Sermon Pentecost 22C November 9, 2025 Exodus 3:13-15
/Grace, mercy and peace are yours from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
When we confess the first article of the Nicene Creed, we say I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things, visible and invisible. This was written and agreed upon by the Bishops of the Church in 325 AD or Since Jesus as I call it. Nicaea is in what is now Turkey, southeast of Istanbul/Constantinople. This creed was written primarily against the Arian heresy. Arius was a Bishop from Cyrene in Libya, North Africa. He had begun teaching that Jesus Christ was not co-eternal with the Father but had been created by the Father. The Second article is the article that proclaims that Jesus is indeed One with the Father, begotten before all worlds. Looking at the two creeds in your bulletin, you will see that Nicene expands greatly on the Person of Christ and his work. The theme for today is:
GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY IS THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
Since today is the day that we hear about the first article, we can also see that it begins like the Apostles does, but adds the confession that God is the maker of all things, visible and invisible. This was a response to the Manichean heresy. This heresy was like Star Wars, with the dark and light sides of The Force being equal but not personal. The Nicene first article confesses that the evil powers are rebellious, created beings. These evil beings, the demons, are under God’s power as demonstrated many times by Jesus when he drove them out of people. Maker of all things, visible and invisible confesses that God is the ultimate source of all things, physical, spiritual, seen and unseen.
The text for today is from Exodus 3, where God called Moses to be the rescuer of his people Israel, in captivity in Egypt. Moses is what we call a type or foreshadowing of Christ. A type is a person or event in the OT that has a direct parallel in the New Testament. Moses is a man whom God picked to do the limited redeeming work of leading his people out of captivity in Egypt. Jesus, the God-Man is the One redeemer who gave his life as the sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all, Moses included.
In the text, there is the scene with the burning bush, God, and Moses. God knew that his people were under oppression. He heard their cries. His plan was to send Moses to lead them out of Egypt into Canaan, the Promised land, the land of milk and honey. Moses at first wondered why God chose him, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (God) 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 ask 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 THE FATHER ALMIGHTY IS THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
Moses heard a voice coming from a burning bush and spoke to it. In that strange situation, Moses had presence of mind to ask for a name. Who are Y-O-U, voice from burning bush? Moses knew that he was conversing with a person, who must have a name. Moses was right, God is manifest in three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. And his name is I am who I am. I Am is God’s name. His name is a verb, the verb of being. God is. God exists. God is the living God. God is existence, He has always been. There was never a when, when he was not. I Am, the triune God, is the fountain and source for all that exists. Everything that is, seen and unseen, is because God has willed it into existence. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and so on.
This is a counter-culture proclamation. It goes against the prevailing wisdom of the world, that thi came to be by random chance. True Wisdom is to recognize in faith, the God of Creation. The Psalms speak of it: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Ps 111:10 and Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. There is always a mind behind things that are made, like cars, buildings, cell phones, computers, aircraft, and on and on. These are all in the mind of a person or in the minds of many people before they are made. To assert that no mind, no one, nothing created and assembled the universe, the Earth, us, all that is, seen and unseen is unwise, and goes against all logic and wisdom. St. Paul wrote these next words 2,000 years ago to a culture much like ours, that makes a point of denying the God who made them. Ro 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. This is natural knowledge of God. We know these things about God from His Creation. Paul is saying that if you look at the world, you should at the least be confessing that someone exists who has the ability to create this marvelous universe and impart life to His creatures. A designer can be inferred from His Design. The universe bears all the evidence of having been crafted.
GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY IS THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
Hebrews 11:3 states: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. This is called Creatio ex nihilo, or creation from nothing. It is by faith that we know this. It is by faith that we proclaim that God did indeed create all that is.
Moses got the name of the One who did all this. I AM. Our names are literally who we are. I’m pretty sure that most of us received our names from our parents. Our names go back in an unbroken line to Noah, then Eve and Adam, the first MAN, then to I AM. I AM is the first name of all names. It proclaims that God exists on His own. He is self-existent. We are not. He is Creator, we are His creatures. Our lives are a gift from Him We have our existence only because it’s the will of I AM.
There are many deceptive paths that lead us away from our Father, lead us away from our source, our Creator. Ever since the fall into sin, mankind has denied the name of God, and that He is Creator. This remains among us in many different ways. Most notable is atheistic naturalism, evolution and every other false religion that denies the Creator, the True I AM, as well as the Son, his saving work, and the Holy Spirit. The Son of I AM became one of us to provide forgiveness of sins, to restore, to reconcile, to be I AM in human flesh, for you. His name is placed upon you in Holy Baptism, sealing you to an infinite future of joy in His presence. Next week we will hear how the Nicene Bishops defended the Divinity of the Son, much more about the Lord Jesus and His saving work. Amen
The peace that surpasses all understanding will keep you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen