Behold: Nothing Too Hard for God

In my morning Bible reading, here is how God spoke to me from Jeremiah 32:27:

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?"

This epic declaration was a response to Jeremiah's prayer for understanding. God goes on to declare that He will both punish His sinful people and then show them favor and blessing. He will bring disaster upon them and He will bring good upon them. Nothing (calamity or blessing) is too hard for the Lord. He is the God of all flesh.

Can you think of anything too hard for the God of all creation? What problems do you face today that seem entirely insurmountable? Where have you "given up" or "resigned" to the fact that your circumstances will not or cannot change?

This world is not just a machine that is running on autopilot. Things are not just controlled by the laws of nature. The sovereign and powerful God of the Bible is in control. And nothing is too hard for Him. So, for what area of your life do you need to be filled with the awesome hope that nothing is outside the realm of possibility with God?

Because of Jesus, the only thing God will not do is turn His back on His sons and daughters (Rom. 8:1).

God Revealed Conference Audio

God Revealed: Delighting in the Character of the Creator

March 21-24, 2010

• God has Revealed Himself: Exploring the Knowability of God – Justin Childers
• God Revealed as Sovereign: Exploring the Supremacy of God – Jim Upchurch
• God Revealed as Triune: Exploring the Nature of God – Justin Nale
• God Revealed as Holy: Exploring the Perfection of God – Jason Gault
• God Revealed as Just: Exploring the Wrath of God – Jonathan Brooks
• God Revealed as Love: Exploring the Kindness of God – Dan Rolfe
• Q & A - Justin Nale, Jonathan Brooks, Dan Rolfe, and Justin Childers

The Knowability of God

At our God Revealed Conference Sunday night, I meditated on the fact that God has revealed Himself (Audio here). Here were my 5 sections in the message:

1. The Importance of Knowing God.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 says that nothing is more important to a human than knowing God. If we are going to boast, let it be in that we know God.

2. The Obstacle to Knowing God.
God is the main obstacle to knowing God. Because of His justice and wrath, sinners cannot know Him on their own.

3. The Gift of Knowing God.
Christ died and rose from the dead so that we can know God. In fact, Jesus said that the eternal life that He gives to His own is the gift of knowing God (John 17:2-3). The Son chooses who to reveal the Father to (Matt. 11:27).

4. The Means of Knowing God.
If we are going to know God, we must pursue knowledge of Him through the means he has revealed Himself to us. I highlighted 4 ways God has and continues to reveal Himself: (1) Creation, (2) The Bible, (3) Jesus, (4) suffering.

5. The Effect of Knowing God.
When we know God, it changes our lives.

Who is a God like Our God?

Micah 7:18-20 is an amazing passage of Scripture. These 3 verses are packed with precious truth about the glory of our God. There are at least 3 truths about God in this passage:

1. God is a sin-forgiving God.

• God pardons iniquity.
• God passes over transgressions.
• God does not retain His anger forever.
• God will tread our iniquities underfoot.
• God will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

2. God loves to show steadfast love.

• God "delights" in showing covenant mercy.

3. God is relentless in faithfulness.

• God always fulfills His promises.

If you want, you can listen to my Micah sermon series at the church website.

God's Sovereignty is Sanctifying

God is sovereign,
kind,
and wise.
He has the whole world in His hands
at this very moment.
I can rest.
I can wait.
I can hope.
I can love.
I can obey.
Because nothing is spinning out of control.
Because nothing is outside His grip.

The Greatness of God in Daniel 4

5 aspects of God’s greatness acknowledged by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:34-37:

1. God’s existence is unending (“him who lives forever”).
-All through this book, Nebuchadnezzar is addressed with the phrase, “O king, live forever.” He finally realizes that only God is unchanging in His existence.

2. God’s rule and reign are unending (“his kingdom endures from generation to generation”).
-God is still on His throne and no one will overthrow this King.

3. God is absolutely sovereign over heaven and earth (v. 35).
-“none can stay His hand.”

4. God’s ways are just and right (“all his works are right and his ways are just”).
-This is an astonishing statement after what God just did to him (made him act like a cow for seven years). Nebuchadnezzar is acknowledging that he deserved the judgment he received (“just”). He is even acknowledging that what happened to him was for his good (“right”).

5. God opposes the proud (“those who walk in pride he is able to humble”).
-God’s greatness is revealed in His opposition to our pride.

Instructing a Child's Heart

Sometimes a particular chapter is worth the price of the book. Such is the case with chapter 8 of Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.

Chapter 8 is called, "Giving Children a Vision for the Glory of God." It is about helping our kids develop a passion for God.

God is Our Good

"The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their Life, their dwelling- place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honour and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the "river of the water of life " that runs, and "the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what shall be seen of God in them."

-Jonathan Edwards, God Glorified in Man's Dependence

God is Most Glorified...

"Nothing glorifies God more than maintaining our stability and joy when we lose everything but God."

John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, p. 46.

Thankful for God's Forceful Mercy!

I was reminded of this post from a few years ago as I read Genesis 18-20 yesterday:

Have you every heard someone say that God is a "gentleman," and will never force you to do anything? It is usually an attempt to affirm the sovereignty of man's free will. You will be hard pressed to find this kind of language in the Bible.
I am thankful for the forceful mercy of God. I am thankful that God sovereignly restrains and keeps me from a thousand sins every day. Given my depravity, if God did not restrain me through His mercy, I would always chose against Him.

Listen to the language of Genesis 19-20:

In Genesis 19, God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. However, before He "rains" sulfur and fire from heaven, He saves Lot and his family. Lot is not the most willing rescuee. Can you imagine? God says, "I am about to destroy this city and everyone in it." Lot wants to ponder what he should do for a while. In fact, 19:16 says that Lot "lingered" after being told of the immediate destruction of the city. So, what should God do at this moment? Should He withhold judgment until Lot decides to leave the city? Should He just punish Lot along with the other wicked folks? No, God's forceful mercy is put on full display! Here is what the text says, "So the men (19:1 says they were angels) seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city." Did you catch that? The mercy of the Lord forced Lot and his whole family out of the city.

In Genesis 20, Abraham claims that Sarah is his sister again. Abimelech likes Sarah and is going to take her as his wife. God communicates to Abimelech that he is a dead man because of Sarah. Abimelech pleads his case, that he did not know she was Abraham's wife. God says, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her."

Thank God for His Forceful Mercy!

How Deep The Father's Love for Us

Bunyan has me pondering something I've never seen before (take the time to look up these texts):

The Father loved us by giving His Son for us (John 3:16, Romans 5:8).

And, He loved us by giving us to His Son (John 6:37, 39, John 10:28, John 17:6, 9, 24).

Pleasures of God chapter 7

The first six chapters of The Pleasures of God are focused on God's pleasure in Himself. God is the center of the gospel. His passion for His glory is the foundation of all good things that come to us. Chapter 7 is a turning point.

In chapter 7, Piper meditates on the pleasure of God in doing good to His people. He draws out 3 promises from Jeremiah 32:39-41:

I will not turn away from doing good to My people.
I will rejoice in doing them good.
I will rejoice in doing them good with all My heart and with all My soul.

"Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God."

God on His Throne

CH Spurgeon:

“There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands—the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a foot-ball, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends his throne, his creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and his right to do as he wills with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his scepter in his hand and his crown upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon his throne whom we trust.”

The Sovereignty of Our God

I had the joy of teaching on the sovereignty of God on Wednesday evening. Here are some of the things we explored:

God’s sovereignty carries at least 2 ideas:
1. God is independent of any outside influences.
-God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, when He pleases, and always as He pleases.
2. God is in complete control of everything that takes place.
-Everything that happens is ordained and orchestrated by God.

CH Spurgeon: “I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes – that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens – that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence – the fall of leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He who believes in God must believe this truth. There is no standing point between this and Atheism. There is no halfway between an Almighty God, who works all things according to the good pleasure of his will, and no God at all!”

Jonathan Edwards: “Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God. God’s sovereignty has ever appeared to me, a great part of his glory. It has often been my delight to approach God, and adore him as a sovereign God.”

Seven Aspects of God’s Sovereignty:
God’s sovereignty over all.
· Isa. 46:9-11; Psalm 115:3; 135:5-6; Ephesians 1:11
God’s sovereignty over man.
· Prov. 16:9; 21:1; Gen. 20:6; Deut. 2:30; Gen. 50:20
God’s sovereignty over small details.
· Prov. 16:33; James 4:13-16; Jonah 1:4; 1:17; 2:10; 4:6-8
God’s sovereignty over Satan.
· Job 1:12; 2:4-6; Mark 1:23-27; Luke 22:31-32; Revelation 20:10
God’s sovereignty over nature and weather.
· Psalm 135:7; Jeremiah 10:12-13
God’s sovereignty over salvation.
· Rom. 9:18; John 5:21; 6:44
God’s sovereignty over the cross.
· Isaiah 53:10; Acts 4:27-28; John 10:18

How should God’s Sovereignty impact our lives?
1. God’s sovereignty should give us a sense of deep reverence and thankful joy in Him.
2. God’s sovereignty should help us obey certain commands.
3 commands that cannot be obeyed unless you believe in God’s absolute sovereignty:

• Be joyful always (having joy in all circumstances implies that you believe God is in control and has a purpose for whatever comes to pass).
• Do not fear (if God is in control there is nothing to fear; if God is not in control there is a lot to fear).
• Do not complain (not complaining will only happen when we believe that the things worth complaining about are ordered by God).

3. God’s sovereignty should give us radical boldness as we lean on His promises.

The Pleasures of God

For our Tuesday morning theology breakfast, we have started The Pleasures of God by John Piper. This will be my 3rd time reading through this great book. I want to urge you to get and read this book. If you have never read it, carve out some time (get a group together to read it with you). If it has been a few years since you have read it, carve out some time to read it again. It's been about 5 years since I've read it, and I'm finding it fresh and new as I read it again.

The introduction explains the origin of the book in a statement by Henry Scougal: "The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love."

Piper helps us to think about what God loves instead of always thinking about how He relates to us.

Chapter 1 is a fantastic meditation on the delight of God in His Son. When was the last time you heard a sermon or read a book about the love between the Father and the Son? The Father's happiness is first and foremost a happiness in the Son.

"The day is coming when I will have the capacity to delight in the Son the way the Father does. My fragile eyes will get the power to take in the glory of the Son shining in his full strength just the way the Father does. The pleasure God has in his Son will become my pleasure, and I will not be consumed, but enthralled forever" (p. 28).

There is also an audio book available (Listen while you drive!)

The Immutability of Our God

To say that God is immutable is to say that He does not change. In Malachi 3:6, God says, "I, the Lord do not change."

God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved.
God does not deteriorate.
God does not develop.
God does not mature.
God does not ripen.
God needs no upgrades or tune-ups.

If God could change for the better, He would not currently be the best possible being in the universe. If God could change for the worse, what kind of God could He end up being?
Affirming God's immutability is basically affirming that He is God. He has always, is, and will always be consistent with Himself.

In Knowing God, JI Packer list some ways in which God is immutable:
1. God’s life does not change. He is immutable in His essence (Psalm 102:25-27).

2. God’s character does not change. He is immutable in His attributes (James 1:17).

3. God’s truth does not change. He is immutable in His communication (Isaiah 40:8).

4. God’s purposes do not change. He is immutable in His plans (Psalm 33:10-11; Isaiah 14:24; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:28-29).

5. God’s Son does not change. He is immutable in His saving power (Hebrews 13:8).

God is very dependable. In this rapidly changing world, God is constant, immovable, and steadfast. God's immutability is the foundation for all our confidence in God's promises and purposes.

John 3:16

I had the privilege of preaching from the most famous verse of Scripture this morning. Martin Luther said John 3:16 is "the gospel in miniature." I was inspired by this quote and just tried to proclaim the gospel as clearly and faithfully as I knew how.

I drew attention to 3 ways the love of God is evident in John 3:16:

1. The Love of God is evident in the Priceless Treasure He Gave: His Only Son.
2. The Love of God is evident in the Wretched Object of His Love: The World.
3. The Love of God is evident in the Precious Promise of The Gospel: Whoever Believes Has Eternal Life.

Sinclair Ferguson wrote, “When we think of Christ dying on the cross we are shown the lengths to which God’s love goes in order to win us back to himself. We would almost think that God loved us more than he loves his Son! We cannot measure such love by any other standard. He is saying to us: I love you this much. The cross is the heart of the gospel. It makes the gospel good news: Christ died for us. He has stood in our place before God’s judgment seat. He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that he loves us.”

God's Passion for His Glory

I'll never forget reading the first few pages of Let The Nations Be Glad when I was a freshman in college. In those first few pages, John Piper lays out dozens of Scriptures that say God does everything He does for His own glory. I had never heard anyone say such a thing. I was offended. I put the book back on the shelf. Only months later I was in the passenger seat of a friend's car. He was playing a tape of a message of John Piper's. The message was called, "Did Christ Die for Us or God?" Piper's words were unintelligable to me.

Now, over 10 years later, no truth is more foundational to my faith than this: God does everything He does to uphold and display His own glory. The crucifixion of the Son of God is ultimately about God's passion for His own fame.

The Biblical evidence for this is overwhelming. It could not be any clearer.

Isaiah 48:9-11:
“For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

Ezekiel 36:22-23:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes."

1. God created us for His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7; 43:21).
2. God forgives sins for His glory (Isaiah 43:25; Psalm 25:11).
3. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for His glory (Exodus 14:4, 17-18; Romans 9:17).
4. God will not abandon His people for His glory (1 Samuel 12:22).
5. God rescued His people from Egypt for His glory (Psalm 106:7-8).
6. Jesus came for the glory of God (John 12:27-28; 17:1, 4-5; Romans 15:8-9).
7. God predestined, adopted, saved, and sealed us for His glory (Ephesians 1:5-6; 11-12; 13-14).
8. Jesus answers prayers for His glory (John 14:13).
9. God gave the Holy Spirit to us for His glory (John 16:13-14).
10. God commands us to do everything for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17).
11. Jesus is coming again for His glory (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10; Philippians 2:9-11).

The Faithfulness of Our God

I had the privilage to teach on the faithfulness of God last night. Here are some nuggets:

"God’s faithfulness means that God will always do what He has said and will fulfill what He has promised" (Grudem).

12 Biblical Truths about God’s Faithfulness:

1. God is faithful in His being. He IS faithful.
Exodus 34:6; Deut. 7:9; Psalm 86:15; Isaiah 49:7; 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:13, 1 Thess. 5:24
2. God’s works are faithful. He is faithful in all things.
Psalm 33:4; 111:7; Isaiah 25:1
3. God is always faithful. He is faithful at all times.
Psalm 100:5; 117:2; 119:90
4. God’s Word is faithful. He is faithful in what He says.
Psalm 145:13
5. Jesus Christ is faithful. He is a faithful Savior.
Hebrews 2:17; 3:6; Revelation 1:5; 3:14; 19:11
6. God’s faithfulness gives us the power to endure in this life.
Hebrews 10:23; Psalm 40:11; 91:4; 2 Thess. 3:3
7. God is faithful to forgive those who confess their sins.
1 John 1:9
8. We should pray for God to show His faithfulness to others.
2 Samuel 2:6; 15:20
9. We should make God’s faithfulness known to others.
Psalm 40:10; 89:1
10. We should praise God for His faithfulness.
Psalm 71:22; Lamentations 3:23
11. God judges the peoples in faithfulness.
Psalm 96:13
12. God afflicts his children in faithfulness.
Psalm 119:75

How Should We Respond to God’s Faithfulness?
1. Knowing God’s faithfulness should cause us to worship, be amazed, and marvel. There is none like Him!
2. Knowing God’s faithfulness should preserve us from worry. He will accomplish His purposes!
3. Knowing God’s faithfulness should decrease our murmurings when things don’t go our way.
4. Knowing God’s faithfulness should increase our confidence in God and cause us to act on His promises (1 Peter 4:19).
5. Knowing God’s faithfulness should remind us of our unfaithfulness. Jesus Christ is a faithful Savior.

The Errors of Open Theism

Here are some helpful resources dealing with the errors of Open Theism:

1. God's Lesser Glory by Bruce Ware - This is by far the best book on the debate that I have read.

2. God's Greater Glory by Bruce Ware - Although this book is not directly about Open Theism, it is helpful in presenting the Biblical teaching on the greatness of God in relation to His sovereignty.

3. Beyond the Bounds by Piper, Taylor, and Helseth - This is a compilation of articles dealing with the problems of Open Theism.

4. No Other God by John Frame - I haven't actually read this one, but have heard it is good.

5. Their God is Too Small by Bruce Ware - This is a popular version of his other book, God's Lesser Glory. It is basically a summary.

Any others you have read or heard of?