, good citizens, good leaders or whatever else we might happen to be in life. We live our lives confident that He will equip us to make use of opportunities to share Jesus’ forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life with the people around us. We live our lives confident that He will equip us to live His way to point people to Him. Actions of praise
Conc: Why do we fill our lives with words and actions of praise to Jesus? Because He has become our salvation and we want Him to become salvation for others. How do we know He can become salvation for others? Because of Easter. He is not here. He has risen.
Sing Hymn 152, 6-8
THE LORD HAS BECOME MY SALVATION