Meditations on God, His Word, and His World (under the grace found only because of Christ Crucified)
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
How does God display the glory of His Son?
John Piper: "God AIMS to fill the universe with the glory of his Son, Jesus, by making the church the showcase of his perfections."
Thabiti has an excellent post explaining this reality.
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Where did you find this quote from Piper? It would be interesting to see the full context. Do you think the church is the MAIN showcase of Christ's perfections? Is Christ most glorified through the church?
This quote came from Piper's exposition of Eph. 1:23: The Church is Christ's Fullness.
What else would be the main showcase of Christ's perfections? Individual Christians living their lives independently from Christ's bride? Christ is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE SATISFIED IN HIM APART FROM HIS CHURCH! One of the ways we show forth our satisfaction in Him is by our committment to His body, the Church. That is what I think the connection is.
My first response is to say Christ is glorified more in the Cross or through his righteous, perfectly obedient life. That's only because I'm not used to thinking about the church this way. Maybe my thinking is more from the viewpoint of an individualistic American than a Word-saturated believer. I'll check out the Ephesians sermon...
Justin, this is Lisa B. I made the comments above. They were an attempt to wrestle with the ideas you and Thabiti have been presenting since they are almost completely new to me. That says a great deal about what I have been learning from the church about the church. It seems that God is most ultimately glorified in God; yet there is no question that the church -- and the Word -- are his vehicle for proclaiming himself. I'm still trying to think it through and also consider what it means practically in my committment and love of the church. It's a pretty BIG idea to say the least...
Perhaps the distinction is that the glory of God is seen by people, the Church who is reflecting and the lost who are looking, with blind eyes. One distinction between the Churchh and everything else that glorifies God is that the Church can Gladly reflect His worth.
6 comments:
Where did you find this quote from Piper? It would be interesting to see the full context. Do you think the church is the MAIN showcase of Christ's perfections? Is Christ most glorified through the church?
This quote came from Piper's exposition of Eph. 1:23: The Church is Christ's Fullness.
What else would be the main showcase of Christ's perfections? Individual Christians living their lives independently from Christ's bride?
Christ is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE SATISFIED IN HIM APART FROM HIS CHURCH! One of the ways we show forth our satisfaction in Him is by our committment to His body, the Church. That is what I think the connection is.
My first response is to say Christ is glorified more in the Cross or through his righteous, perfectly obedient life. That's only because I'm not used to thinking about the church this way. Maybe my thinking is more from the viewpoint of an individualistic American than a Word-saturated believer. I'll check out the Ephesians sermon...
Yes, Yes, now make the connection.
You are saying truths about Christ: His atonement, His perfect obedience, we could list a ton more.
How are those truths known and preserved and proclaimed?
Now the connection: 1 Timothy 3:15: "the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth."
The Church and the Church alone has been given the task of protecting and proclaiming these great truths about Christ.
BTY - identify yourself, please.
Justin, this is Lisa B. I made the comments above. They were an attempt to wrestle with the ideas you and Thabiti have been presenting since they are almost completely new to me. That says a great deal about what I have been learning from the church about the church. It seems that God is most ultimately glorified in God; yet there is no question that the church -- and the Word -- are his vehicle for proclaiming himself. I'm still trying to think it through and also consider what it means practically in my committment and love of the church. It's a pretty BIG idea to say the least...
Perhaps the distinction is that the glory of God is seen by people, the Church who is reflecting and the lost who are looking, with blind eyes. One distinction between the Churchh and everything else that glorifies God is that the Church can Gladly reflect His worth.
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