Glory of God - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2023 | Day 16: The Gospel’s Glory

The Gospel’s Glory is that God has conquered the consequence of Sin in us. God has defeated death.

When we use the word glory in the Church, it is usually in the context of worship. We want to glorify God. That we should give God glory for the things he has done. Or, we should be in awe of the glory of God. This last idea will be the focus of our reflection today.

During the time of the sojourn of Israel in the desert, whenever they would make camp, the Tabernacle would be in the center of the people. The Tabernacle was the structure God commanded the people to build. It would be where God’s presence would “dwell”.

Now, this idea of a location where God is present is counterintuitive. God is a spirit. He has no corporeal form. And by virtue of this, he is not restricted by the notions of space or time. So, in what sense was God’s presence going to dwell in a specific location? This is where the idea of glory comes in.

The word used to describe this reality is shekinah. This is the specific action of God to make his presence perceptible. It would usually be seen as a cloud or a fire.

If this is the way God showed himself in the Old Testament, is there a corresponding manifestation of God’s glory today? I believe there are. The work and movement of the Holy Spirit among God’s people. The operation of the gifts of the spirit in worship and in our daily life. There is also the often missed but still real expression of God’s presence in our devotional and prayer time.

These are all witnesses to God’s glory. But there is one example that can be tied directly to the Gospel. What is the Gospel’s Glory? The Gospel’s Glory is that God has conquered the consequence of Sin in us. God has defeated death. The great enemy of our lives had been stripped of all its power.

⁵⁵“O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NKJV

You may wonder how this is like the other things I have described. I will tell you. Every time we hear the Gospel; every time we are reminded of how sadly we fail; every time we struggle to make sense of how we could possibly be saved; it is there that God’s presence is manifested and the testimony of the spirit says we have been redeemed. We have been adopted. We have been moved from darkness to light. From death to life.

The Gospel’s glory is found in the persistent witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Reminding us that what we want to believe about ourselves because of fear is no longer true about us.

Our destinies have been changed. The trajectory of our lives has been altered mid-flight and we are not pointed toward heaven.

What a wonderful reality. What good news. What an awe-inspiring realization.

We no longer have a Tabernacle or a temple to go to experience the presence of God. We have now become living temples. We are not living tabernacles. And wherever we go, the presence of God goes with us.

Lent 2023 Series

Lent 2020 | Day 23: “Glory”

As we continue our devotions through Lent, I feel the weight of the shift that has taken place. The world wide pandemic has really altered my perspective. It’s not that I wasn’t aware of the realities I’m addressing. It’s they have taken on a new texture and significance. I really feel like the way I see the world and my faith and God has changed. And I can honestly say it is in a positive direction.

I can’t really explains it. I’m not really trying to. I just know that after this whole thing is behind us, I know I will have been changed.

In a weird way, this is what glory means to me. In almost every instance I can remember in scripture, when glory is referenced it usually means God’s glory. And when God’s glory is in view, we are usually seeing it in its fullest expression. The glory of God is wonderful, if you can withstand it. But no sinner can. And so for us there is a sense in which God’s glory is horrify rather than edifying. The funny thing is that regardless, something will change when you encounter God’s glory.

As we continue drawing closer to Easter, I would encourage all of us to prepare to behold the glory of God. That way, when we come face to face with him we will rejoice and not cower.

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 14 | Faith is… Radiating the Glory of God

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God… (Hebrews 1:3a)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29, ESV)

² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3, NIV)

What is the purpose, goal and ultimate end of this life of faith?

I think that we could come up with a wide and varied list of answers to the question. And, I do not think that any of those answers would be wrong or inappropriate. What I would say is that many of our answers would probably be much too shallow to accurately represent how God sees us. To think otherwise might somewhat naive on our part. God’s ultimate purpose for his people must be greater and grander than anything we could even conceive. If it is something that we could conjure up in our own minds and hearts we would be able to make ourselves equal to God.

The power of God to transform us from what we are to what he intends for us to be is something truly amazing. I say this, and I know that I do not fully understand what I am thinking. Just imagining a time in my future where I will be perfect. Where every action, thought and word will be correct. Thinking about a time where I will no longer be the source of pain or suffering to those I care for most. That I will no longer make a mistake in judgment that will bring about negative or unintended consequences to those I have never met. That truly is a wonderful thought. I can only dream about what that will be like

Over the course of this series I have hoped to expand our understanding of faith. Knowing what something is can help us to live better and choose better. But, faith is not like most other subjects. Faith, unlike many other things in life, is something that comes from God and works its way through us. Faith is dependent on an object. It is impossible to have faith in nothing. That is a contradiction in ideas. Faith always points to something outside of itself.

What I have come to realize is that our faith, this faith in Jesus, is not something that we strive for. While there are times that we can talk about pushing into our faith, or holding onto faith, the Christian faith is of a different nature. Faith in Christ takes hold of us, it pulls us forward, it calls us to go deeper. Christian faith is not something that has be fabricated from within. Christian faith is poured in from without because the object of our faith is so compelling, so transforming that it provokes action.

This begs the question, “Why do we not see this more often in those of us that profess faith in Jesus?”

I think that the major reason is that we have not accepted the fact about one of the most important effects of our faith in our lives. That effect is that God desires to make us like Christ in every way. And, one of the most compelling ways that we are made like Christ is to radiate the very glory of God to the world. At no point are we to point to ourselves or our won glory.

Fundamentally what this means is that at the center of our lives is not what is at the center of Jesus’ life. Everything that Jesus did he did because that was exactly what God wanted him to do. Everything that Jesus said was exactly what God wanted him to say. Jesus and God were so close together that Jesus described the relationship between himself and the Father as being one (John 10:30). I know the theological realities that this statement was pointing to. However, it would be a terribly short-sighted perspective to dismiss the relational reality that Jesus is describing.

Do you remember Jesus prayer for the disciples and all disciples to follow? Jesus prayed that we would all be one. How? Just like Jesus relationship with God the Father. John captured Jesus’ prayer on this issue and recorded it in John 17:

²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:20-26, ESV, emphasis added)

I highlighted one phrase of this passage, but the entire paragraph is so rich with implications about what God desires for us to become because of our faith in the Son of God. It would take more space than is available here to explore what this means. Just read and re-read that paragraph a couple of times and see how Jesus joins together, not only his life with that of the Father’s, but also how Jesus joins our lives with God’s life.

Everything that God desires for the Son, he desires to be seen in those that are becoming like Jesus. The closer we draw to Jesus and the closer we walk with Jesus, the more like him we will become. The more we become like Jesus, the more like him we will be in radiating the glory of God to the world.

John Piper | Why do you love God?

[su_audio url=”http://cdn.desiringgod.org/audio/events/20100228.mp3?1319778153″%5D

Dr. John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching & Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN. He is also the Chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary an extension ministry of the church providing training for pastors within the local church setting. He is the founder of Desiring God Ministries which serves as the source of everything Piper. You will find 30 years of sermons to read, listen to, watch or download. You can also find many of his books free for download as well. Dr. Piper is one of the finest expositors and proclaimers of the Scriptures in general and the Gospel in particular.

For those not familiar with Dr. Piper, his theological orientation is that of Calvinism. This, however, should not deter you from gleaning from the depth and breadth of Dr. Piper’s wisdom and insights into the Word of God. Even if you don’t agree with Calvinism as a theological system, there is no doubt that the Scripture and the God of the Scriptures is the most important thing on his mind.

This video is rich in its content, which means you may have to watch more than once. It’s about an hour long, but it will challenge you to consider your motivation for loving God. I hope you invest the time to hear this message. I am the better for doing so.

Source: Why God Makes Much of Us

Romans Series (Pt. 8) – Romans 3:1-9

First in Time (Romans 3:1-5)

Paul helps the Roman hearer, and the all Gentile readers of this letter, understand that the primacy of the Jew in God’s plan had nothing to do with some intrinsic worth that they had as people. He will point this out in verse 28 of this chapter. What Paul is trying to make clear is that because God has chosen to work through human affairs someone had to be selected for the purpose of being the instrument of God’s will ([reftagger title=”Romans 3:2″]v. 2[/reftagger]). This people were the children of Abraham. Why Abraham? I don’t know, but that becomes a moot point because it is not something that can be undone or reversed. God picked Abraham and worked out His will through Abraham’s progeny, both the physical and the spiritual (look at Galatians 2:18-21, 3:10-14) . Look back at Romans 2:25-29. Paul has just finished removing any privilege that may have existed for the “circumcised”. The true heart of the matter is what is going on in the heart.

But there is something else at work that Paul wants to address. A teaching had become popular among the Jews that God would overlook and not punish unfaithfulness on the part of the Jews. God’s faithfulness is not, should not, and must not be called into question just because a frail humanity is unable to comply with its end of the bargain. God remains faithful. God’s reputation is not tarnished because of our failures. This however, had become the mentality of the Jews. They believed that their “unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God” ([reftagger title=”Romans 3:5″]v. 5[/reftagger]). This is the epitome of putting God to the test. And it must be avoided at all costs.

Sinning for the Glory of God (Romans 3:6-9)

But not only were the Jews putting God to the test. There rose up in the Jews’ mind an indignation that they were being punished as they served as examples of God’s faithfulness. Paul writes about the total arrogance of the Jews in this regard, “But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?” ([reftagger title=”Romans 3:7″]v. 7[/reftagger], emphasis added). There is never an appropriate time to sin for the Glory of God. This is an attempt and make God a fool and to take the grace that has been given to us and misuse it for our own fleshly desires (Galatians 5:13).

The poor example of the Jewish people as a whole was inexcusable. But Paul understood that he himself had been among them. His errors may have been on the side, the side of piety and total devotion, but that is only exchanging one extreme of misunderstanding for another. Paul recognized that his extreme devotion and other Jews’ extreme infidelity both missed the point and mark of God’s character ([reftagger title=”Romans 3:8″]v. 8[/reftagger]). And because of this both were rightfully condemned ([reftagger title=”Romans 3:9″]v. 9[/reftagger]).

What is the Gospel? (Pt. 1) – “The Glory of God”

This is part of the series What is the Gospel?

We have been looking at the Gospel and the reasons that we have for joy in and through it. I would like to take a closer look at what this Gospel is. We will journey together as we uncover the richness of the Gospel.

The entirety of the Gospel can be “book-ended” with the same thing – God Himself. To understand the Gospel, we must see that salvation and all that it promises is grounded in the person and work of God (Eph 2:8). The Bible opens with “In the beginning God…” and it ends with God’s return in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote that, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

The idea of Glory is a description of God’s utter and unpolluted perfection. The Gospel begins with the impeccable beauty of God and it ends with the impregnable grace of God. When we begin to see who God is, we will have a better understanding of the problem that faces sinful men. The Gospel must begin with God. If it begins anywhere else we risk missing the message God delivered in Jesus. Next week we will examine what does it mean that God is Holy.