Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In Acts chapter 7, verse 20,
we read in which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair. I've entitled this message, Beautiful
to God. Now in the original It reads,
and my marginal reading in my King James Version says, fair
to God, beautiful to God. I'm not real sure why. It's left
out in the King James. I know that Hebrews 11.23 says
he was a proper child, and in Exodus 2.2 it says his parents
saw him as a goodly child, but here it actually speaks of what
God saw when he saw Moses. He was beautiful in God's sight. Now what does that mean? Let me read you some of the other
translations. Fair to God. Well-pleasing to
God. Beautiful in God's eyes. No ordinary child. Beautiful
in God's sight. lovely in the sight of God, beautiful
before God, beautiful to God. The infinite, glorious, holy
God looked at Moses at his birth, and he found him to be beautiful. Now, I imagine He was a beautiful
baby, as far as babies go, but this is not talking about physical
beauty. Now, there is such a thing as
physical beauty. Some people are born with physical beauty,
and because of that physical beauty they're born with, they
go through their life having some advantages over other people. They are the beautiful people
and will be treated differently and looked upon differently because
of their looks. You know, we say all men were
created equal. That's not really true in the
sense that some are created more intelligent than others. Some
are created more beautiful than others. Some are brought into
the world with better circumstances than others. All men are equally
sinful. All men are equally in need of
God's grace. But there are certain advantages
that beauty has that gives some people an advantage, but this
is not what that's talking about. As far as that goes, that beauty
will depart. If you live long enough, you're
going to become ugly. It's going to happen. That's
what age, that's the result of sin, aging, the process of aging. You won't keep that beauty. But
this is not talking about physical beauty. It's talking about spiritual
beauty. That's true beauty. Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. Now, this is the kind of beauty
that God saw when he saw Moses. And Moses might have been a good-looking
man. I don't know. He might have been a very handsome
man. I guess everybody, when they think of Moses, they think
of what Charlton Heston looked like on the Ten Commandments,
but I don't know what he looked like. But when God saw him, he
saw one who was beautiful. in his sight." Now, if you would
have asked Moses, Moses, are you beautiful? You know how he
would have answered? No. Moses believed himself to
be a sinner. That's what he thought of himself,
and that's what every beautiful person thinks of themself. You
know, I heard this statement once, and I've never forgotten
it. All the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. and
all the wicked believe themselves to be righteous, or at least
have the potential to be righteous. That's a true statement. If you
would have asked Moses, are you beautiful? No, I'm sinful. You know, in the Psalms, he said
in Psalm 90, this is the only Psalm we have recorded that he
wrote. He wrote this Psalm and he said,
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we
troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins
in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away,
and thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told." That's
what Moses said about himself. And in this same psalm, he said
in verse 17, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Now, that is how Moses was beautiful. The beauty of God was upon him. Now, how in the world can that
be? There's a hymn written by Robert
Murray McShane that says, when I stand before thy throne, dressed
in beauty, not my own, when I see thee as thou art, love thee with
unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know, not till
then how much I owe." Now, Moses was beautiful to God because
he had the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can that be? Well, we have to begin with the
Bible being the inspired word of God, because the Bible tells
how that can be. Let me remind you, all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And we could not know God. We could know some things about
God. We could know that without the Bible, we could know that
he's very powerful, very wise, but as to whether or not he saves
sinners, whether or not he gave grace, whether or not he was
merciful, whether or not he was absolutely just and would punish
all sin. Those are things that we cannot
know apart from the Bible. The Bible tells us who God is
and what he is really like. Now, from the scriptures, we
know that God is one God in three distinct persons. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He's not three gods,
but He's one God in three distinct persons, the triune God. We couldn't figure this out on
our own. We couldn't know this. This is a mystery that He has
made known in the Scripture. And all three persons of the
Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
act in the salvation of the sinner. God the Father elected a vast
number of sinners before time began in Christ Jesus the Lord. He chose them to be saved. According
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should behold him without blame before him. God the Son
assumed full responsibility of the salvation of the elect He
became their surety. And when He walked upon this
earth, He was made flesh. He did what He did as a representative
man. He had all of the elect in Him. That's what baptism signifies
when I'm baptized, baptism by mercy. I say when Christ lived,
I lived. When He died, I died. When He
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. My only
hope is being in Him. Now Christ Jesus took on flesh. He kept the law of God perfectly
for these people who had broken the law. He took their sin upon
himself and paid for it. Jesus paid it all, all the dead
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. He put away the sins of everybody
he died for, and in time, Those people that God elected, those
people that Christ died for, God the Holy Spirit comes to
them and gives them life. He bursts them into the kingdom
of God so that they are enabled to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and are in a continual state of repentance before God.
Now, that is the work of God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit, the triune God in the salvation of the sinner. Now, before creation, when there
was no time, when there was no space, when all there was was
God. Now, do you understand what you're
talking about? Somebody says, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I can't understand this. I just
believe it. Before creation, all there was
was God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. And they loved one another. They worshiped one another. They rejoiced in one another. They adored one another. Oh,
the fellowship in the Godhead. God the Father loves God the
Son. God the Son loves God the Father. God the Son loves God the Holy
Spirit. How God the Holy Spirit loves
God the Father and God the Son. All there was was God and he
had no needs. He didn't create men because
he was lonely, because it would make somehow things better for
him. He had no needs. rejoicing in himself. Now, I'm
going to read a passage of scripture, very mysterious, from Proverbs
8. And this is Christ speaking, personified as wisdom. And he
says in Proverbs 8, I'm going to read several scriptures. If
you have access to a Bible, it would be good if you could open
it up and look at these verses with me. Proverbs 8, verse 22,
the Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way. before
His works of old, before the creation. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
then I was by him. as one brought up with him, and
I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." Now, this
speaks of the relationship of the Father and the Son before
the creation of the earth. Rejoicing in the habitable part
of the earth, of his earth, and my delights were with the sons
of men. Now, do you hear that? Before the creation, Christ says,
My delights were with the sons of men." Now, something else
we know from this book, before the creation, Christ had a people
in Himself that are perfectly united to Him. Now, once again,
the only reason we know this is from Revelation, from what
the book actually declares to be so. Hebrews 2.11 says, both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of
one. They're not very close, they're
one. Christ has a people that have always been united to him,
that he's always known. Listen to this scripture. Jeremiah
31.3, behold, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. a love that never had a beginning,
a love that was personal, a love that will never have an end.
Behold, I've loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. That's what the Bible says.
He said through Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I
knew thee. Every one of those that God elected
have always been in the Lord Jesus Christ, have always been
known by the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He did foreknow, whom He
did love beforehand. Whom He did foreknow, them He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Now, all of these
who are united eternally to Christ were predestinated to be perfectly
conformed to His very image, hence their beauty. The beauty of the Lord Jesus
Christ is their beauty. Now, these are the ones that
God the Father gave as a bride to Christ before time began. According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. Listen to these scriptures.
These are all from John chapter six and chapter 10 and chapter
17. The Lord says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, speaking of his sheep. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all. No man can take them out
of my Father's hand. He said in John 17, it was a great high
priestly prayer, as thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. I have manifest thy name to the
men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were,
thou gavest them me. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, for them which thou hast given me. Those thou gavest
me, I've kept. Father, I will that they whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am." Now, these people
who, before time began, had their beauty given to them from the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, all of this
took place before creation, the stuff I'm talking about. We just
believe it because it's in the book of Revelation, the Bible.
the revelation of everything. Once again, we believe this because
it's real. That's the only reason. There's
no way we could know this had not God made it known. But there was a time when there
was the creation. Adam was created. And Adam is
the representative of all men. You have his genes. You have
his DNA. He is the created man, and all
men were in Him. Now Adam walked in fellowship
with God. He worshiped God. He loved God. And Adam fell. He fell. He sinned against God. God told him this was going to
take place. Before it happened, he said in Genesis 2.17, in the
day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. He didn't say, if
you eat, you'll die. He said, when you do, in the
day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Could God have prevented
the fall? Of course He could. He's God.
Really, even us asking that question is ridiculous. He's God. His
will's always done. And the fall of Adam was all
a part of God's glorious purpose. If God did it, it's right. If
God decrees it, it's right, whether you and I understand it or not.
And we're in a very difficult position when we stand in judgment
on God and say, I don't think He should have done that, or
I think He should have done it this way. What in the world do we know?
God's God, and we're sinful, fallible creatures. Whatever
He does is right, just, holy, and true, and the fall was good. You say, how can you say that?
Because it reveals who God is. God had the fall so the cross
could be. If we didn't have the cross,
we wouldn't know who God is. The cross tells us who God is. It gives every one of his glorious
attributes. How I love, how every believer
loves the cross of Christ because it shows the purpose of God,
the sovereignty of God, the justice of God, the wisdom of God, the
power of God, the holiness of God, the love of God, the mercy
of God. Every attribute of God is manifest
in the cross. Why? We know this much about
the foundation, about what happened before time began. Christ was
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This has always
been God's purpose, to manifest himself through the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever God does is right,
just, holy, and true. Adam fell, and all the elect
were in him when he fell. No question about that. And man
lost his beauty. Adam lost his beauty. He became
a sinner before God, but included in his fall was the elect. Christ
knew them. He never stopped loving them,
even after the fall. And I'd like to read a passage
of scripture from Ephesians chapter five, beginning in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church." That's who he loved, the church,
his bride, his body. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blame before him. Now, here is how Moses And
every other believer becomes beautiful to God. Christ died and put away your
sin, if you're a believer. That's why he died, to put away
your sin. And now he has made you perfectly
conformed to his image without spot wrinkle, or any such thing. You are in God's sight if you're
a believer. This is true of every believer.
In God's sight, you are beautiful. And he sees things as they really
are. It's not like he sees you, well,
I'm going to just think they're beautiful, even though they're
not. No. If Christ died for you, and if he washed you, And if
He made you holy in God's sight, you are beautiful to God. God looks upon you and He finds
one who is beautiful. He loves you. Now, people talk
about unconditional love. There's no such thing. God doesn't
have unconditional love. He loves that which is lovely.
And in Christ Jesus, every believer is lovely. Every believer is
actually worthy of the love of God, of the esteem of God, of
the respect of God, because they're perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ. As He is, so are we in this world. That's what 1 John 4, 17 says,
and He is utterly beautiful. utterly perfect to God. I love
the Psalm, Psalm 50 verse 2, out of Zion, the perfection of
beauty. Now, Zion's the church. Zion's
every believer. Out of Zion, the perfection of
beauty. The Lord God shines forth. You know, if you're a believer,
You have duty that is equal to the shining of the sun. The Lord
says so in Matthew 13, verse 43. He says, Then shall the righteous
shine as the sun before their heavenly Father. Now, I realize,
I think of the man of transfiguration. When the Lord peeled back His
humanity and we saw His deity, His face shines as the sun, His
clothes started to glisten. Well, the believer, we've got
this flesh that makes it to where we can't be seen as we really
are. But when that flesh is taken
away when we die, we're gonna shine as the sun in the kingdom
of our Father. Now, I realize if you're a child
of God, you don't see yourself this way. You hear it in the
Scriptures, you believe it, but you don't see it this way. But I want you to hear what He
says to every believer. And this is in the Song of Solomon,
that love letter of Christ to His church. He says, Thou art
all fair, my love. There's no spot in thee. Thou
hast ravished me. This is Christ speaking to his
church, to every individual believer. Thou has ravished my heart with
one of thine eyes. My dove, let me see thy face. Let me hear thy voice, for sweet
is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Believer, he loves
you in the beauty of which he has made you to be. You are beautiful
to him. You are his beautiful, precious
bride. And you are always, every believer,
you are always on his thoughts, in his heart, and on his mind. There's never been a moment when
he was not thinking of you. Now somebody says, how could
that be? Because he's God. Because he's God. But there's
never been a moment when you, if you're one of his, if you
believe the gospel, There's never been a moment before time or
in time or when time is no more when you are not in his heart. He said your names are engraven
in the palms of his hands. I think of the great high priest
who had the names of the children of Israel right on his breastplate
over his heart. We've always been on his great
heart. Second Corinthians chapter 8
verse 9 says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He was made poor,
that you through His poverty might be rich. You think of the
Father's love for you, that He spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up. You think of God the Holy Spirit's
love for you, that he's taken permanent residence in your heart,
and he will never leave. He's made you his precious bride,
and just as Moses was beautiful to God, so is every believer. How beautiful? However beautiful
Christ is. Oh, who could describe his beauty? That is how every believer is,
because as he is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4, verse 17. Now, you may not feel beautiful.
I understand. I don't either. In the Song of
Solomon, Shulamite said, picturing the church, the bride, here was
her words, I am black. but comely, beautiful. I have a nature that is completely
evil. It's dark, black, and I'm beautiful. In Christ Jesus, I have the very
beauty of God upon me. God looked down upon Moses, and
he was beautiful to God. And that is said of every single
believer, they are beautiful to God. Thou art all fair, my
love. There is no spot, no blemish,
no sin. He sees one who is spotless and
perfect, his precious holy bride, the Lamb's wife. Now, we have
this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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