After Jesus of the Old Testament had brought the Israelites safely to the other side of the Red Sea and killed Pharaoh's army, the Israelites broke into a song of praise and worship...
(Exodus 15:1-3) "...I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted;
The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will extol Him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
The Lord is His name..."
I'm curious to know who wrote these lyrics for them, because it's key to understand that Jesus is "salvation". This is another one of those "connect the dots" kind of thing...
(1 Thessalonians 5:9-10) For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
God is love... most definitely! But He is also something to be feared, with a deep and holy respect. Let's consider from what people need to be saved.
(Acts 10:42-43) And He (God) ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
We tend to think about the physical, and not so much about the spiritual. Sure, we need to be saved from physical threats, but even more important - we need to be saved from ourselves (our own sin) - and then even more importantly - we need to be saved from God's wrath! This sounds so terrible, but see how amazing God is that He came to earth to die for our sins so that we might be saved - and become children of God.
To be His children, we must be like Him. We cannot just "be good enough" to get into heaven, we must be perfect. We have this whole sin=death thing to deal with, and we cannot do that in our own strength. We NEED God. We need Jesus to do it all for us. THAT is where our own humility needs to come in. Are we too proud to admit that we cannot get to heaven on our own (meager) strength? We can barely manage the physical elements here on earth! The Israelites did not stand a chance against Pharaoh, but only through God's power were they saved. I prefer to be on God's side!!! He is no one to mess with! I embrace His love! We need to embrace the lyrics of this song and keep singing...
(Exodus 15:6-13) "...Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power,
Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You;
You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.
8 At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up,
The flowing waters stood up like a heap;
The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be [j]gratified against them;
I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’
10 You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?
12 You stretched out Your right hand,
The earth swallowed them.
13 In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed;
In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation..."
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