Radical Life Support

Rick is a non-traditionalist, rock-n-roll, evangelist who likes to stir things up. And Robin is a traditional, choir member, encourager who does not like to rock the boat. They come together to challenge and discuss how to live a radical life for Jesus.

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Radical Life Support

God is Zealous

October 30, 2020 • Rick and Robin Moe • Episode 60

Zealous is a super-positive word that accurately describes God. Zealous is a word that implies passion, enthusiasm, devotion, and dedication for something or someone. If you have zeal, you are willing, energized, and motivated for that thing or person and that is the real picture of God’s zeal.

It is important to understand why God is so zealous for us. One of God’s names is Qanna and it is translated zealous, jealous, or envy. [Ex 34:14] “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a Jealous God.” Zealous and jealous are sometimes used interchangeably with a similar meaning in translation.

That God is zealous and jealous is best shown in the marriage relationship. God says when He created marriage, the two will become one flesh. When a man and a woman make a marriage commitment, they are making a covenant before God that they will be faithful through all circumstances of life and will not redirect their love to anyone else.

Zeal can be described as God’s jealous love. In scripture, God is depicted as Israel's husband. God is like a jealous lover who is unwilling to abandon or give up His redeemed people. His passion and zeal is for them to be in covenant relationship with Him. As in a marriage relationship, God is wanting all our praise for Himself and no one else. He makes a commitment to be zealous and all out for our good and we in turn decide to be 100% devoted to Him and to love Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul.

God made a covenant with His people in love. Because Israel turned to other gods, God said they had for all intentions committed adultery against Him. God was so displeased with the Israelite’s over their unfaithfulness that He sent His people into captivity for 70 years. We don’t often like to think that God hates sin as much as He does and that it angers Him; but the bible doesn’t hide this jealous attribute of God.

We much prefer to hear the verses when God’s is no longer angry and merciful. God forgives after we have repented of our unfaithfulness and then with continued zeal works to restore the relationship. In [Zec 8:1,7] “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her…I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” God always keeps His part of the covenant. And God has a right because of His faithfulness, to want us to be faithful to Him in return. There is no sin in His righteous jealousy.

God is zealous and deeply cares that you think of Him rightly. So, let’s ask our series theme statement in a form of a question: What comes into your mind when you think about God? Deep in your heart, what do you believe God to be like? Tozer says that once we know what a person thinks about God, then, “we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man (or woman).” Your answer is of immense importance. Your answer to this question will show whether your view corresponds to the true being of God.

Some may quote the Apostle’s Creed stating that is what they believe about God. But that can be just a religious statement that doesn’t dig down into the specific beliefs about God. We need to find out what God says in scripture about Himself and compare our thoughts against that. It could be difficult to find out that our knowledge is inaccurate and that we have believed God wrongly for so many years. How elevated is your view of God? Do you have a high opinion of Him? Is your view a view that God would consider is worthy of Him? Is it a view that causes you to live your life in a certain way?

What you believe about God truly is the most important thing about you. Since God has taken so much effort to reveal all of His wonderful attributes about Himself through the word, through creation, through Jesus and in our hearts, shouldn’t we work with zeal to make sure we know Him rightly?

Throughout the series, we always begin with a quote from A.W. Tozer that has defined the series from the beginning: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

This study was designed to make sure you have a right view of the One and Only Living God. Any other view means you are believing in another god rather than the real God and Creator of all things. It is so important that we know God how He has revealed Himself to us, not as we might believe Him to be in our own limited imagination and understanding. If you put your faith in a false god, what good is that to you. If you put your faith in the true God, you will have more than enough for everything in your life.

Today we are going to talk about the final letter of the alphabet, the letter Z, God is Zealous

Intro to Attribute

Zealous is a super-positive word that accurately describes God. Do you ever think of God as ultra-positive? When I was a kid, I remember seeing God depicted as a bearded man in the clouds throwing thunderbolts down at bad people on earth. It gave me a picture in my little mind that God was like this super serious being, severe and strict, sitting on His throne with righteous indignation. That is why you need to study or restudy God’s true attributes because so many of us have established opinions of God from when we were young and now we need to have adult, mature, accurate facts about God. We need to grow up in our understanding of Him.

In the dictionary, zealous is a word that implies passion, enthusiasm, devotion, and dedication for something or someone. If you have zeal, you are willing, energized, and motivated for that thing or person and that is the real picture of God’s zeal. This zealous characteristic of God really sheds some new light on our view of God. Let’s look at the seven descriptive words in this definition and how they relate to God’s attributes and His zeal for us:

· Zealous means God has passion. God is not uncaring, unconnected, and dispassionate towards us. God’s desires for us are for good, not for negative. This should dispel any notion that God is just waiting for you to make a mistake to punish you. No, it is just the opposite. He is passionately waiting around for you to do something good so He can reward you. He organizes your life to lead you to a place where you want to trust Him and your faith will grow. That’s His passion and zeal for you.

· The zealous definition implies that God is enthusiastic too. When I think of that, I think of a cheerleader and a coach. Knowing He does things for me with enthusiasm makes me feel like it is a pleasure for Him to work for my good, not an obligation.

· God’s zealous nature causes Him to be devoted to His own. It is a strong, intense fervent devotion. Because He is all knowing and His thoughts about us are vast, we are always on His mind. He is completely devoted and will never leave us.

· God’s zeal implies dedication. Commitment, perseverance, and faithfulness. Think of how long-suffering and patient God was and still is to the Jewish people. He doesn’t give up. His love is dedicated and unconditional and He keeps His promises to the very end of time.

· God is a willing zealous God. Have you ever asked someone a question, would you be willing to…whatever? When we approach God, He is willing to hear our prayers, come to our aid, provide for our needs, heal our body, forgive our sins, and do anything that aligns with His will for us. We can freely approach Him unafraid because He is willing.

· God is motivated in His zeal. This zealous great God who dwells beyond the universe, condescends to come down and move in our direction. He is interested in every detail of our lives. He is not motivated based on anything we have done; but motivated based on who He is. Because of His nature of love and kindness He is always zealous and motivated to bring us into the likeness of Jesus Christ and nothing can interfere in His zeal for that goal because He knows that is what is best for us.

· Finally, zeal means God has an energetic zeal. From what we know about Him already, He doesn’t have to gear up to be energized. God is always fully energized and He never needs to recharge. If you look closely, you will see that God is very active in your life and you can trust that all of His energy and zeal is available all the time.

I. How does God reveal Himself as Zealous through the Word

Let’s start with [Is 37:32b] “…the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this.” His zeal is in play and a part of His divine actions. Remember how we always state that each of God’s attributes compliment one another and are in agreement with all the others.

[Is 42:13] “The Lord will march out like a mighty man, like a warrior He will stir up His ZEAL; with a shout He will raise the battle cry and will triumph over His enemies.” God’s zeal is there for us when we need Him as our Defender and Deliverer.

[Eze 39:25b] “I will be ZEALOUS for my holy name.” [Is 42:8] “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” God is unwilling to share His glory with any other creature.

It is important to understand why God is so zealous for us. God’s zeal is very serious. In Hebrew, one of God’s names is Qanna and it is translated zealous, jealous, or envy. [Ex 34:14] “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a Jealous God.” Zealous and jealous are sometimes used interchangeably with a similar meaning in translation. And that leads us into the next section…

How does God reveal Himself as Zealous through Creation

That God is zealous and jealous is best shown in the marriage relationship. God says at the very beginning when He created marriage, that the two will be united and become one flesh. When a man and a woman make a commitment to each other in marriage, they are making a covenant before God that they will be faithful through all circumstances of life and will not redirect their love to anyone else but their original beloved husband or wife. They need to guard the relationship and I would say have zeal to maintain the union. If one spouse breaks the covenant, it is very painful, cutting into the heart, and jealousy can come into play.

Zeal can be described as God’s jealous love. He is jealously in love with His people. The fundamental meaning relates to a marriage relationship. In scripture, God is depicted as Israel's husband. God is like a jealous lover who is unwilling to abandon or give up His redeemed people. His passion and zeal is for them to be in covenant relationship with Him. As in a marriage relationship, God is wanting all our praise for Himself and no one else. He makes a commitment to be zealous and all out for our good and we in turn decide to be 100% devoted to Him and to love Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul. [Ex 20:4-5] “You shall not make for yourself an idol…you shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

God explains His jealous feelings further in the analogy of the marriage relationship. God made a covenant with His people in love. Because Israel turned to other gods, God said they had for all intentions committed adultery against Him. God speaks sternly in [Ez 16:35-38] that this is a serious offense, very hurtful, and breaks the covenant on their part. He says, “Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood…I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.” God was so displeased with the Israelite’s over their unfaithfulness that He sent His people into captivity for 70 years. We don’t often like to think that God hates sin as much as He does and that it angers Him; but the bible doesn’t hide this jealous attribute of God.

We much prefer to hear the verses when God’s is no longer angry, calmer, and merciful. God lovingly forgives after we have repented of our unfaithfulness and then with continued zeal works to restore the relationship. In [Zec 8:1,7] “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her…I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” God always keeps His part of the covenant. And God has a right because of His faithfulness, to want us to be faithful to Him in return. Just like in a marriage. In Rom 12:11, it tells us not to be lacking in spiritual zeal but God never loses His zeal for us. He keeps His covenant of love.

We often think of jealousy as a negative thing because it can turn into sin for us humans. But listen to Paul as he writes to the Corinthians in II Cor 11:1-3: “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you (the church, the bride) as a pure virgin to Him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” You see in describing that God is Jealous, there is no sin in His righteous jealousy.

II. How does God reveal Himself as Zealous through Jesus

In one prophetic verse, it speaks of how God’s zeal brought about the coming Messiah. [Is 9:7] “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The ZEAL of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” God’s zeal brought salvation to the world through Jesus Christ and God’s zeal with ensure its continuance for eternity through Him.

In another OT verse [Is 59:17] it says of Jesus that He will, “put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.” All the characteristics of God are found in Jesus including His zeal. All we have said about God’s zeal for His name, His people, and His covenant can also be said about Jesus’ zeal. Jesus proved His zeal by completing all the work His Father gave Him to do in faithfulness and love. By definition, Jesus’ zeal was willing, motivated, dedicated, and energized as well.

Jesus is described as the Bridegroom and the church His bride. In Eph 5:25, it further explains that, “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish.” Christ is the Head of the church. He is zealously devoted to the church. And as described in a marriage relationship, we are to submit our lives to the Lord in love and devotion to Him.

III. How does God reveal Himself as Zealous in our Heart

God is zealous for your heart. There is a battle in this universe for your heart. Satan wants to destroy it and God wants to restore it. Actually, God has already done all the work through His Son to restore your heart. You just have to reach out and accept it. It is a free gift for you. God would love it if we had the same zeal as described in the Psalm 69:9, “…for zeal for your house consumes me.” How different our lives would be if we were truly consumed in zeal for God.

Some may quote the Apostle’s Creed stating that is what they believe about God. But that can be a route surfacy religious statement that doesn’t dig down into the specific beliefs about God’s attributes, nature and being. We need to find out what God says in scripture about Himself and compare our thoughts against that. It could be a painful in-depth probe to find out that our knowledge is inaccurate and that we have believed God wrongly for so many years. And have lived in accordance with a faulty understanding of Him. For example, we could think in principal that we believe He is infinite but in practice actually believe that He is limited in meeting our needs. So, we live out our years worrying with ulcers, depressed, and feeling hopeless.

When you have a right and noble concept of God, you can avoid a myriad of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual problems. You can compare your problems against yourself or with other world sources; or you can compare your problems against a perfect, all-knowing, all resourceful God.

How elevated is your view of God? Do you have a high opinion of Him? Is your view a view that God would consider is worthy of Him? Is your view that He is good? Is it a view that causes you to live your life in a certain way?

What you believe about who God is will affect how you communicate God to others. You could be preaching and talking about a false god and not actually know it. Low views of God destroy the gospel message. We need to make sure that when we teach our children about God, that we are passing on to them a concept of God that is of the greatest and highest level and that we live in the truth of our description of Him. Do not diminish Him in any way or question His goodness. Show them how God is personal and stretch them to believe that He is provider and faithful. [Prov 22:6] “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Maybe the reason some children turn away from God is because they have not been taught about the accurate truth of all of who God is. They have watched their parents not pray to God for help, or have not read the bible for guidance. They do not honor or forgive others and find peace and rest in alcohol or drugs. They complain and worry about their circumstances instead of trusting God. Take God’s name in vain, and behave one way at church and another way at home. We need to take a careful look at what we really believe about God and His involvement in our lives so that we can share the gospel with credibility.

Living a Radical Life for Jesus means believing that God is Zealous.