Exodus 33:18-19

everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

And looking around today, you can see that nothing's really changed. We all still pursue what's right in our own eyes. We may genuinely believe that we're pursuing something good, but it doesn't matter because we're bad judges of what's right and wrong, of what's good and evil. We can't make judgment calls on goodness without a standard, but as Christians, we know that God is the ultimate standard of goodness. Goodness is not independent of God, like a description that God falls under. Rather, goodness is fully dependent on God. It's a description that falls under God. Goodness is defined by God. It's the perfection of God's character that he exercises toward his creation. So in this way, not only is God the standard of goodness, but he's the source of everything good. Romans tells us that God displays his goodness in his creation. So when we see goodness in the things around us, it's because it's a reflection of his nature. We get in trouble when we fail to attribute an object's goodness to God, leading us to believe that the object is a source of its goodness rather than its creator. When we chase the goodness of God's creation, it's like choosing the light of the moon over that of the sun, or falling in love with a picture of someone and ignoring the person themselves. Submit to the source, not the reflection. Submit to the creator, not his creation. Psalm 34 tells us,

those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

If you're submitting yourself to anything other than God, you're missing out on so much. Maybe you're sitting there thinking that you can get away with submitting to the will of God while chasing your own ambitions. But Matthew tells us,

no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

Resist the temptation to submit to God's creation and instead submit to God, learning to praise God for his creation so that you may learn to see the goodness of God in everything. Our second point, the self-revelation of God. God continues his response to Moses by saying,

I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.

God is not abstract and impersonal, but he's a personal God. Self-revelation is a part of God's nature, so he wants all of his creation to know him. If God wants to make himself known to his creation, then it's clear that our purpose is to know God, which we can only do through our submission to him. God personally revealed himself to Moses, and although it might not be accompanied by a grand display of glory, God continues to proclaim his name to us today. The divine nature of God is reflected through his creation as general revelation, which is sufficient to hold us accountable to our unrighteousness. But God also gives special revelation through supernatural means, including the Bible and the person of Jesus Christ. However, despite the revelation God provides us, it's impossible for us to know God exhaustively. When God passes before Moses, he covers Moses' face so that Moses is only able to see his back. The glory of God is so far beyond our comprehension that it would kill us to see the face of God. We will never be able to fully comprehend the true nature of God because our finite minds are incapable of grasping the infinite. but this doesn't mean we stop pursuing God. On the contrary, we need to submit to God because we have a limited understanding of God. In a world of confusion, sin, and chaos, God himself provides us with sufficient means to pursue and know him. While God chooses not to reveal his glory in its entirety to us, he does not hide himself away from us. If you ever find yourself feeling distant from God, it's not because God is hiding from you, it's because you're hiding from the true nature of God. We often create our own picture of God that isn't consistent with his true nature and we end up making our own gods. When God acts contrary to our own mental image of him, we feel like he's turning his back on us even though he's staring straight at us. Don't allow your desires and perceptions to affect the nature of God but rather allow God's nature to affect your desires and perceptions by submitting to the self-revelation of his nature. God's self-revelation should lead to our submission to him because we find fulfillment seeking a God who desires to be sought. And our final point, the grace and mercy of God. Now this is significant because these two qualities, grace and mercy, are the first two that God chooses to describe himself as. He continues his answer to Moses saying,

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Grace is defined as unmerited favor that brings about blessings. Now God bestows some form of grace on believers and unbelievers alike, but nothing we do affects the grace God bestows upon us. Romans nine tells us that before any of us were born and even had the capacity to do good or evil, God chose the recipients of his grace. So what's the point of submitting? We can only fully enjoy the blessings of God's grace when we submit to him. We're told in Ephesians that God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We're just blind to them. Just like how we're blind to the full glory of God, we're blind to the full blessings of God. We learn to understand and recognize the blessings of God's grace through our submission to him. Submit to God so you can learn to fully enjoy the blessings of His grace. Now, God is also merciful. Mercy is defined as compassionate forgiveness. Mercy is a subcategory of grace, but it's reserved only for believers. Everyone receives some form of God's grace, but not everyone receives mercy. Many people struggle with this. You know, if God is good and sovereign, shouldn't He extend His forgiveness to everyone? No. In fact, Paul interprets this verse in Romans 9, and he tells us that there's no injustice on God's part. If God were to harden everyone's hearts, withhold his mercy, and smite us all right at this moment, this wouldn't conflict with his goodness. We've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Every sin must be held accountable and cannot go unpunished. The forgiveness we receive from God doesn't come at a small expense. God doesn't just brush off the wrongs we commit against him. But instead, God sent his beloved son, Jesus Christ, into this world to live a sinless life and to die in order to atone for our sins. But death did not claim victory over Christ. He rose from the dead, overcoming sin and death, and he offers life to those who believe. So if you make submission to God, your life's purpose, your purpose will not die with you because you submit to the will of God who has overcome death. God's mercy is not a right, it's a gift. It's an unmerited privilege from a good and all sovereign God. Our past, present, and future debts have all been paid, but we don't respond by continuing in a life of sin, a life centered on our own gods and ambitions, but through complete submission. Just like Israel, we have been delivered away from a life of slavery. Don't trade that freedom back for slavery and a life for death. If you're an unbeliever, don't wait to turn to God. Jesus said,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Submit to God, not only to fulfill your purpose, but that you may know life itself. If God's extending his gift of mercy to you, take it by repenting and submitting to God. God has made it abundantly clear what the stakes are for those who refuse to submit. And I'm standing here before you tonight to remind you this fact. Don't live flippantly through this life to pursue your own empty purposes. I'm not saying that it's bad to have goals or ambitions. God gave Moses the goal of bringing up the Israelites. Goals and ambitions will be a part of life, but they aren't life's purpose. Believer, God is the source of all goodness. He requires nothing from us except our love and submission, so submit to him. After God had finished his creation, he instructed Adam,

of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

But Adam chose his own ambition to be like God rather than submitting to God. God is faithful to his word. In this life, death is a certainty. So if you have the privilege and great opportunity to play this game of life, you must make every moment count. You only play once. To the believer and unbeliever alike, what's holding you back from fully submitting to God? God has made himself known to all, so submit to the good God who gives and takes away, lest your life be taken away by the empty promises of death. Would you pray with me? God, you are our good father and you graciously reveal your goodness to us all. Forgive us when we resist the purposes you designed us to fulfill in order to pursue our own hopes and desires. Thank you for the great mercy you show us when we inevitably sin against you. Continue to work in us and sanctify us so that we may know true submission in order that we may know you, God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.