A Living God

"I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (Exodus 3:6 ESV)

When God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush, He identified Himself not through abstract philosophical terms but through covenant relationship. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones observes that this self-disclosure illuminates the incarnation's significance centuries later.

Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that God's description as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" reveals a deity intimately involved with human history and personal lives. Unlike the distant, impersonal gods of other religions, the God of Scripture enters into covenant relationships with specific individuals. He binds Himself to His people through promises He will never break.

This self-revelation anticipates Christmas in profound ways. The God who appeared to Moses would later appear not in flame but in flesh. The God who spoke from the bush would one day speak as a man. The God who commissioned Moses to deliver Israel from physical bondage would Himself come to deliver humanity from spiritual bondage.

The expression "I am" reveals God's eternal self-existence—a theme Jesus later develops when He declares "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). Lloyd-Jones notes that this connects the God of the burning bush directly with the child in the manger. The infant Jesus is none other than the eternal "I AM" clothed in human flesh.

Moses encountered God in a bush that burned but was not consumed—an apparent contradiction of natural law. Lloyd-Jones observes that this foreshadows the incarnation's greater mystery: deity united with humanity without either nature being diminished or consumed. Just as the bush contained fire without being destroyed, Mary's womb contained deity without being overwhelmed.

God instructed Moses to remove his sandals because he stood on holy ground. Lloyd-Jones reminds us that Christmas represents an even greater sanctification of the material world. In Christ, human nature itself becomes the dwelling place of deity. If Moses needed to remove his sandals before the burning bush, how much more should we approach the incarnation with reverence and wonder?

This Christmas, remember that the same God who appeared to Moses came to us in Bethlehem. The covenant-keeping God who remembered Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remembered His promise to send a Savior. The God who revealed Himself partially at Sinai has revealed Himself fully in Christ.