FEB 9 2025 | Genesis: Behind the Curtain S4E3 | “Here I Am”

Sea Change Church · Genesis: Behind the Curtain · "“Here I Am”" Pastor Adam Stadtmiller · February 9, 2025
Genesis 22:1-8
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

And we spread the light of Jesus in San Diego and all over the world. We ask this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Genesis chapter 22, after these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here I am. He said, take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burn offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac.

And he cut the wood for the bird offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with a donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship them. Come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burned offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.

So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father. And he said, here I am my son. He said, behold the fire in the wood. But where is the lamb for a bird offering? Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a bird offering my son. So they went both of them together. This is the word of the Lord. You have your bibles open up To to Genesis 22, 1 through eight, which just read for you.

We've reached the moment of apex in Abraham's life. This this test, uh, to see if he really believes the things that God has said to him, the things that pro God has promised to him, um, believes that God loves him. And God ask him in this test, can I have that one thing that is most important to you? And he ask him that before I get into that story because it's a good story and there's a lot to unpack here. We're gonna be here two, maybe three weeks.

I might make this an extra week 'cause it is such a crucial story. We're gonna look at, hey, why would God ask to burn your son as a sacrifice? And why would that happen? And is God really doing that? Was he doing that? Obviously you have the gospel metaphor here. Jesus carried the cross, the wooden cross. God sacrifices his son on a hill outside actually of where this was happening. This is actually happening on the temple mount in Jerusalem.

So this is where the temple would be, this place where Abraham's gonna go. There's so much to tease out and so much to talk about, but God gave me a different message for today, uh, for you as a church. And uh, it's the main point of the message. And the main point of the message today is God knows your name. He knows your name. Get in touch with that real quick. The God of the universe who created it all, who runs it all, who is in charge of everything, knows who you are.

He thinks about you constantly. It says in the scripture that Jesus himself is constantly interceding at the throne of God for you if you feel forgotten. Unknown uncared for the Bible was clear that God knows your name. And that is a key point that I want to share. And when we live in an understanding that God knows our name, we begin to move into intimacy. And a question I want to ask you is, how would your faith change if you woke up every morning and thought to yourself, God has revealed his name to us, which is amazing.

It's the name of Jesus Christ. He's revealed the name of Jesus to us. But how would you live differently if you thought every day God knows you name and he's thinking about you and he's caring about you passionately. And so that's what we see happening here. There's two main points today, subpoints and the subpoint. One became the main point. God knows your name. And then the next is this incredible the response of Abraham.

It's different than some of the other responses that he's had. We've seen his failures. Two weeks ago when I spoke, we looked at his failures. We looked at the times He hesitated, the times he was told to leave things behind. And he had a plan B, he was the master of the plan B. But something has happened in Abraham's life over the series of events where God has continued to prove himself. We'll see multiple times over and over again, he's proven himself over and over again.

And Abraham finally gets to a point where there's no plan B, the plan now is here I am. And so cultivating a here I am attitude. I think when you know that God cares about you and knows your name and cares about you passionately, it's easier to step into a here I am attitude that I'm ready to go wherever you have wi for me God. Go to verse one if you would, and we'll jump right into this after these things. That's important. A lot of stuff's gone on.

God tested, circle, tested. We're gonna look at that test here in a second. God tested Abraham and he said to him, Abraham circle Abraham. And he said, here I am. Circle. Here I am. Three things we're gonna look at today. Tested the name of Abraham and then that here I am attitude. I said, God knows your name and God knows us by name, not by number. You're not a number to God. You're not a widget to God. You thinks about you. He knows your thoughts.

He knows more about you than you know about yourself. Proverbs talks about that we don't even know our own motives. He wants to reveal to you who you are, but you have to seek him first to know who you are. Talked about that two weeks ago. What is interesting is in verse one, excuse me, in verse one. This is the first time God has ever called Abraham by his new name Abraham. Now he's spoken with him many times. We'll look at those.

But it's the first time that he called him by his new name. Remember Abraham Abram was his, uh, was his former name. That meant father, right? But God wanted to take the destiny of who he was. And names meant a lot in the Old Testament. And God used them a lot to identify you with your personality and who you were. We don't see that as much in the New Testament. It's more based on the name of Jesus. But we still have, um, leanings and gleanings of our own identity and our names.

But in the Old Testament, God was really using this. And the name Abraham had a pinnacle moment of testing. Excuse me. Abraham had a pinnacle moment of testing where God let him step into the destiny of his new name, which meant father of many nations. He went from a of an exalted father. And I'm sure he was a good father to a father of nations. And sometimes there's testing in our lives that God uses because he wants you to move you into a deeper destiny, a deeper calling of who you are.

And God is willing to wait until you're ready to move. And so we see that once again. I'm gonna read verse one after these things. God tested Abraham and he said to him, Abraham, he said, here I am. God had spoken to him many times. He had spoken to him in 12 one. Now look at all the times, times that he had spoken to Abraham. Really important, if you'll see it in your notes. But he never called him by his name. You can go back and check those. Genesis 12.

God commanded Abraham to leave Abraham. Abraham would it be to leave his country? Genesis 12, seven, God appeared, um, to him and promises the land to his offspring. That's important. You think at that point God would say, I'm gonna give you all this land. I'm gonna call you by your name. But he still had never called him Abraham. Well, chapter 13 tells him to look around promises the land. Chapter 15, God speaks to Abraham in a vision in 15 Again, God promises Abraham, a son from his own body, doesn't call him Abraham.

17. God appears to him and establishes a covenant. If there's gonna be a moment where you're gonna step into that destiny, it's a covenant moment, right? God's waiting. What's he waiting for? He's waiting for a development of character in Abraham. Where Abraham gets to a place where everything that he does, everything that he thinks, the actual essence of who he is, identifies with God's actual destiny for him. And he's waiting. And I would say for some of us, God is waiting.

We see it over and over again. Big moments and big moments are happening, right? These are really big moments. These are not inconsequential moments. God's still moving. He's there. He's working with Abraham, but he's waiting for a moment of complete surrender. Verse 17, instructions about circumcision. That's important for the Jews going forward. 18. The Lord appears that ma read to Abraham. Lord promises Sarah Robert bear a son in 18. In 18.

Again, God reveals the plan to judge Sodom. But it's only in chapter 22 verse one, that God finally calls him directly by name Abraham, this change of name ushers in a confirmation of his destiny. And it's all tied to obedience. It's all tied to an attitude. We'll look at more of that in Genesis 17, five, though Abraham is exalted, father, that name meant exalted father. And that's where that name change happened in chapter 17.

A little further back, Abraham's exalted father name became Abraham, father of many nations. I wanna talk about how important names are. 'cause I said at the beginning, God knows your name. And in the book of Revelation, a lot of you were really interested in that. In that passage I spoke about two weeks ago where it says in Revelation, you can look it up on Google, revelation Whitestone Jesus, you'll find it. He comes and he gives you this name and it's, it's your true name and only you and him will know it for eternity.

And there's just like this deep intimacy. And when you get to heaven, you're gonna live in a deep intimacy with God that he knows you, but he knows you now. And I want to give you some verses that you can use to build an understanding of your relationship to God and how he sees you. These are key. They're in your notes. You can write 'em down if you don't have the notes. And you're online. Jeremiah one, five in the Old Testament.

This is Old Testament. We'll do some New Testament as well. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. And so Jeremiah, he's saying, before you were even formed, before you were conceived, I knew you. It says before you were even conceived, years before that in eternity, God has known you. And I have a plan for you. And God has a plan for you as well.

But that plan has to move into what God has planned for you through him. Isaiah 43, God says, but now, thus says the Lord. He who created you. O Jacob, he who formed you. Oh, Israel, fear not for I redeemed you. I have called you by name and you are mine. Who do you belong to? Do you wake up in the morning and say, I am called by name. God knows my name and I am his, and he is mine. Let's get to the New Testament. John 10, three says, the sheep hear his voice.

He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. As he calls you, he's leading you into something. He's leading you into a destiny. I wanna say your destiny is attached to your obedience. God's calling on your life, God's purpose for your life that is all about him and not about you, is tied to your obedience. We see this in the here I am attitude. But you have to understand that he knows who you are and that he's calling you by name.

Luke 10 20. Let's stand the New Testament. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Think about that. Your name. Once you make a decision to follow Jesus, once you believe in his death on the cross and his salvation through his blood and the atonement and the resurrection, you believe that he is God. Your name, there's like a pen and your name is written in heaven.

God knows your name. And it's written in heaven. That's so powerful. Revelations three, five, and the one who conquers will be clothed, thus in white garments. And I will never blot out the name from the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. Your name written in heaven, written in the lamb's book of life. Jesus will confess your name to the Father. That is so powerful. And that is the intimacy that if we begin to walk in that it's gonna change your Wednesday.

If you begin to walk in that it's gonna change the decisions you make. And when there's actual moments of testing, because I don't believe God tempts us. That's why lead us not into temptation, but he tests us. And whenever God tests us, he's testing us to move us forward deeper into that destiny. How's the testing going? Your testing will go differently. If you live in an identity that you have a God who intimately loves you and knows your name and that your name is written in heaven in the lamb's book of life.

If you can make that part of your core identity, memorizing these scriptures, it'll change those moments of testing. And God will begin to test over and over, begin to move. So my question is then why did God, why did God wait so long to call His name? And I've kind of given the, given them the plot away a little bit. It's symbolizes a change in the relationship and a bit of a graduation of sorts. Have you ever had a graduation moment with God?

Have you ever had that moment where you feel like you were tested by God and you made it through that test and because of that you felt the trajectory of your life move or the velocity of your life and God's destiny move forward? I've had three distinct times in my life, three distinct times. One, I was in a, um, thinking about a relationship with a, with this girl. And the Lord had just said no. The Lord had just said no.

And we went on a date and I asked her on a date anyways, I knew I I just, there was nothing wrong with her. She's a believer. She was awesome. Amazing. But God had said no. So we went out, we, uh, we were sitting in front of Dietrich's Coffee, which is an Orange County coffee shop, right? Uh, and it's, it was amazing. They just, overexpanded lost, lost the plot, okay? And it would stay open until 11. And so we went into my, um, I believe I had a Suzuki Samurai at the time.

I, sorry, I, yes, let's give it up. Suzuki Samurai, if you're 35 or younger, you can look that up later. Suzuki Samurai. It was a convertible. And we were sitting in the car and just don't need to be sitting in a car in a parking lot at night. I just didn't. Right? And I just felt like the Lord's saying, you gotta like end this. Like stop. Right? And we're just sitting there. I'm not doing anything. We're just sitting talking.

But I had other thoughts in my minds, right? And I thought to myself, and I just opened. I thought, I opened the door and I got out the car and I said, I just, I just can't do this anymore. I mean, it was weird, right? It's like a weird, like if you're a chick, like, and I've asked you out, we've gone out to dinner, and then the guy does that. It's like lame, right? So I shouldn't have been there in the first place. It's my fault. I take it. I own it.

I'm gonna own that, right? And I just got outta the car. I said, you're amazing. We can't, I said, we can't date. And I just, I'm sorry. And, and she's all, and it was weird. And it was super awkward, right? So she gets in her car, it was always awkward. I met my wife, my wife the next day met my wife. The next day we were at the same coffee house. Um, the other girl wasn't there. Uh, and this girl wa this beautiful woman walks in and she says, I wanna be a, I want to go, I wanna leave Orange County and go be a lift instructor in Mammoth.

And I'm like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. That's every, that's all I need to know. Do you play Scrabble? Because if you play Scrabble, we're getting married. My friend was in charge of ski patrol at Mammoth, went to high school with him, Jamie. And so I gave her wife a business card, which she thought was stupid. And I gave her a business card. I said, gimme a call. Which she didn't. But then I ended up talking to her and uh, three months later we started dating and she became my wife.

That was a, a moment of testing. I believe if I wouldn't have gotten outta that car, I wouldn't be married to my wife. Now you could say, well, I don't know how God, where he, maybe we would've. I don't, I, I don't know. Lemme tell you what I believe. For me, this is one of three times another time before I became the pastor of this church where God gave me a testing four times, actually a testing. And God was faithful enough to help me with the Holy Spirit to achieve or overcome or whatever that test was.

And I believe in my own heart that I had not gotten outta that car and had that awkward moment. I wouldn't be married to my wife. Why does God test? Because God wants to move you into destiny. He doesn't want to tempt you. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. He will bring the test at the right time. And when God tests, I have a feeling he kind of knows what the answer's gonna be. I don't know how it all works.

We can talk about that in the we deep recesses of our small groups. But God tests for a reason. And we see He's being tested here. Faith isn't faith until it's tested. Faith is not faith until it's tested. Because without an obstacle, why have faith? It doesn't exist. Faith has to have an obstacle and you have an obstacle. Maybe it's a financial thing that if you just fudge the numbers just a little bit, you're gonna get that house.

If you just lie a little bit about something that happened, then it's gonna smooth everything over. There's this test, right? But faith is in faith until it's tested. And if your faith has never made you uncomfortable, it's not faith, it's convenience. You see, your faith should make you uncomfortable at a time where I, this is an uncomfortable decision for me. I don't want to make this decision because it's hard, it's difficult.

I've gotta give up my shiny thing. It's gonna make you uncomfortable. But if we just keep burrowing through doing it with plan B, you're not gonna get that destiny. And you're probably not gonna get, and just metaphorically that name call, because God calls him for the first time ever when he gets to a place where there's no more plan B. And we want plan B, don't we? 'cause we can control plan B. You gotta plan B, you gotta plan.

I had a plan CDEF 9.86. You know, uh, I have all these, but God calls him that. Go to verse one again. We're gonna look at it. Here I am attitude. Just stand in verse one. See, I'm not gonna get far in this today after these things, after these things. So a bunch of stuff had happened. God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, he said, here I am. That word is hena. Here I am. It's a word. It's, it's a Hebrew word. It's heay. Heay.

The word heay represents a submissive posture. It suggests that Abraham is agreeing to the question or the command before he knows its meaning. Lemme say that again. The word heay represents a submissive posture. Yes, my master. Whatever you ask, Lord, it suggests that Abraham is agreeing to the question or the command before he knows its meaning. That's unbelievable. It is the attitude of a servant, right? Let's say you're a servant and you know, 100 ad in a Roman household, and the the master or the the queen or whoever it is, the calls and says, you know, aticus, whatever your name is, right?

What do you want? No, that's not how you're gonna answer. Back in the day, you're gonna say, yes, my Lord. Meaning, do you want water? Should I run out and get a chicken and butcher it to have it ready for breakfast? What do you want? Yes. Yes. Before they even tell you what it is, it's yes, yes, yes. Here I am. Now, let's put that up against our own attitude. I have people, somebody said in a small group this week, I have people all the time, they're like, I wish God spoke to me.

I wish I could hear his audible voice. Really? Did you see what he asked Abraham after this? Do you really want God to speak to you like that? I'd be like, what would you do if God calls your name Aticus, whatever your name is, mark, Tim, Tina, whatever your name is, right? Calls your name Becca. I see you over there, calls your name. See, I just did it to you. You're like, what? What? What would you do? I was thinking about that.

I actually was last time. I'm like, I, I don't think I want him to do that. Like, really? What would, what would your posture be if God just says your name and you know it's him and he shows up? Like, are you ready for the next thing He says? I'd be like, I'm not sure. I think I'm just gonna kick with the Holy Spirit in the Bible. We'll just keep doing that. I don't know why the Holy Spirit that seems any different, but it feels like if God audibly spoke to you, but he speaks to him and the answer is so different.

The answer, the attitude is so different and he's willing to give anything to God. This word Haney, is used multiple times in callings, right? And almost every time there's a graduation, there's a grad, and I, I'm sorry to use a linear approach to scripture as opposed to this holistic approach of like, Hey, God, test you and you move forward. You move forward. But sometimes I think it does work that way. Sometimes it doesn't. Right?

'cause God's sovereign Exodus three, four, Moses. Moses, he said, and he said, Heay, here I am before being called the lead Israel. Moses. Moses called him twice. He said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Heay, here I am Samuel one, three through four. The Lord called Samuel called him three times. And each time the, when Samuel was called as a boy in the temple before his prophetic calling, before he graduated to lead all of Israel, once again, he said, Heay, here I am Isaiah.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And I said, Heay, send me Heay, heay, heay. Good things happen after Heay. It's just scary as heck. Like, he, like, I'm, I'm not, I'm telling you this whole week, I'm, I'm, I'm asking myself, am I a Hana person? Maybe. I don't know. You know what I mean? It's like, maybe it's on some stuff. But other thing, it's like he, there's other things that he's been telling me for a long time.

I'm not even a, a hana on some of the things he's been telling me that I know. He said, But I'm waiting for some new stuff. God, gimme a new assignment. I need this. Gimme, gimme some excitement. Where's the next thing? Where's, we're always looking for the next pasture, right? Where our sheep are starving in our own, God is saying to us, I'm, I need, I need a hae to of people. Here's the practical takeaway. The God of the universe knows your name.

He cares for you deeply. But in the end, it's not just about you. It's about him and you. And he wants to do that thing with you. He doesn't want to do it alone. He, he, he, he invites us. He invites us into relationship. Why does the God of the universe do it? Because he loves to do things with us. He loves to be with the people. And he'll never let you down with a Hana attitude. I just don't think I've gotten to the place where Abraham's at at the moment.

Now Abraham a hundred and I don't know, whatever, how old ever he is, he's probably 120 at this point. So he is got 60, 70 years on me, and God passed over calling him by his destiny name. I read 'em to you 10 times and God's still in the picture. God's still faithful. And you might have another seven times, you might have another 30 years until you get to your place. But God is always looking to the, bring us to the place of Heay where nothing else matters more.

Where he says to God, finally, in the end, here's my shiny thing. Here's the, here's the, here's the apple of my eye, my son. I'm gonna give it to you. Heay, heay, heay, here's my son. I'll put the wood on his back. Because you know, when it comes to your salvation, when we're lost, God is heay when it comes to saving you. He is heay. Here I am who will save this wicked generation. God says, Heay, here I am. See, we have a God that will come after you, that will give his precious son, that'll put the wood upon his back and crucify him to a cross that we might be saved by the blood of Jesus.

Heay, heay, heay, God loves you. He knows your name. Amen. Let's stand if you would. Chris is gonna come and lead us in a worship song. You know, I think, uh, this hymn is gonna be appropriate. Just the chorus. I surrender all, Ah, surrender, surrender. The I surrender. Let's that one more time. I surrender. I surrender. I surrender all to be my surrender. We wanna give you a chance to respond to God. I'm gonna give you a moment of silence here in a second.

I invite the prayer team forward. If, if you just need prayer for that Hana attitude, if you've got something you need to give, if you've never made a decision to follow Jesus, come forward for prayer. We wanna anoint you with oil. We want to pray for you. We want to see you move to that next step in your life, what God has for you. Come forward, the prayer team will be up here. We're gonna take a moment of silence and then I'm gonna bless you.

And then the, it'll be forward for you guys to prayer. Let's just take a moment of silence and just wrestle with God about that Hana and that thing. If you wanna extend your hands, I wanna bless you, Jesus. I pray for a heay spirit upon this congregation, upon our hearts. We want more of you than more of what we want, that you would lead us into our destinies, that you would lead us into our purpose, But not at the suffrage of the cross, not at the suffrage