The Purposeful Life (Exodus 31, 35:1-36:7)

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Good morning, Cityview Community Church, I just want to take one second to say thank you so much, Jake. He saved me this past week, I was super sick, and he stepped up. And we love making fun of him, but he is the best, and I’m so grateful for him. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Exodus chapter 31 and if you don’t have a Bible, take one of our pew Bibles. And that’s page number 70 on our pew Bibles. Not many people know this about me, but in 2021 I worked five jobs. I worked as a Starbucks barista, I worked as a personal trainer, I worked as a physical therapist, tech, I worked as a wedding planners assistant and also a nanny. And I didn’t work five jobs because I was greedy for money. It did help, but I worked five jobs because I didn’t have a sense of calling. I didn’t have an idea of what where God wanted me to be, a lot like today, but at the same time, I was always asking that question, what gives my life meaning in the land of opportunity, I was seeking meaningful work. We all want our work to have meaning, don’t we? We hope to go back home after a good day’s work feeling fulfilled enough to rest. Where is it that we can find this purpose, this meaning? When we started this series on Exodus, we pointed out that one of the book’s primary purpose is that we would know God. And that brings us to our passage, Exodus 31 if you’re longing for a purposeful life, then follow with me to see the God who gives life meaning. We’re going to start off with the first portion. That’s God’s purposeful plan. That’s Exodus 31 one to 11. Exodus 31 one to 11, then the Lord said to Moses, See I’ve chosen Bezalel, son of URI, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs for work in gold and silver and bronze, and to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I’ve appointed a holy AB, son of Ahism of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also, I’ve given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I’ve commanded you, the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Covenant, law with the atonement, cover on it, and all other furnishings of the tent, the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand, and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron, the priest, and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for The Holy place there to make them just as I commanded you. Let me set the stage for you. Moses is on top of Mount Sinai, and he’s super excited, because he is having this one on one conversation with God of God, saying, I’m going to dwell with you. That’s exciting times for the Israelites. And as he’s hearing all this information, he’s he’s hearing God tell him how to make the tabernacle and how to make these special garments invest that these priests have to wear as they come and approach God. But God doesn’t stop there. He doesn’t just talk about these different things that they have to make. He’s more interested, and he he’s more focused, and he says this is who’s going to make them God’s in control of this entire operation. He’s the one who makes the blueprints. He’s the one who chooses who will work on his house. He’s the chief architect who chooses, equips, enables them to do the work he assigns. If you’ve ever bought a house before, I’ve not or bought a piece of land and built a house on it, then you kind of know what I’m talking about. You don’t want someone unqualified working on your house. You want someone who’s skilled, someone like a Carl Bjerga. He’s actually built two houses before. He’s our facilities manager. And what’s special about Carl is he has that skill to build the thing you’re calling them to build, because that’s his gift. And in the same way God calls Bezalel and Oh, holy have to be the ones who build the dwelling place of God. The name Bezalel means in the shadow of God, or in other words, under God’s protection. Think about this. The Israelites are in this wilderness, a desert, and the only place that’s completely shaded, completely covered, is the tabernacle, the man. Chosen to build the tabernacle is purposefully named. He’s the one who’s going to build the representation of God’s protection that is the tabernacle. This gets even cooler when you recognize who’s helping him. It’s a holy app. His name means the father is my tent. If you’ve gone camping before then you have an idea of what I mean. If you’re in the wilderness, what does a tent serve? What’s its purpose? It’s protection. Both Bezalel and holy have are pointers to God’s safety for his people, God’s protection. And this is no coincidence. This is God’s sovereign choice. Notice how Moses isn’t called to build the tabernacle, nor is Aaron or any of his sons. It wasn’t their job because it wasn’t their call, it wasn’t their gift. God chose, his chooses Bezalel and holy Evan by doing so, he legitimates the calling of all these artists, these craftsmen, all these secular workers of Israel. And that’s true about us as well. You might believe God thinks more highly of pastors or serving is reserved for all those who are ministry, rather than members of the congregation. But that’s profoundly unbiblical, and that’s not how God sees it. We see here in this passage that God uses these so called secular workers for His glory. There is no dichotomy of sacred and secular in God’s eyes, we’re all called whatever you do, do it as though, for the Lord Paul says in Colossians too often, we’re the type of people who are okay with just specific people doing work because it’s good enough. We’re the people who settle for something functional rather than producing something beautiful, teachers, engineers, musicians, poets, software developers. For all those who are called, that is everyone in Christ. We should stop settling. We should do more than good enough. We must produce something beautiful. Wherever you are, be there honoring God, whether it’s through teaching music, sales, technology or sports. One of my greatest joys is seeing Jacob, the child I get to disciple when he’s when he’s out there playing his sports. He has these bible verses on his face as part of his face paint, and he represents, he represents Christ where he’s at or, for example, take somebody who’s working in sales. They talk to people on the daily. They build this relationship with them, and that’s when you get to share Christ, because your story is no story without Christ, we find our purpose as we trust in God’s purposeful choice own the mission is something we’ve been saying at Cityview in the past couple of weeks. Where you are right now is God’s sovereign choice in your life. That is your mission field. But you might feel this weight on your shoulder. How can I share Jesus if I don’t know enough? Or even I didn’t go to Bible school. I didn’t spend two years sitting under Kyle and Brandon or learn patience by sharing an office with Jake. I can’t make Jake jokes anymore. He saved me last week, but look at verse three, and I filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills. God, through His Spirit, imparts wisdom, imparts understanding, knowledge and skill, and by doing so, he reveals it is him who gives these artists their creative abilities. God chooses these men, and he doesn’t just leave them there. He has a purpose for them, and he fills them through His Spirit. He gives them the skills required to bring Him glory. I hadn’t read a single book until 2021 and that is a reason why none of my jobs required me to read much, but I was real, really demoralized when I had this, like, big desire to teach the Bible, but I was always scared of mispronouncing words, and I still am the word I use a lawyer, software develop. I’ve been saying devil up my whole life, so it was hard for me to like comprehend that God could use me, but the truth still stands where God calls, he provides us with His Spirit to do the work he’s called us to do. The Spirit of wisdom, understanding, knowledge and skill is with you. You are in Christ Jesus to do what he’s called us to do, to fulfill God’s purposeful plan for your life. The Spirit of God equips you to live the purposeful life God has in store for you. You might be thinking to yourself, I have the vision, I have the God given skill. And I even have the desire to do these things, but I can’t do this alone. Look at verse six. Moreover, I have appointed a holy Epstein of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to help him. Also have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you, then he lists all the things in the tabernacle. Why is this section significant? What is, what does this purpose? What does this section even serve? Like? What’s the purpose? We must be clear on this God calls a holy ebb and all these skilled workers not to do Bezalel work. He calls them to do God’s work with Bezalel. So every time we picture what God has called us to do, just know he’s not calling you to do it alone. And it’s very likely that the skills that we need, we might not possess it, and we might need somebody to join us as we bring God glory. It is all their responsibility, all their calling, to build everything needed to dwell with God. So what we’re seeing here is God is unifying the skilled workers to do the task that requires that particular skill. He’s enabling them to build the dwelling place of God by providing a community of craftsmen. Wouldn’t it be great if God just always provided all the sorts of people we need to make our mission easier. Well, let me just remind you where you’re at. Then just take a second to look at the people around you. Do you believe in this room of 300 or so people that there is not one person who shares your skills or your interests. The truth is, we aren’t alone in mission, even though we truly feel like we are what we are. On the other hand, is we are lonely by choice. If we examine our hearts, we will realize that we’ve always known, that we can ask people for help, that the body of Christ is available and that help is there, but we’re selfish. We’re selfish with our time, we’re selfish with our money, our resources, our skills. If we understood why God put these people in our lives? Maybe we would understand what a purposeful community is. God enables us through his body, the church. Instead, we want convenience and immediate gratification. We want everything we do to come back to us, to our names, to our glory. We don’t want to glorify God. We want His glory. This section of Exodus shows how God enables a community of skilled workers and craftsmen to glorify Him. God has not just given us the skills. He’s given us the people. He’s not just giving us individual purpose. Is giving us communal purpose. Take Cindy or Linda, for example, their passion for the Cityview college students made it possible for a lot of these students to experience Christ like hospitality. Doors have been opened for them to experience Christ at homes. Or take Nick for example, he has unapologetically, probably asked every single one of us to help him help an international student, whether it’s through giving them a ride or even a place to stay, which is awesome. He’s ministering to them through you. What a gift it is. Time we admit that we’re lonely by choice. We’re not lonely in mission. We want community, but only when it means we get glory. We look at the skills that God has given us, and we use it to glorify ourselves. There is a theological term for this where we take something good from God and turn it into bad. It’s called sin in the garden, Adam was given the task of working and caring for the garden, and everything was good until Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. Everything changed from that point onwards. We were all born into Adam’s sin for of desiring glory and wanting to be like God, and born into the broken reality of work. When we labor, the ground produces thorns and thistles. We. Wet from the burden of the work just needed to survive. We have a strong desire for work to be meaningful. But how can we find meaning in work that is cursed? Eternal significance is what we want. We need to know that what we’re doing is truly serving others and serving a greater good. Where can we find it? Or who can give us this meaning? Exodus, 314 says God says, In Exodus, 314 I am who I am, the eternal God whom we are made for. So if we find ourselves consumed by meaningless work, then we have to find the one who gives life meaning, the great I AM. He is the one who chooses us. He is the one who fills us with His Spirit. He is the one who brings together a community of believers to bring Him glory. This is God’s purposeful plan for our lives. If you’re feeling the burden of work being meaningless, if you’re toiling purposelessly, and you desire more, then you have to know the one who gives life meaning. Nonetheless, everyday work is still burdensome. In a world that is broken by sin, we’re going to feel the weight of the fall. What do we do? Then that brings us to the second part, second portion of this passage, God’s purposeful pause. Look at Exodus, 3112 to 18. Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, you must observe my Sabbats. This will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death. Those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people for six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath celebrating for generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. This makes sense, doesn’t it, God first reveals work and then he reveals work and then rests. It’s a natural progression for us. We have weekdays and we have weekends, except we shouldn’t forget that there are no weekends for those who are slaves in Egyptian captivity, the Israelites only knew what it meant to work. Not only that, they didn’t know who God is. So God made this special day, a special day for them to just know him, to have that intimate relationship with him, and learn how to rest all at once. As we look at this section, we will discover that the Sabbath points to God as the holy, redemptive and Creator God. Let’s start with God’s holiness. Verse 13 states, you must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come. So you may know that I’m the Lord who makes you holy. Think about afternoon naps as a kid, I dreaded them. I would hear my dad say, you have to take a nap, and I’d start crying, no, I’ll be fine, except I would not be fine. And he knew that. He knew that one thing that I didn’t know I would not be fine. He was giving me rest because he knew that it was important to me, in a way, I felt holier because I felt more rested. D. A. Carson would say, sometimes the godliest thing you can do is just take a nap. God knows we are finite beings incapable of taking care of ourselves. And so he gave us this day. He gave us rest. He knows better. And so he blessed us with the Sabbath. He knows that’s what we need. It’s God’s way of making us like him, making us holy. And by that, I don’t mean that God rest. God needed the rest. He’s read in Psalm 121 four. He’s a God who neither sleeps nor slumbers. What he shows us is that rest is what we need so that we can be worshipful rather than woeful, satisfied rather than stressed, in a world of ha. Bustle and overachieving. God reminds us people to have faith that resting is exactly what we need. The rest He gives us is exactly what we need. He gives them the purpose statement so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. And this also explains why desecrating the Sabbath, the punishment for that is death. If God’s intention for Sabbath is to make us like him, that is make us holy, then disobeying is quite the opposite. We become wretched sinners whose condemnation is just because we are swerving away from the Holy God who is intending for us to be like him. We heard throughout the series that God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, but he hadn’t yet gotten Egypt out of them. God’s intention for his covenant people was to be set apart to be holy. Leviticus, 19 two says, Be holy, because the Lord your God, I the LORD your God, am holy. The Sabbath Rest is intended to point us to the holy God. And as God is holy and holy set apart, so his people are also called to be holy God’s a holy God, but he’s also a redemptive god. Look at verse 16. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for generations to come as a lasting covenant. When was the first time the Bible mentions the seventh day of rest? It’s not after the fall of Adam Eve. It was before. Sabbath was not given to us because work would be hard. It was given because God intended it as an essential part of living in covenant relationship with Him. The Sabbath Day was tied to God’s covenantal dealings with man. Think with me, if Adam hadn’t eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would have had access to another tree, the tree of life. That would have meant that man would have secured eternal rest forever. The Sabbath was a sign pointing to the promise of eternal rest that man would have entered into had Adam obeyed the demands of the Covenant, but he didn’t. In this passage, God called the Israelites to see the redemptive significance of the Sabbath. The Sabbath day reminds the Israelites of their obligation to worship and serve the Lord, to trust God as their Redeemer, who brought them out of slavery and is bringing them into the Promised Land where they can experience that rest. Once again, it’s God’s way of redeeming the relationship that was lost in the fall Israel being brought out of slavery foreshadows what God will do through Christ Jesus, when he redeems those who believe in Him from the bondage of sin into His eternal rest. We mentioned that the Sabbath reveals that God is holy and God is Redeemer. But the very first statement of the Sabbath and the OT is repeated in verse 16. For six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. Many of us live our lives as if this is the only life to live and that we need to make the most out of it. We must work over time and make all this money, kind of like Walter Hobbs from ELF. Third Walter Hobbs reference in three weeks. He works so much instead of spending time with his family. We value productivity over presence. We’ve taught ourselves that if we aren’t self actualizing, if we aren’t doing everything that we can do, then we’re not doing anything. We’re not contributing. Who needs a break? Right? Hashtag, stay driven. We can rest when we retire. Then we read repeatedly in Scripture. God rested and was refreshed. Where does that fit in our theology as Americans? If that’s what God says, if that’s what the Bible says about God, what does it mean about us humans who are made for God? Just take one deep breath, and you will realize how exhausted you have been. Look at it. Exodus. 3421 Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest. Even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. If you have lived in a farming culture, then you know. There are no off days. You have to farm seven days a week. Yet, there is this command did not work despite the plowing and harvest season. The command to rest is not a command if you have time, despite their busy schedules, despite being a farming culture, the Israelites are commanded to rest. Do you know what that instills in the heart of the Israelites? Faith, faith that God is who He says He is, provider, sustainer, refresher, Redeemer. He’s saying, don’t just rest from your work. Rest in me. That is faith. It’s a reflection of creation. The Israelites were commanded to keep the Sabbath not because they didn’t finish their work, but because God finished his as we talk about a purposeful pause. What is it that gives a rest purpose. It’s Christ. Look at Colossians, 216 to 17. Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come, the reality, however, is found in Christ. The Sabbath is a pointer to Christ, who is its fulfillment. Christ is our Sabbath rest. Does that mean we still have to keep the Sabbath the way the Israelites did have that particular Sabbath day and do all these specific things, technically, no, at least not in the way the Israelites had to. But we’re still part of creation, and so the grace, practice of rest is something that was made for us. Christ says the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We ignore that first part. Sabbath was made for man. God made the Sabbath for us. If you understand that the essence of Sabbath truly means Resting in God, then Sabbathing is not a command or a condition, it’s a blessing. We get to rest in God. The wonderful reality of Christ is that we get to experience him in every moment, rather than the burdensome ways of the Pharisees. Christ gives us rest in the midst of a tiresome, burdensome life. If you’ve been in Journey group before, then you’ve heard of the gospel, www, www, www, the Gospel, www, helps us call to mind not just the sins in our lives, but the God who gives us forgiveness so that we can rest in Him and live out the Christian life in obedience to Him. And this is what it means to practice resting. It is receiving Christ amidst the chaos of the world. It is learning what it means to be still, as Psalm 4610, says, Be still and know that I am God. We’re relearning who God is by dethroning everything that we have made God, things like money, things like time, fame, knowledge, power, tithing, for example, it is a good means of entering into Sabbath rest, because it’s not about the abundance of our money. It’s about the abundance of Christ in our poverty. Serving is another example. It’s not about the things we have to offer. It’s about the abundance of Christ’s offering and our lack thereof. Slowing down and being patient is yet another example. It’s not about our time. It is the abundance of Christ’s endurance in bringing us salvation. To Sabbath is to trust not in ourselves, but in Jesus, whoever so freely proclaims, come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Sabbath Rest is important because it is through it that God reveals His holiness, His redemptive nature and his creative power. It is through resting in Him that you may know who he is. We must understand that God knows us because we were made for him. It is for that very purpose that we are called that he. Fills us with the Spirit that He enables us with the community, to do the work for His glory, and at the same time, it is for that exact same purpose, the purpose of knowing Him, that He gives us rest in Him, that we may know that He is holy, that he is the Redeemer, and He is the Creator of all things. I finally got my degree from moody, and I got this job, but I still had this voice in the back of my head. Am I doing enough? Can I be doing more things that will satisfy? I shared that with Evie, my wife, and she just reminded me of how skewed my perspective was. She reminded me about my life before Jesus and my life after Jesus. I went from making TikToks to standing up here. It’s a very drastic change, but it’s not about what I did. I could only think about how grateful I am because, though I love this job, what gives my life meaning is Jesus. I see Jesus who called me out of darkness into this marvelous light and gave my life meaning as Paul labors he shares with the church in Philippi, to live, is Christ to die is gain. How can Paul say something like that? To live is Christ to die is gain? He’s saying the reason I’m living is to bring Christ glory. And when I die, I know I gain, because I get to see him and be with him. He has everything he needs because he has Christ. He realizes who Jesus is and what that means to him. Jesus is the chosen one who labored and endured the cross on our behalf that we may rest in God eternally. Jesus is the chosen one who labored and endured the cross on our behalf that we may rest in God eternally. So here’s a big idea, trust in Jesus who redeems work and gives rest. Trust in Jesus, who redeems work and gives rest. Jesus changes everything. Changes everything. So if you’ve been toiling aimlessly, chasing after money and fame and success or whatever your if only I had, that’s our Think about this, if God grants you a long life, you will outlive your ability to work. In that time, you will have to ask yourself, What have I set my identity in have I set my identity in myself, my career, my desire for power, my selfish passions, or have I set my identity in Jesus, the one who gives meaning to everything. You may labor, you may toil, you may grieve, working the soil. One thing is true and worthy of your praise, sufficient for your pain is my Lord and Savior’s grace. So I conclude again with the words of Christ in Matthew, 11:28-30, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Pray with me, Heavenly Father, how we have lost our way seeking to fulfill everything that we’ve seen and learned as glory Lord we’ve looked at the things out there in this world and deemed it ours. We’ve looked at our lives and deemed it ours, Lord, but you’ve made us for you. We have lost a sense of meaning because we’ve lost a sense of who you are, and Lord as we commit our lives to knowing you and growing in your word, understanding who Jesus is, I pray Lord, that you change us. You help us see that our work has meaning and that you are giving us the rest we need to live a wholesome, Christ centered life Come, have your way in us. Lord, help us trust you. Help us place our faith in you and forever, seek Your glory now and forevermore, amen.