The God Who Goes Before Us
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 01/06/2019
Foundation Scriptures:
Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee. Deuteronomy 9:3 KJV
The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said. Deuteronomy 31:3 KJV
O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah. Psalm 68:7 KJV
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward. Isaiah 52:12 KJV
1. Almighty God.
a. Almighty God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.
b. Omnipresent: refers to the quality of being everywhere. Omnipresent emphasizes in a lofty or dignified way the power, usually divine, of being present everywhere at the same time, as though all-enveloping.
c. Psalm 139:7-10
d. Omniscient: having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.
e. 1 Corinthians 2:9-12
f. Omnipotent — also translated Almighty — He who holds sway over all things; the Ruler of all; Almighty God.
g. Revelation 19:6
2. God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
a. God created Creation and time.
b. Revelation 1:8 KJV — I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
c. Revelation 22:13 KJV — I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
d. We were made in the image of God — He is the Creator; we are His creation.
e. Psalm 100:3 KJV — Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
f. Long before creation was created, He knew everything that would be needed.
g. He planned out the whole plan of redemption before He ever made the universe, the earth, or Man.
h. 1 Peter 1:18-20 KJV — Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
3. The God Who Goes Before Us.
a. We live in the realm of time and space.
b. Almighty God lives in eternity — He is not bound by time or any other boundaries.
c. He has gone before us into our future — to prepare and to make a way for us.
d. John 1:1-4 KJV — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
e. John 1:14 KJV — And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
f. Jesus is the express image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3).
g. Jesus came to show us the Father and to do the will of the Father.
h. Hebrews 10:7 AMPC — Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God — [to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.
i. He went to Calvary for us: He carried our sins and our sicknesses.
j. He took our place: When He died we died; when He was buried we were buried; when He rose we rose.
k. I am crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20).
l. He has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).
m. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
n. Philippians 1:6 KJV — Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
o. If He started it, He will complete it — because He has already gone before us and because He already knows the outcome.
4. His Will For You.
a. As a child of His, we submit to His Word, to His will, and to His way.
b. It is impossible for us to do that by bringing God down to the level of a man, in our understanding.
c. For us to walk in His plan, we must not question His wisdom or try to bring Him down to the realm of reason.
d. Psalm 18:30 KJV — As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
e. If we ever find ourselves in a problem, it is never God’s fault.
f. So, this brings us to the place of consecration, where we lay everything on the altar.
g. And we submit our lives daily without questioning; without arguing; as a living sacrifice — understanding that He’s already gone there for us.
h. He knows where He’s taking us and He wants us to trust Him totally with our lives.
i. Will you surrender your life to His will today by consecration?
j. I’ll go where You want me to go — I’ll do what You want me to do — I’ll say what You want me to say — I’ll be what You want me to be — not my will but Thine be done.