Let's all stand together for scripture reading. Tonight, our scripture reading comes from two places in the word of God. The first one comes from the book of Acts chapter 17, starting from verse 22 to 29 and then my text for tonight will be Exodus 3 verse 1 through 15 with a special focus on verse 14. But first Acts chapter 17 starting from verse 22 to 29. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and bread and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined unloaded periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he's actually not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own parts have said, for we are indeed his offspring. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imaginations of man. Now, turn your Bible to Exodus chapter 3, verse 1 through 15. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. And he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called him out of the bush, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. Then he said, do not come near. Take your sandals off your feet. for the place on which you are standing is a holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry. Because of their taskmasters, I know their sufferings and have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites. the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now behold, the city of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? He said, but I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they asked me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you. God also say to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. This is the reading of the living, the holy, and life-giving Word of God. And may the Lord bless the reading of His Word into our hearts by the power of His Holy Spirit. When I was growing up as a young child, the two basic and fundamental questions that I was hearing and dealing with were, who made you? Children, you know the answer for this question. God made us. And what else did God make? God made all things for his glory. But the second question which was somewhat hard and weighty for me as a young child to contemplate and comprehend fully was who made God. And our parents and our Sunday school teachers, they always tell us, no one made God. God was not created. But you see, the people of God, both in young age and adulthood, to ask this question about God, who is God? Where does God come from? The importance of the knowledge of God in our Christian life cannot be overstated. It is our knowledge of God that determines how we understand the world around us. It is our knowledge of God and the high view of God that we have in our life as Christians that shapes the way we understand family, the way we understand government, the way we understand the church of Jesus Christ. But most importantly, it is our knowledge of God and the high view of God that we have in our life that shapes our worship of God. You may ask this question, as you observe the church in America, why is the worship of God declining in the church in America? Why is the Church of Jesus Christ in this nation has turned into a place of entertainment than a true worship of God? It is because of the low view of God. It is because of the low of knowledge of God. So for us to consider who God is, His being, His nature, is very important for our Christian growth. And for this very purpose, on the Sundays that I will be here in the pulpit, I would like to take you through some of the attributes of God. There are many in number. but I have selected a few of them for this purpose. It is my prayer and my desire as a minister of the gospel to help you with having a high view of God for worship. Because God deserves to be worshiped as he is. So tonight, I would like us to start with the first attribute. And that is the self-existence of God. And from this attribute, God being self-existence God, I want to show you three elements of this attribute. The first one is God is eternal. And the second one is God is independent. And the third one is God is personal. When you want to know about God, especially in the area of worship, you want to worship God truly and according to his nature, according to his being. And for you to do that, you want to have the true and biblical knowledge of God. So where do you go for information? Do you go to people's opinion about God? Do you go to church fathers? Do you go to the church of Jesus Christ? Do you go to theologians so that they will tell you who God is? Even though all these parties that I have mentioned would teach you and tell you about God, but your main source for God's knowledge is God Himself. No one can tell you about who God is, His nature and His being than God Himself. So if you want to know God, if you want to have a high view of God, you have to come to the Word of God. That's your only source. It is true, it's reliable, you can trust the Word of God. Because it comes out from the mouth of God, and there is no lie in God. God is not going to misinform you about himself. And for this reason, as we consider this attribute of God, especially God being eternal, self-existent God, I want to take you to Exodus chapter 3. And to set the stage, let me refresh your mind about what happened around the burning bush. For centuries, the people of Israel have been under the bondage in Egypt. And God, at some point in history, said, no more. Enough is enough. I will go down to Egypt and deliver my people from the hand of Pharaoh. And God caused the birth of a baby. Children, you know who that baby was. It was Moses. Moses was born and he escaped the execution of Pharaoh miraculously. And Moses was raised in the court of his enemy. That's amazing. The most amazing history in the Bible. Pharaoh's daughter took him and she raised him as her own son. And the time came where Moses killed an Egyptian to save a Jew. And because of that, he had to flee, he had to escape, and he went to Midian, where his father-in-law was, Jethro. And when Moses was in Midian, God appeared to him at the burning bush. And God say to Moses, I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. And I want to deliver my people. I want to rescue my people. And I want to send you to Pharaoh to tell him to let my people go. And Moses say to God, who am I? for me to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let your people go. This is a very powerful king in Egypt. And he knows me. Who am I? And God said, I will be with you. And Moses asked, you see, the most basic, important question that every believer needs to ask. Moses asked God, who are you? What is your name? Now notice carefully, God already told him, I am the God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That was not enough for Moses. He needed more. So he asked God, he said to God, I want to know you. I want to have the knowledge of you, the God of Israel. If I go to Egypt and then your people ask me who sent me, what would I tell them? Who are you? Tell me who you are. And God said to Moses, I am who I am. You go to the people of Israel and you tell them the one who exists in eternity, the eternal God. You see what God is doing here? He's not telling him what his name is. He's building a bridge from his being to his name. Now he's referring to his being, his nature. And he's telling Moses, before you worry about my name, I want you to know that I exist in eternity. Theologians, long time ago, used the term aseity. The aseity of God. Which means God exists from Himself. God exists in Himself in eternity. God doesn't have an origin. You have an origin. You came from your parents, and your parents come from their parents. We started somewhere. We were born from our parents. That's not God. God doesn't have an origin. There was not a time where God started. He is everlasting. He is eternal. Moses understood this very well. If you go to Psalm 90, and let me tell you, Psalm 90 is the song of Moses. And theologians tells us that Moses sang this song in his old age. And Psalm 90 is about God's eternality and man's transitoriness. The fact that man lasts for a short period of time. Now listen to Moses, what he said about God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. You see, your home is your dwelling place. If you are outside and it's raining heavily and there is storm or snow like what we had maybe a week ago, what do you do? You don't stand outside and look at the sky. You run to your house and take shelter. That's your dwelling place. And now Moses is presenting God as an eternal dwelling place in all generations. But he links that with this being or nature of God. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. See what Moses is doing here? Moses is telling us Before Genesis 1.1, God existed. Moses is telling us God is before his creation. Everything came to being because of God. God created everything to exist. God caused everything into being. But God is before creation. Go back to the concept of God being your dwelling place for all generations. One day you will depart from this life, leaving your dwelling place on earth behind. But God will remain to be your eternal dwelling place. Because He is eternal. The one dwelling place that is yours in Christ Jesus, that will not be destroyed forever, is God Himself. Because He is eternal. So Moses here is telling us that God is everlasting. God's being is outside of creation. God was not created. Genesis 1.1 was not the time where God began. It was the time that the work of God's creation was recorded for us. But God exists prior to his creation. He is the being of all beings. He is the source and the genesis of all beings. He is self-existent God. And his self-existence, my brothers and sisters in Christ, includes all time. Past, present, and future. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1.17, he said this, To the king of ages, or to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. It's even Paul acknowledged God as an eternal God. Now, what is the implication for you as a believer? Okay, God is eternal, so what? What does God's eternality has to do with you as a believer? Imagine you come to church every Sunday, but the God that you worship is a temporal God. The God that you worship is limited in time and space. How would you feel about that God? You see, you come to the house of the Lord to worship an eternal God. And if God is not eternal, your life will not be about eternity. For you to say, my life is about eternity, I have eternal life in Christ Jesus. I will go to my eternal home in heaven. God must be eternal. The implication is you worship an eternal God who is not limited in time and space. But also your ruler, your Lord is eternal. You see, He controls your life. He controls time. He controls the circumstances around your life. He is the creator, the ruler of everything that rotates around your life. And that comes from His eternality because He is eternal. He is sovereign. He rules over all the universe. Isaiah 40, 28. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord, or Yahweh, is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. You see, God, according to Isaiah, is an everlasting God. And God does not faint. He does not feel weak. He does not fade out. He does not become dim. Because He is an everlasting God. He is an eternal God. So my friends, the implication for you is you worship an eternal God. You need to have this view of God. You worship the creator. You worship an eternal God who is outside of his creation. You see, God is not creation. We have arrived to the time where people are worshiping creation. Where people are viewing God as part of creation. He is like one of us. He's like man. He's like an animal. He's part of His creation. But God is distinct from His creation. God is outside of His creation. The whole creation, the whole universe worships this one eternal God. But also God is independent. His independence, my friends, signifies that God does not depend on anyone or anything for his existence. This highlights God's self-sufficiency. You see, God is self-sufficient. He doesn't need anything from anyone. He doesn't depend on anyone for existence. He's absolutely independent and self-sufficient in and of his own existence. Have you seen a farmer? who have a determination to be a self-sufficient farmer. You see, for a farmer to be a self-sufficient farmer, he had to sow a seed. He had to farm and gather crops, and he has to build a house where he can store his crops, and then he says, I am self-sufficient. But he has to work in order to be self-sufficient. That's not God. God is already self-sufficient. We don't make him self-sufficient. God, he's already self-sufficient. In his being, in his nature, he lacks no sufficiency in himself. He is self-sufficient God. The Apostle Paul, in his second missionary journey, to Athens. He came to the city and he found the city given over to false gods. Paul was going to every corner in Athens and he saw all these temples of the people of Athens and they were full of idols. And Paul was provoked to the point that he made a case for the true and the living God. And he goes to this place, Ariabagus. It was a high court in Athens, where art, religion, crime, was discussed. It was a place where these Greek philosophers used to gather to discuss religion. And Paul goes to them and he told them this. In verse 23. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. That's what he saw. Did you ever wonder In your reading, in the Book of Acts, especially this chapter, did you ever wonder why these people put this inscription to the unknown God in their temple? Remember, these are philosophers. These are the thinkers of that time. They're not that much foolish, you see, to put such an inscription of their God, unknown to the unknown God. The reason is this. They had multiple gods. And they were not sure about any of their gods. Their gods were not real. In fact, you see, when they receive a blessing in their life, they are not sure which one of the gods has blessed them. So they don't know to which god, you see, they would return thanks. Because they don't know their god. So the reason why they put to the unknown god was because they were not sure. And Paul told them this. You worship unknown God. Your gods are not real. Your gods are man-made. You formed them. Your gods depend on you for their existence. Even though they are not real, you formed them. They are man-made gods. You don't experience them. They don't hear you. They don't see you. They don't speak to you. They are not personal. They are not real. But let me tell you about my God. About our God. Paul is now talking about your God. His God and your God. And he told them this. The God who made the world and everything in it. Being Lord of heaven and earth. does not live in temples made by man. Now listen to this. Nor is he served by human hands, although he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and bread and everything. Now what does Paul tell you here? Paul is telling us God doesn't depend on anyone for His existence. He's self-existent God. For His existence, He doesn't depend on anyone. John 5, 26, For as the Father has life in Himself, So he has granted the son also to have life in himself. God has life in himself. You see, he exists in himself. He exists from himself. So he doesn't depend on us for existence. Paul told them, we in him will live and move and have a being. So Paul is telling us, We are not necessary for God's existence. God doesn't need us in order to exist. He doesn't need us. We need Him to exist. He created us. We depend on Him for our existence. Even for the continuation of your life, you depend on this eternal and self-existent God. But God doesn't depend on us for existence. He doesn't depend on us for counsel. In the work of creation in Genesis chapter 1, the earth was empty and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. When God created the universe, when God created the universe, no one counseled God about what to do. Creation is the work of the Triune God. God never counseled anyone about His work of creation, redemption. He doesn't depend on us for counsel. Romans 11, 34. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so that He would counsel him? No one. God is incomprehensible. We cannot comprehend God fully. God is transcendent. He is supreme. He is sovereign. Our mind cannot comprehend God fully. So we cannot know God's mind so that we would counsel him. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsel? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? No one counsels God. God is independent. The implication for you, believers, you depend on God. And you worship an independent God who depends on no one for existence and counsel. Proverbs 3, 19. The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens. He was his own counselor. No one counseled him. We don't counsel God. We don't instruct God. Even our prayer doesn't instruct God. When you pray, you see, you don't instruct God. You don't tell God what to do. You humble yourself before God. If there was a time in your life that you inclined to think that you were making any favor to God. You know, you need to stop that kind of thinking in your life. You don't make any favor to God. God doesn't need anything from us. He has given us a privilege to worship Him. He has given us a privilege to express and demonstrate our love to Him. But we don't do that to make Him exist. You see, some people, they think the reason why God created the universe, why God created man was because he was lonely. So we were created for companionship. No, God has never been lonely. God enjoyed fellowship and love with his son in eternity. He's not lonely. He doesn't need us to overcome loneliness. God didn't create us so that he would receive more glory to himself. He's already glorified. We don't add anything on God's glory, even though we ascribe glory and adoration to our God as a token and offer of our worship to him as our God. But God, is fully independent. Now, when you hear things like this, remember Moses. When God told him, I want you to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let my people go, Moses shrink back. And he say to God, who am I? What a lesson to us, the ministers of the gospel. What a lesson to us who are preparing ourselves for ministry. Who am I? Wouldn't you shrink if God would come to you and give you this heavy responsibility to represent him in the gospel ministry? Or would you say, who am I? But God told Moses, Moses, I'm not telling you to help me. I'm not asking you to help me. I'm not depending on you to deliver my people. I'm just commissioning you to go to Pharaoh and execute my plan, to be my spokesperson. But I'm not depending on you for power, for counsel, I'm independent. I'm sovereign. I'm commissioning you to go to Pharaoh and tell to let my people go. So God is independent. And the connection that his independence has in your life as a Christian is you can depend on him. You can depend on the one who doesn't depend on anyone. You can make your dependence on this God who is self-sufficient, in control, sovereign, who exists in himself in eternity. Sometimes you might find You see, depending on other people to be difficult. Maybe they lack resources for you. Maybe they lack wisdom. Maybe they come to the point where they cannot help you. But you can depend on this God, who doesn't depend on anyone. And lastly, He is personal. God is personal. When you hear God is eternal, God is independent, God is invisible, God is unapproachable, God is holy, when you hear these attributes of God, these characters, qualities of God, by which God makes himself known to his people, when you hear about these things, you might think, So God is very distant and aloof from his creation. He's impersonal. What Paul told, you see, the people in Athens, our God is personal. We can know our God. We can experience our God. especially his people, you can know God, you can experience God. God is personal. C.S. Lewis one time said, God is both further from us and nearer to us than any other being. He's further from us but also nearer to us than any other being. Let's go back to the burning bush. Was God only talking about himself to Moses? Was the purpose of God to tell Moses what his name was? No. God came to Moses because he was thinking about his people. Because he wanted to communicate with his people. He wanted to stoop down to Egypt and talk to his people through this mediator. Which was Moses. A figure of Christ. Redeemer. Deliverer. That points us to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So God was becoming personal with his people. This is the God who is transcendent. supreme, without any limit, sovereign over all his creation, but at the same time, he is the one who gives himself to his people in love, with mercy, and for deliverance. I want to take you to Isaiah 57 verse 15. to understand that God is personal. Isaiah in chapter 57 verse 15, he says this, This is only one part of the verse. in Isaiah 57, 15. And this is His transcendence. In 1 Chronicles 29, 11, David said, Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. That's God's transcendence. But if God, if Isaiah would stop there, you see, we would be without any hope. We would be without any experience and knowledge of our God. But Isaiah didn't stop there. Isaiah being inspired by the Holy Spirit. He said this, and the second part is, and I dwell in him who is with a contrite heart. I come and dwell in those whose heart is contrite, humble, broken heart. So how is God personal? God is personal because He created you in His own image. You see, you bear the image of God. You share those communicable attributes of God, His love, His joy, His mercy, His grace. You see, He is personal. He created you in His own image. He is personal. He adopted you as His own child. You became a child of God before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus. This God is personal. He loves you. He swoops down to the earth to identify himself with you. He adopted you as his own child. Jesus, remember calling the disciples my friends. That's personal. To enter into a friendship with your followers. And the privilege that God has given you to be called sons and daughters of God shows you that this God is personal. He's transcendent, but he's also eminent. Which means God entered into the world to be part of his people. Emmanuel, God with us. Even though He's distinct from His creation, but He entered into His creation so that He would dwell with you through His Son, Jesus Christ. He's the most high, but at the same time, He's the most nigh. The most nearer person to you is God. Even when you think people whom you love, people on whom you depend very much in life are forsaking you. They don't understand you. They can't help you. He's nearer to you than anyone else. How? You see, he's transcendent, but he's imminent. But how do we balance these two things? Christ comes in the middle and he becomes the intersection point, incarnation. And the most high becomes the most nigh in Christ Jesus. Christ said to Mary, Go to my disciples and tell them, I'm going to my father and your father. He's our father. But Christ made it possible for us, my brothers and sisters in Christ. He's in the middle, he's the mediator. You see, he's the intersection point, the incarnation, you see, brings us to our father. and gives us the privilege to become the children of God. God is personal. Paul, in Colossians 2, 9 and 10, he says this, For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. You have been filled in Him who is the head of all rule and authority. You are filled in Him. The fullness of deity dwells in you as a child of God. How? Because you became the temple of God. God dwells in you, in Christ Jesus, through Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. You became the temple of God, the dwelling place of God. Remember where we started. God has been our dwelling place. from generation to generation. And then we become God's dwelling place, the temple of God. This is not the temple of God. You are the temple of God. God dwells in you. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. That's personal. You worship a very personal God. Let me send you with this encouragement and exhortation You need to have a high view of God for your life of worship. The reason why you see we don't entertain you here every Sunday than feeding you the word of God is because you need to have a high view of God. You need to worship God as he is. He's eternal, he's independent, but he's very personal. And this is the encouragement for you, the people of God. If you are struggling with sin, if you are struggling with some kind of crisis in your life, if you are struggling with marriage problem, if you are struggling with relationship, if you have a problem in your family and it's beyond of your ability, it seems no one would help you. Come to this God through Christ Jesus. He's your father, he's your friend, he's the most nearer person to you. He is personal. But the question to all of us is this. Do you know God in this way? Do you have a high view of God? Do you know God as a self-existent God, eternal, self-sufficient, independent, and personal? If you still want to know him in this way and according to his attributes, you see, God is his own attribute. And if you want to know God according to his attribute, you need to grow in your knowledge of God's word. And that's the means of grace for you. Come to the house of the Lord every Lord's Day. Gather as a family every evening. Read the Word, meditate on the Word. Come to the house of the Lord. Sit under the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God. And you will know God more and more in your life. And worship Him as He is. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, when we hear how you have communicated with us, how personal you are to us, your people, our response tonight is like the response of Moses to you. Who are we? We confess that we don't deserve your grace, your mercy, and your love, and this great privilege that you have given us to be called by your name, God's people. But also, we want to come to you to give praise to your holy name for this wonderful privilege that you have given us as your people. We rejoice that you are eternal, that you are independent, that you are personal, that we can call you Abba Father by your spirit. Thank you for who you are to each and every one of us. and help us to worship you as you are and as you have revealed yourself to us in your divine revelation, in your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.