Think Big Ideas About God

I was watching the movie "All the President's Men" (film about Watergate break-in) last night with my family, and this story popped into my memory. It was too good not to share. The following is an illustration by Tim Keller from a sermon titled "Does God Control Everything?" Listen from about 24:00 - 29:00. This story is straight cool. Below is a summary I found of this section from a blog by Andy Naselli. I don't know you Andy, but thanks for typing this up...

1. Tim Keller planted Redeemer Church because he entered a Presbyterian denomination that encouraged church planting.
2. Keller entered that denomination because in his last semester at seminary he took two courses with a professor who convinced him to adopt Presbyterian theology.
3. Keller sat under that professor because at the very last minute the professor arrived at the seminary after having bureaucratic visa problems. (The professor was British.)
4. While that professor was having visa problems, the seminary dean prayed one day about how he didn’t know how they were going to get the professor to arrive, and his prayer partner happened to be a seminary student named Mike Ford.
5. Mike Ford happened to have some clout to get them through the bureaucratic snag because he was the son of Gerald Ford, the sitting President of the United States.
6. Gerald Ford was President of the United States because Richard Nixon resigned.
7. Nixon resigned because a bunch of burglars broke into Watergate and were caught.
8. The burglars were caught because one of them happened to leave a door unlatched to an office they had just bugged, and then a night watchman just happened to walk by and notice the unlatched door.
9. So “if that [burglar] had latched the door,” Keller half jokes, “if that door had been closed just two more inches, we wouldn’t be here tonight. Even Watergate happened for you.”

...

I love this story. There are no coincidences in life, though we often attribute many occasions to them. This serves as a reminder to me to think big ideas about God. This sequence of events was so easy for God to orchestrate, yet it still blows my small mind away. Imagine the orchestration it required for each of us to be saved. Every person we encountered, every conversation we had and every feeling involved, which in perfect sequential order the Lord use to bring us to himself; each a miraculous story. Should that be attributed to chance or human effort? It seems only possible that was God chasing after each of us, to write us into His Story.

Assurance in His Grip

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one

will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,

is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

John 10:27-29

Where does your assurance come from? Is it from the strength of your own grip, or is your confidence completely in the strength of the grip of the one to whom you cling? Religion says your assurance comes from the strength of your own grip. In other words, your confidence is based on your performance. If you are standing upon solid ground, it is because you picked yourself up by your own boot straps. I often fall into this trap of basing my relationship with God on how strongly I am holding onto him, or how I am performing spiritual. 

But, the Gospel tells us quite the contrary. Jesus says his sheep know him, not because of how smart they are, or how strongly they cling to him. Rather, they know him and follow him because 1) they were given to him by his Father and 2) because his Father is greater than all, and no one can snatch his sheep out of his strong grip. Therefore, our trust should not be in our ability to hold on to God, but it should be in the strength of the one who holds onto us. 

This idea of God eternally choosing sheep to be his own, and sovereignly gripping them unto the end should cause great wonder and adoration. This is because, when we think about it, in our sinfulness, we were never able to hold onto God unto salvation. We are weak and broken, we had gone astray. Yet, God is so loving, that he died on the cross, as the lamb of God, innocently slaughtered for his people, for his sheep. The only way we could know God and follow him is if he sovereignly chose us, and maintained his eternal grip on us until the end. This should cause praise, adoration, humble service, self-sacrifice, and thanksgiving. 

Though we are weak, he is strong. Christians have the ultimate hope; not they will themselves will be strong enough to grip onto God and follow him, but that they have been chosen and loved by a God who has snatched them from death, given them life, and says he will never let go. 

Ephesians 1: 5-6

"In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."


Ephesians 1:6


A great word from Pastor John Piper with some great animation.

The Ruler of Israel

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, 

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of his brothers shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and shepherd his 

flock in the strength of the LORD,

in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.

And they shall dwell secure, 

for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

And he shall be their peace."

Micah 5:2-5

The ruler of Israel of which the prophet Micah foretells is indeed Jesus. The Son is from ancient of days. It has been predestined from before the foundations of creation that Jesus would come and save a particular people (Ephesians 1:5). By the blood of His cross, He has united a people unto himself. His wounds are their peace. He is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sake of His sheep. Surely he shepherds God's children in the strength and majesty of the LORD. 

It is about God's Glory

Moses’ Intercession (Exodus 33:12-23 ESV)

Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

....

This passage rings of how God's glory defines his purposes. Something I am learning is that God is about one true end, His Glory. He created for his glory, He redeemed us for his glory. The best part about it, is that he designed us and all of our thirsts to be completely satisfied by His Glory. We were created and redeemed for that to be our true reality.

Without Beginning and Without End

"As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows no more.

But the steadfast love of the LORD

is from everlasting to everlasting

on those who fear him,"

Psalm 103:15-17

"How vast the contrast between the fading flower and the everlasting God! How wonderful that His mercy should link our frailty with HIs eternity and make us everlasting too! From old eternity the LORD viewed His people as objects of mercy, and as such chose them to become partakers of His grace; the doctrine of eternal election is most delightful to those who have light to see it and love wherewith to accept it. It is a theme for deepest thought and highest joy"

Charles Spurgeon

Genesis 4:1-16 PART 1

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten [1] a man with the help of theLord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? [2] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for [3] you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. [4] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to theLord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. [5] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then theLord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, [6] east of Eden.

Genesis 4:1-16

Over the past week, I've had the pleasure of studying this passage as part of a research paper for my covenant theology class. I am thankful for this opportunity because through it, I am starting to realize how amazing God's Word is in its complete coherence and inexhaustibility. In this post, I want to highlight some summarizing thoughts on the passage. I am going to start by talking about the context of the passage. Next, I want to focus on a few of the main purposes behind the passage. Lastly, I want to show how it relates to Christ.

CONTEXT:

In order to rightly understand any passage of Scripture, it is imperative to have a solid grasp on the context in which it was written. A few helpful questions to uncover a texts proper context include, 'who wrote it' 'who was it written to' 'why did they write it'. In other words, what is the situation.

Briefly, Genesis was written by Moses. It was written after the Israelites had fled Egypt. They have crossed the Red Sea and were now wandering in the wilderness. It was then that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. Therefore, the original audience of this book would have been the exodus community. To read this passage correctly, we must interpret it through this contextual lens. Moses is writing to the exodus community of Israel.

Moreover, why would Moses write this book. Wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites are left with several questions. What is God's purpose in this? Who are we as a nation? Who is YHWH? What is next? Can we trust this God? Moses is recalling to the Israelites the story of their origin. He is retelling them their history in order to highlight the nature of their God and the covenant that He has made with them. By recalling their history, he is making sense of the Israelites present situation. In doing this, Moses is challenging the exodus community to respond in faith to what God has done. Moses is reminding the Israelites of who they are, where the came from and what God has promised them.

In creation, God is reminding the Israelites that He is the sovereign creator, ruler of all things. More so, it reminds the Israelites the purpose as God's creatures; to have dominion over the earth and to bless creation as God's treasured people. In the fall, the exodus community is made aware of their deep-rooted problem of sin. In the flood, the Israelites see God's judgment on sin, but also His desire to restore all things to their intended, original, good purpose. In the calling of Abraham, the Israelites are reminded of their election as God's chosen people, beloved for His sake.

So, this leaves us at the story of Cain and Abel. What is this stories purpose in the context of the exodus community? Generally, the book is written that the exodus community would trust in God and be faithful to the covenant. This purpose is uncovered in two ways. First, the book shows the deep-seeded problem of sin. Also, the story shows God's unwavering commitment to the promised Seed. I will elaborate on these two ideas in a later post.

God's love: Cultural perception vs. Biblical Truth

This is an excerpt from D.A. Carson's 'The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God'

"So now God comes to us and says, 'I love you.' What does he mean?"

"Does he mean something like this, 'you mean everything to me. I can't live without you. Your personality, your witty conversation, your beauty, your smile. Everything about you transfixes me. Heaven would be boring without you.' That, after all, is pretty close to what some therapeutic approaches to the love of GOd spell out."

"When he says he loves us, does not God rather mean something like the following? 'Morally speaking, you are the people of the halitosis, the bulbous nose, the greasy hair, the disjointed knees, the abominable personality. Your sins have made you disgustingly ugly. But I love you anyway, not because you are attractive, but because it is my nature to love.' And in the case of the elect, God adds, 'I have set my affection on you from the foundation of the universe, not because you are wiser or better or stronger than others, but because in grace I chose to love you. You are mine, and you will be transformed. Nothing in all creation can separate you from my love mediated through Jesus Christ."