David Kim connects the Biblical dots between God’s law, love, and character through the sanctuary.

<p>David Kim connects the Biblical dots between God’s law, love, and character through the sanctuary.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

The Nicodemus Society

David Kim

God is Law?

Lord God, our Father, our Father in Heaven, as we open up your Word this morning, I pray for the Holy Spirit to be with us, because without the Holy Spirit, these words have no power.

Lord, I pray for hearing and comprehension and conviction upon every individual here.

And I pray that the Holy Spirit would touch someone's heart and help them to see, help him or her to see a different aspect of your love through your law this morning.

We pray this in the powerful and holy name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Many of you probably know it by heart, but let us turn to Psalm 77, 13.

Psalm right in the middle of the Bible almost.

Psalm 77, chapter 77, verse 13, and it reads, Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.

This is a familiar verse to us and we often cite it when we talk about our sanctuary message.

We as a people, the most unique contribution that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has contributed to the body of knowledge about Jesus Christ and our God is the sanctuary message.

And so often times we cite this verse, Psalm chapter 77 verse 13, when we are introducing this concept of the sanctuary.

Thy way, or your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.

And it is translated in a variety of ways.

Oftentimes, it is translated in a literal way, meaning a way or a road or a street, a path, that your way is in the sanctuary as of a path or a road on a journey.

And that is certainly a very valid way to read this verse, because as we understand from the sanctuary message that the steps of the service in the sanctuary, all the different services and ceremonies in the sanctuary, actually portray a very clear picture of the way that we approach God.

But today's sermon is not about the sanctuary message, but rather it is about the way.

Because there is another way in which this word, derek, can be translated.

In addition to being translated as a road or a street or a journey, it can also be translated as your way as in the way you do things, the way you think, the way you act, your character, your conduct, your behavior, who you are, this same word, derech, can be translated or understood in both ways.

And we see an example of this in Exodus, chapter 33, verse 13.

Let's turn to Exodus, chapter 33, verse 13.

Exodus, the second book of the Bible, second book from the front.

And this is Moses talking with God in His very presence, And this is part of Moses' statement to God.

And Moses says, Now therefore I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your what?

Your way, that I may know you and that I may find find grace in your sight and consider that this nation is your people." And so we see here a very clear example where Derek is not translated as a way, as in a road or a street or a lane.

But very clearly Moses is saying, show me now your way.

And it's clearly not your way as in a way you go on a journey, but rather it is God's way, God's way of doing things, God's way of thinking, God's conduct, God's behavior, His character.

And He's saying, show me your way so that I can know you.

Because in order to know someone, you need to know how they think, what they say, what they do, how they act, their conduct, their behavior.

You need to know someone's character in order to know them.

And so you see that linkage here very quickly.

Moses says, show me now your way that I may know you.

And then he goes on and says, and that I may find grace in your sight.

He links the knowing of God with the receiving of grace.

The knowing of God and the receiving of grace, they go together.

And so Moses is saying, show me your character so that I can know you, so that I can be in relationship with you and thereby receive grace.

And so let's go back to thy way or your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.

Because in 1 sense, we talk about it in the context of the sacrificial system, the ritual and the ceremonies as showing us the steps on the path towards God, towards salvation.

And that is certainly a very real and legitimate and valid way to interpret that verse and that word, derech, or way.

But in this other sense, we could read this verse as, your character, oh God, is in the sanctuary.

Your character, O God, is in the sanctuary.

God's character is evident in the sanctuary and it shows us his greatness.

And that is, I think, a very real, valid, and powerful way to read that very familiar verse.

How in what sense is God's way in the sanctuary?

If you think about the sanctuary as a set of concentric circles that get closer and closer to the core, to the heart of God, we start out in the very outskirts, and I would call that the world.

There's a lot of people, there's a lot of things out there in the world and they're very far from the center where God is found.

Then the next step would be the children of Israel, God's people.

God's people, by His grace, are not in the world.

And so we go from the world to God's people and specifically when you read very carefully you see that not all of God's people were the same.

The first layer inside the world closer to the core would have been the 11 tribes.

Because the next layer, that next circle in, would be the tribe of Levi.

And so you see a differentiation made in the sanctuary system in which you have the world and then you have the 11 tribes.

They are God's people But there's still another layer, the tribe of Levi.

Because the tribe of Levi was set apart, specifically for the service of God.

And in fact, they did not receive their own territory coming into the promised land, because their inheritance was to be the servants of God wherever they were.

And so when it came to the sanctuary in the wilderness, you had the world and then you had the 11 tribes, which were the people of God, but then you had the tribe of Levi, which was still closer in yet, as the committed, dedicated servants of God with a special sanctified purpose to serve in the sanctuary.

Well, after the Levites you have the actual structure.

You have the wall and inside the wall was the courtyard.

And so that next layer in was the courtyard.

So now we're actually in the structure of the sanctuary.

And then 1 more layer in, going inside that tent in the courtyard, was the holy place.

So we're now getting even closer to the core.

And then you can go even deeper from the holy place to the most holy place.

This is ringing a bell I can see with many of you but for some of you it might be new so we'll take it step by step.

We go from the world to the 11 tribes, to the tribe of Levi, to the courtyard, to the holy place, and yet there's 1 more step.

And the most holy place, if we go even deeper, is where the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of the Testimony, The Ark of God was located.

And that's pretty, that's close to the core, because that's where God actually sat and appeared to the high priest.

But there's even 1 more layer I would like to take us.

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God is Law?

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