How would you describe God? Which words would you choose to introduce Him? You and I live in a fallen creation, which is no longer perfect and not even good. Sin and death have entered the world. Everyone is born with a sinful rebellious nature. Mankind can no longer see our Creator face-to-face. So how can we describe Him? Let’s look at some descriptions the Bible gives of Who God is. What other descriptions can you find in the Bible?

No man can see God and live.

In the 15^th century BC, Moses desired to see God. Moses talked with God but he really wanted to see Him. In a conversation with God Moses asked to see Him.

Exodus 33:¹⁷ And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. ¹⁸And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. ¹⁹And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. ²⁰And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. ²¹And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: ²²And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: ²³And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

God describes Himself to Moses

Exodus 34:¹ And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. ²And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. ³And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount. ⁴And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. ⁵And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. ⁸And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

God begins by reminding Moses of His dealings with man

LORD= Jehovah, I AM, the Covenant keeper – Genesis 22:¹¹ And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. ¹⁵And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, ¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.¹⁹So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Name ‘LORD God’ first appears in Genesis 2:⁴These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. ⁶But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. ⁷And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. ¹¹The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. ¹³And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. ¹⁵And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ¹⁸And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ¹⁹And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. ²⁰And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. ²¹And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ²²And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. ²³And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. ²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed

LORD God = Creator, Planter, Commander, former of animals so Adam not alone, former of woman as helpmeet for man

What does each of these titles mean to you?

God describes His attributes ⁶And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. ⁸And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Mercy = God not giving us what we deserve

Grace = God giving us what we do not deserve

Longsuffering =enduring trouble, or provocation long and patiently.

Abundant =present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient:

Goodness =moral excellence; virtue, kindness; generosity.

Truth =the actual state of a matter

What does each of these attributes mean to you?

God explains His dealings with man

⁶And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. ⁸And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Forgiving = disposed to grant pardon to a person; to cease to feel resentment; to cancel an indebtedness or liability

Iniquity =gross injustice or wickedness. a violation of right or duty

Transgression =violation of a law or command

Sin =transgression of divine law

What does forgiveness for each of these crimes mean to you?

What was Moses’ response?

⁸And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

He Hideth My Soul – Frabes J, Crosby, 1890

1. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, A wonderful Savior to me;
   He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, Where rivers of pleasure I see.

• Refrain:
  He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
  He hideth my life in the depths of His love, And covers me there with His hand,
  And covers me there with His hand.

3. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He taketh my burden away,
   He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved, He giveth me strength as my day.
4. With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, And filled with His fullness divine,

I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God! For such a Redeemer as mine.

4. When clothed with His brightness transported I rise To meet Him in clouds of the sky,
   His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I’ll shout with the millions on high.

Our focus – Hebrews 12:¹ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ²Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Our challenge – Dearly Beloved,

Run with your eyes on Jesus alone!

Run in faith that Jesus loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love; has uniquely designed  and created only one you; has a good plan for your life; runs with you; and wil   accomplish His purposes for you and through you!

Run in His strength alone!

Run with your eyes on the prize!

Run with your focus on His mission: to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ!

Run with the desire to finish strong!

Run with the desire to finish with your lamp burning!

Run with the expectation of being in His physical presence when you cross your finish line!

Run to His glory alone!

Run and keep on running!

Coach Patti