Who is God? Let's try to tackle this
infinite subject in a very finite amount of time on this
week's episode of Liberty at Home.
Hello, my friends. I'm Pastor Adam Rivero, and
welcome to our latest edition of Liberty at Home.
This weekly devotional series is brought to you by Liberty
Baptist Church right here in town.
Today, as always, we're broadcasting from Easton, MA,
where the Patriots have defied all odds and are the winners of
Super Bowl 60. Now Full disclosure, I recorded
this a good two weeks before the Super Bowl and boy I hope I
didn't just embarrass myself. Well, on to more important
matters. In fact, much more important
matters. Who exactly is God?
Now we can't answer this limitless question in a limited
5 minute TV episode, but we can look at one very interesting
facet of who He is and how it relates to you.
You know, people have many different concepts of who God
is. Some believe it would be a cruel
taskmaster looking down from heaven, ready to rap the
knuckles of anyone who doesn't toe the line.
Others think of him as a doddering old grandfather,
sitting bleary eyed in heaven and unable or unwilling to act
in the affairs of men. Still others consider him to be
a magic genie, only to be turned to when it's time to cash in on
one of their wishes. Of course, still others don't
believe he exists at all, that he's a figment of the
imaginations of weak minded, silly individuals who can't live
life without a religious crutch. When we consider who God is, our
thinking cannot be shaped by our own thoughts or wishes, rather,
it must match up to God's Word. Some time ago, as I was reading
Genesis 15, I took special notice of verse one.
After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a
vision, saying, fear not Abram, I am thy shield and thy
exceeding great reward. I'd like to take a moment to
pause and consider that God is our reward.
Many people look at God as simply a rewarder.
They serve Him to receive earthly benefits in return.
Now certainly God is gracious and meets the needs of His
people, and Hebrews 11 verse 6 talks about this.
Yet Genesis chapter 15 verse one tells us that He is a reward,
not a rewarder. This is a distinction with a
difference. A reward is something that is
received in exchange for consideration from another
person. For instance, to collect a
reward at the police station, you can't just walk in and
request some. You have to give some
information about a crime that leads to an arrest.
This exchange will net you the reward.
If God is our reward, what do we need to possess for him to
become our reward? The answer is clear faith.
Consider a few verses later in Genesis 15, verse 6, And he,
Abram, believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for
righteousness. Hebrews 11 verses 8 and 9 also
speak of this when they say by faith, Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither
he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
When we trust in God for salvation, understanding that is
by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of
our sins. God becomes our exceeding great
reward. We don't need to look for
heavenly handouts to be blessed. We don't even need to wait for
heaven for our reward. We're blessed right here and now
because God himself is our reward.
How exciting. This encourages believers that
no matter how difficult life may get, we still have the greatest
treasure of all, God's presence and power in our lives.
What could possibly be a greater reward than that?
If you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ, I implore you
to call upon Him to save you today so that you can receive
your blessed reward. You know, as we close, I want to
say that I'm always thankful when you take the time to watch
Liberty at Home, whether on your TV, YouTube, or some other
social media platform. At Liberty Baptist Church, it's
our goal to preach the word of God to the community and
proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ.
And Speaking of that, we love to invite you to one of our
upcoming services at 800 Washington St. here in Easton.
You can visit at 10 AM, eleven AM, 5:00 PM on Sunday, and 7:00
PM on Wednesday. To learn more about a church,
visit online@mylibertybaptist.org.
Thanks for tuning in. And don't forget that where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there's Liberty.
See you next week right here on Liberty at Home I.