-Psalm 90:1-2
I am “friends” with John Piper and Desiring God on Facebook, and I get a steady stream of short quotes that are well worth sharing. If you are on FB and want to “friend” these two pages, see links below. Either way, here are some good quotes to ponder:
About God
John Piper: The purpose of the knowledge of God is the enjoyment of God.
J.I. Packer: What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne: Live near to God, and all things will appear little to you in comparison with eternal realities.
About Creation
DA Carson: God made everything that is non-God. This introduces an irreducible distinction between Creator and creature.
DA Carson: The first responsibility of human beings is to acknowledge our creatureliness.
Thomas Manton: If we could make ourselves, then we could live for ourselves.
Links:
Toyota has a hilarious series of “swagger wagon” commercials that in their words feature “two self-absorbed parents and the only vehicle that matches their awesomeness.” The entire series is done tongue-in-cheek, but captures a real attitude in our world today. While the commercials are funny, what is not so funny is our tendency toward a self-absorbed “look-at-me” attitude.
I remember when I first got my current car (which I have now nick-named the swagger sedan). When I first drove it, I had a bit of a swagger attitude. For some it might be a new set of clothes, the newest gadget, or some accomplishment that brings out the swagger attitude. What is certain is that my swagger sedan after several years no longer has a swagger affect, and if we take an honest look at ourselves, we are not as awesome as we sometimes think.
The Bible calls us to humility. Humility is not an “I am scum” attitude. Humility is seeing ourselves rightly. We are made in God’s image and so of great value. But we are also sinners, rebels against God. We are broken, not what we were made to be. We are far short of awesome.
At the same time, humility calls us to look at ourselves in comparison to God. God is awesome – the only one who deserves this adjective. In comparison to him, we are small. No one can honestly swagger in front of God. Rather humility calls us to exalt the one who is truly awesome.
Though we are small compared to God and rebels against God, God still loves us. He came to earth and actually became one of us. He died on a cross to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead to remake us into the people we were made to be. This too humbles us. He did this not because we are awesome, but because he is. Not because we are great, but because he is.
At the same time, God’s love lifts us up. Though we are broken and small, he loves us. In him our sins are forgiven and we can be who he made us to be. We can have a relationship with him. We can spend all of eternity with him. But this should not lead us to swagger. We don’t deserve any of this. Instead we ought to praise him for all that he has done for us.
I will continue to enjoy these commercials. But they also now serve as a reminder to me of the folly of self-absorbed pride and swagger, a reminder to get off the swagger bandwagon, and humbly praise the one who is truly awesome.
The second half of Exodus is filled with laws and instructions for building the tabernacle. One might not expect to find much grace here, but there are numerous examples.
The laws themselves graciously provide protection for the people – a great blessing indeed. Thank God we live in a country with laws that (for the most part) protect us.
God confirms his covenant with the people. Thank God for his grace – that he would enter into a covenant with us and make us his people.
In an incredible passage, the elders of Israel saw God and ate in his presence. The eating in his presence speaks of fellowship and peace. What a glorious thing that we can have peace and fellowship with God, and one day we will see him!
After the golden calf, God threatens to wipe the people out. But instead he graciously spares them and even renews the covenant with them. How many times have we sinned, yet God graciously spares us and faithfully keeps his covenant with us.
Perhaps the greatest theme in the second half of the book is God’s presence. That is why they are building the tabernacle – that God might dwell in their midst. As the tabernacle is completed, the manifest presence of God descends upon the tabernacle. God is with Israel. God graciously chooses to dwell among them – and among us. He is with us as we gather together as his people. His Spirit actually dwells in each of his people. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is with us always to the end of the age. He is with us to enable us for ministry and strengthen us in trials. God’s presence with us is an incredible example of his grace.
Grace upon grace. Praise the Lord for his grace in our lives!
(Taken from Exodus 21-40)
John Frame in his forward for the new book, You Are The Treasure That I Seek: *But there’s a lot of cool stuff out there, Lord by Greg Dutcher writes these words:
“So when we find ourselves going against God’s Word, it is helpful to ask the question: “What idol am I worshipping?” That is a powerful question, because it exposes the heart. It asks us to inspect our motives. When I am unkind to my wife, for example, it’s not a mere slip. It shows that my heart is not right with God, that I love myself more than my wife…. My own convenience, my own preferences, my own comfort have become my idol.”
Behind every sin is an idol. Too often behind every good act there is an idol too. I might serve in ministry for my reputation or another’s praise rather than for Christ. I might work hard at my job longing for a raise or promotion rather than in service to Christ. Again and again the Scriptures call us to serve God with all of our hearts (I Samuel 12:24, etc.) , but our hearts are too often divided. Our hearts are bent on serving other things – other gods. Here are a few thoughts to begin fighting idols.
1. Prayerfully examine your heart. Ask God to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24). Evaluate why you do what you do. Is it for Christ or is there an idol in your life? Begin to identify your gods.
2. Confess your sin of idolatry to God. As you identify your gods, confess these idols to God. The first commandment tells us to not have any gods before the one true God. We are all guilty of breaking this command – confess your sins.
3. Celebrate the gospel. John Frame again writes: “Thinking about idolatry helps us measure ourselves accurately, to see how far we fall below God’s standards.” We could easily get depressed by how sinful we are. But we come to cross. We claim his forgiveness. We celebrate the glorious truth that Jesus died FOR EVERY TIME we sin. In Christ, we are clean and pure in God’s sight.
4. Seek to serve God with all your heart. The truth of the gospel – what Christ did for us, should motivate us to press forward to serve God alone. Turn away from the gods you identified. Ask God for help to serve him alone.
May God help us overcome our idols and serve him alone!
More thoughts on idols and fighting them in future posts….
Foundational to having a heart for God is to simply believe in God and his way of salvation in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that those who draw near to God and would please him must believe that he exists. And Romans 10:9-10 tells us we must believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead – which implies that we believe he died too. As I Corinthians 15:3-4 tells us the summary of the gospel is that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and rose on the third day. Believing in God and in Jesus as our Savior is the first step to having a heart for him.
A good way to conclude this week’s discussion about God’s amazing heart for us might be to reflect again on these wonderful words from F. M. Lehman:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Drain the oceans and fill the sky – and you still have not grasped the depths of God’s love! A great thought to prepare us to gather tomorrow to worship this great God of love!
God’s heart for us is one of mercy, love, and grace. Our great need is to grasp this with our hearts and minds. So Paul prays that you:
“May have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” – Ephesians 3:18-19a
We need strength to comprehend his love. A few verses earlier, Paul makes clear that this strength comes from the Spirit – so we need God’s help to grasp his love.
We need to comprehend his love – how broad and long and high and deep God’s love for us is. We need to know this love…which surpasses knowledge. To know what is unknowable. To grasp what is ungraspable. The point is that God’s love is too deep to fathom. We can always go deeper. We can always reach higher. We can always move further. We can always grasp more and more because there always is more.
And so we pray that we might each day know his love a little more. Grasp a little more. Comprehend a little more.
May this be our prayer…and our experience!
As I mentioned in my last post, God takes us who were dead in our sins and makes us alive in Christ because of his mercy, love, and grace (Ephesians 2:4-5). Verse 7 adds a wonderful description to God’s grace. Paul refers to God’s grace as the “immeasurable riches of his grace.” Ponder that phrase.
Immeasurable – too big, too vast, and too immense to measure or consider or fathom. Were you to spend your entire life investigating the riches of God’s grace to us, you would never reach the end, never fully grasp it or comprehend it.
Riches – Here, in his grace, is true riches. With his grace that makes us alive, we are truly wealthy. The richest person on the earth (financially) is a pauper without God’s grace. And the poorest person on the planet (financially) who has received God’s grace is wealthy beyond measure. True riches are found, not in material things, but in God’s grace.
Immeasurable riches. Do we believe this? Are we living like it?
This past Sunday I preached about God’s heart for us. We looked at Ephesians 2:4-5 which says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” Three words describe God’s heart for us:
Mercy – We deserve judgment and wrath and condemnation because of our sins, but God gives us mercy. We who were dead, helpless, unworthy rebels have received mercy from almighty God. And his mercy isn’t stingy or small, but overflowing – God is “rich in mercy.”
Love – How do we account for his mercy? The answer is his great love. And how did God show his love? He showed it by sending his Son for our salvation (John 3:16). Jesus showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, he suffered and died for us (Romans 5:8). We didn’t deserve it, but Jesus did it. He died that we who were dead might have a new life. That is great love!
Grace – God saves us by his grace – his free undeserved favor. It is free – you can’t buy it or work for it. It is undeserved – you can never earn it or do enough good things to merit it. And it is this grace alone that saves us. Without his grace we are dead. By his grace we are made alive.
Mercy. Love. Grace. This is God’s heart for us. And this is our salvation!
Brian J. Mikul 