God Loves… Himself

Genesis 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. Col 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus

I found out today that a man I knew of and had a high appreciation for had died. Perhaps it sounds rather morbid to think on these things so much, but since all will die it is important to think on these things rather than just dismiss them and think on frivolities. It is appointed unto man to die and after that comes judgment. That is what has happened or will happen to each and every person that has ever lived. They have an appointed time to die and they will die, and then comes judgment.

As we think upon what will happen to people after death, it is not like those people pass into non-existence, but they enter into a state that they will be in for all eternity. This is not a denial of the bodily resurrection or the passing out of rewards or a last day, but all enter into a state of torment or a state of heavenly bliss. The degree of torment will change and the degree of the heavenly bliss will change on the judgment day, but the basic issue is settled once a person dies. This is so vital to realize.

All are born dead in sin and under the slavery of the evil one, yet by the grace of God people are delivered from that slavery. The glory of the grace of God is set with the background of the evil and despair of sin and the evil one. While it sounds so strange to say that people are born dead, that is to say that they are born spiritually dead and without the slightest bit of spiritual life to them. They must be born from above and be made spiritually alive or they will remain in death forever. The state of that death is the same in a sense, though when one dies physically one passes on to the second death where one remains in a state of spiritual death for eternity. This is the state where the person has no experience of the greatness and glory of God in His love and grace.

For those that God raises from spiritual death and grants spiritual life, they have that eternal life and that life is Christ. Those people taste life in this present world and when they die physically they will have a fuller and more blessed life for eternity. It is so hard for people who are consumed with the world to grasp these things, but these things are more real than the world we live in. It is like we live in a bubble (so to speak) before conversion and all we experience is a lie. As those dead to spiritual things we are fed lies about the reality of eternity, pleasure, God, and ourselves. Those who are dead have no sight and no sensibility at all of eternal things beyond what they can logically conceive of. It is horrible to live without God (sensible awareness and knowledge of) which is to live/exist without true life.

Men and women die and we have sorrow and we wonder why. But God is sovereign over all things even the day of our death. He is sovereign over the causes of how people leave this world. He loves His people far more than we ever could and as such He is not treating them with any cruelty. He has an eye to their eternal good and the eternal good of all that He has granted love for Himself, which is ultimately His own glory. We should not grieve as those who have no hope, but instead behold their deaths with spiritual eyes. Those to are for the glory of God and we should behold His glory in the Gospel in the saving of sinners when His people die. All die in accordance with His perfect wisdom and perfect timing. It may not feel like it, but we are to behold these things and interpret them in accordance with the character of God. The death of His children is precious in His eyes and He has transported them away from a place of suffering to a place where there can be no suffering. Let us bow and worship.

Romans 9:13 Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

It seems that while there are many articles and books written on hermeneutics (science of interpretation), there are few that really deal with one of the main issues at hand. It also seems that books on apologetics seem to miss some of the major points made by Paul. The real issue with interpretation and with apologetics is God. This may sound elementary and perhaps even silly to some or perhaps even many, but we must start with God, who God is, and His sovereign rights over all of His creation. It is not necessary to come up with a fancy philosophical argument to convince the fallen reason of man or to jump through hermeneutical hoops to arrive at a correct conclusion. Perhaps we just need to get our interpretations in line with the character of God.

It is true that during the Reformation that the Reformers went by the thought that Scripture interprets Scripture and that was a tremendous principle. However, we should also know that there is another major thought that we should go by and that is the character of God interprets Scripture. We must bring our theology and our interpretations of Scripture to the character of God first and foremost. It is also true that Christ reveals the character of God by His Person and works, but we must learn to look for the Divine nature shining forth in and through Him. After all, He came to manifest God and His glory. The point, then, is that while Scripture interprets Scripture, the testimony of Scripture to the true God should lead us to study Scripture in light of who the true God really is.

In Romans 9:13 Paul writes that it is written “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” Of course we have heard the immediate and impassioned arguments of men that God is unjust if He does that in a literal way. But how does Paul answer that argument? Yes, He goes to Scripture, but He goes to Scripture to show how the character of God is such that He is not unjust. What pounds the argument that God is unjust into the dust is the fact that God will show mercy on whom He will. God is sovereign over those He shows mercy to and is under no obligation whatsoever to show mercy to anyone. The living God is sovereign and that is supposed to still our mouths and our hearts. It is the character of God that is to shut the mouths of men.

Paul moves on in the passage (vv. 17ff) and speaks of how God raised up Pharaoh for His own purposes and He did so that His name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. Paul then continues the earlier statement (God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy) and now says that God will harden whom He desires. Oh how people argue that this is not fair and how God should not find fault with us then. However, Paul takes us back to the potter and the clay and tells us that the potter has the right to make one lump of clay as he pleases. In other words, Paul takes the person who is arguing back to the character of God and sets forth God as sovereign. God both has mercy on whom He desires and also hardens whom He desires. He is extensively sovereign.

Taking men back to the character of God in His glorious sovereignty is not popular in our day, but it is biblical. It is also the only real answer to those who bring up these questions. If we will take note a lot of times people do question the character of God in issues like these. The way to answer their questions is not to find a philosophical loophole as such, but to show them the true God. In a very real sense all theology is about God and it is the study of God and what He has revealed about Himself. It is God, His beauty, and His glory that shines forth in the Gospel. After all, it is the good news of God and the good news of the glory of God. We cannot preach the true Gospel apart from preaching the true God in the Gospel or the true God as set forth in and by the Gospel. These little canned messages centered on getting people to pray a prayer or make a decision out of nothing but self-love is quite foreign to the Gospel of God. God is to be our most basic hermeneutic and our most basic apologetic.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

The world offers no real hope at all and what pseudo-hope it offers is but for a moment. How men pursue the things of the world and they cannot possibly fill the soul but for a short time and the world will not fill the soul at all in eternity. Neither political party has any answers that the soul that seeks the Lord for His presence can possibly be satisfied with. The soul with the life of Christ in it cannot be satisfied in any longer term sense with anything but the presence of God.

The world is nothing but darkness and those who seek it are bankrupt and empty despite their outward appearances. How hollow, empty, and vain are the riches and fame of the world. How big and powerful men can appear to be while inside their very souls are empty and miserable. They can seek to stuff their souls with the candy of the world, yet they do nothing but increase their misery as their soul withers. As the United States continues to slide down into the pit of darkness and misery the politicians try all sorts of things to stop it. While it is true that there are things that will make the slide into the pit appear to stop or at least slow down, only God can stop the slide and He will only do so at His good pleasure.

There is no doubt that we are in a dark time and we need men who will stop dancing around answers and will go straight to the heart of the problem. The greatest issue in our day is that God Himself has given us over to the desires of our heart. This is to say that He has hardened us and has turned us over to our sin. There is absolutely nothing we can do to soften our hearts when God has hardened them anymore than men could open the door to the Ark after God had shut it. Bluntly speaking, religion will not help and professing Christianity will not help. Lukewarm religion and lukewarm versions of Christianity will not help. Even real Christians cannot help either. Prayer will not help as long as it is prayer offered up as religious people do.

Christian conferences and religious conferences will do nothing to help as long as they do nothing but speak of this and that. Prayer conferences will not help as long as people think of prayer as their own work and as trying to talk God into something. All the church services in the world will do nothing but heap up wrath upon wrath as long as we are not seeking the true God in humility and brokenness of heart. All the Bible study without humble hearts seeking the Lord Himself as the greatest treasure and true love will do nothing. We must seek the Lord Himself in prayer and Bible study and for the Church and the nation or all we do is for the wrong reasons.

No, this is not some despairing and hopeless post; it is just saying that unless we seek God Himself all we do is vain. There is no hope in the prayers of self and the works of self, there is only hope in the living God. We must seek Him in prayer or we seek self in prayer. We must seek broken hearts and humility from His hand or we seek it from the works of sinful flesh. There is only one way to truly seek the Lord and that is the path of the denial of self, the broken heart, and the humbled heart. Oh how people mock this, but they mock the only way. It is true that these things in and of themselves cannot please God, but these are things that God works in the soul that He is pleased to dwell in and work through. We must seek the Lord for the spiritual strength to deny the forms of self that we must deny if we are to seek Him out of true love. We must seek the Lord for spiritual strength for a broken heart (from self and pride) that we may have Him dwell in that broken heart. We must seek the Lord for humility (the life of Christ in us) that we may have grace to seek Him and His glory.

There is nothing that man can be or do that can move God to come down and turn our hearts to Himself and to turn the hearts of the professing churches and our nation to Himself. He can only do these things when He is moved by Himself and then we behold free-grace. God can only be moved (so to speak) by Himself and His own glory. We should not want God to move apart from His free-grace. If we love true grace then we can only love free-grace. Our hearts can only be moved to true prayer for His glory out of love for Him and His glory by free-grace. We should seek the Lord to break our hearts and make them to where we ache for Him and His glory. Until He breaks our hearts and humbles us to desire His glory of free-grace, we must not deceive ourselves that we are truly praying. Only broken hearts can truly pray. In other words, it costs the very self in order to pray. Do we really want to pray? Do we truly want the presence of God? Do we truly desire the true glory of God? If not, all the empty prayers we offer with proud hearts will simply not do it. We must seek the Lord to make us in those who truly pray for His presence and glory.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

A worldview can be defined as a set of beliefs through which we view the world and the events that happen in the world. It is a basic set of beliefs that our minds work to conform all events and other events to fit. A worldview can also be said to determine how we view and interpret events. This is a view that explains a lot of how the world operates and how it is that people can see the same event and yet interpret it so differently. This also shows us how a true Christian will view the world so differently from non-Christians and how professing Christians who are not true Christians can see the world just like non-professing Christians (unbelievers).

The true Christian views those who die in a certain way and the non-Christian most likely will view them in a different way. In the United States there are many, many people who think that there is a heaven and a hell, but they seem to think that all nice people or basically good people will end up in heaven. The only people that seem to be consigned to hell in their view are those who disagree with them. There are also those believe that all people will end up in a good place, though they don’t necessarily think it is heaven. Then there are those who believe that when people die they pass into non-existence and it is over. Of course there are those who believe in reincarnation, but that is really just another system of denying hell or works for a better life.

If should be readily seen that a different belief will lead to a different life. However, it is not just a minor belief that guides the life, but instead it must be the major belief. Of course Christians are not just guided by a set of beliefs as such, but they are guided by the life of Christ in them. The very life of the believer is Christ who dwells in them. But what must be seen as behind acts of violence and acts of terrorism are beliefs about a higher power and of life after death. It is also clear that those who die as a result of acts of terror or violence will be thought of as innocent or good or something on that order.

It is also the case that those who view those who die have beliefs about life and death that guide how they view people and events. Those who grieve as those who have no hope are really grieving for themselves. One can hear people interviewed who have had those close to them die and all they can talk about is how much this has hurt them and caused them pain and what a loss it is. It is true that some talk about what a loss it was to others because a person of promise was taken.

But where is the basic belief of a sovereign God in all of this? Religion does little good in times of distress, but only a true hope in the living God stands in the times of distress and trial. While people go around in their religious acts with some acknowledgment that there is an existence after death, that is not a firm hope in the living and sovereign God who holds all things, events, and beings in His sovereign hands. Those who are truly separate from Christ, regardless of their profession, have no real hope and live without God in the world.

While the politicians talk about serving humanity and doing good as the heart and unifier of their religions, the Christian must stand firm against that sort of thing. It is not doing good and it is not serving humanity which demonstrates true religion, it is loving God and having the true God manifest His glory through Christ who dwells in His people that does. The life of Christ dwelling in the believer changes the believer and only the believer can be a worker of true good in the world because only the true believer can truly love (I John 4:7-8). All the works of the unbeliever are simply acts of hate toward God who is the greatest good. How can acts that do not come from God and point to God who is the greatest good for people be good for people? Christ is the only true hope for any person or the world at large.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

It is an astonishing comment that Paul makes regarding that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only then above all men we are most to be pitied. If we think of the beatings and hardships that Paul and those who were with him went through (the “we”), that is clearly true. If we only have a time on earth and during that time on earth we are abused for our belief in another life beyond the grave, then his statement is clearly true. However, for those who do not suffer much we don’t quite get the point of his statement beyond the logic of it. We see the misery that sin brings on people and we know that we have joy in Christ and as such we don’t quite get the point of Paul.

It is also likely the case that those who have no real suffering in this present world will understand Paul when he longed and panted for the next world. It is also likely that those who suffer little or seemingly none will not long for the time when they will be with Christ and He will comfort them and wipe away their tears. It is also highly likely that those who suffer little will understand that those with Christ do not grieve as those who don’t. It is through suffering and hardships that Christ works faith in our souls and it is by faith that we see the unseen world and know it as more real than this one.

It is so clear with the television coverage of the killings that have taken place that many people grieve as those with no hope. Indeed they may have some foggy notion of a better world, but that is not the same things as living in a certain hope of being with Christ in eternity. When Christ is your life here and now (Galatians 2:20), there is the hope of having more and more of Christ in eternity. It is Christ who is our joy and it is Christ Himself who is our hope. As the Psalm says, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth” (Psa 73:25). When the true hope, love, and desire of the soul is for Christ on earth, then that soul knows that there is nothing greater in heaven but more of Christ. He is our hope both here and there, both now and then.

The focus of the news, the politicians, and seemingly the vast number of the clergy is on the here and now. Whether it is on events, life and death, or whatever goes on we are blasted with views about those things from a worldly perspective. Whether the coming election gives us one party or the other, it is the sovereign hand of God behind it. Whether the coming weeks give us more ambushes or not, it is the sovereign hand of God hardening or softening as He pleases. If the near future brings terror attacks in this country and/or others, we can know that God is either judging or protecting and that His eternal purposes will be brought forth. Our hope is not in the government and our hope is not in men or the weapons of men. Our hope is in God and in Him alone.

While the entire world, all events, and every human heart is in the hand of God to do with as He pleases, we must not forget that He does work through means or second causes (so-called as to appearance). It is not that elections are unimportant and it is not that police and military actions are inconsequential. It is simply saying that God is sovereign over all of those things and we must learn to seek the Lord to give us spiritual eyes to behold these things which is to say that He will give us eyes to see His hand in all things. While the world appears to totter and appears to be completely falling apart, it has done so many times before. God is in control despite the appearances and nothing is happening that He did not ordain to happen from all eternity. We must hope in God for eternal things in the midst of our hope in Him while we live in the here and now. We must seek Him for grace to be content with Him and what He brings to pass.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

1 Corinthians 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

In the last few weeks there have been a lot of protesting and a lot of policemen being killed and still others shot. We see people in deep grief and others in deep anger if not rejoicing. It is sad that people will not wait until all the facts are in and investigations are complete, but that is not the point of this post. It seems as if people want to make the deduction that because my relative, my friend, or my whatever has been shot that this person will go to heaven. On one side people seem to think that if a person dies in an unjust manner (whether real or perceived), that person is in heaven. On the other hand, many seem to think that if a policeman is shot then he will certainly go to his great reward. While this may seem calloused to many, the point is to point all to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It seems as if the doctrine of salvation by death is rampant in our nation. It seems as if the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been hidden from the eyes of so many and this is seen by what people say and of their actions as well. Whether a person is a policeman, a criminal, a housewife, an athlete, or anything else there is only one way of salvation. A person does not enter the gates of heaven because of his or her job, but the only way is the narrow gate and that gate is Christ Himself. A man or woman may be deeply religious, but being deeply religious may mean nothing more than being a Pharisee of sorts. Christ is the only way of salvation. A man or woman may be a minister of some sort, but that is not a way of salvation either. A person must really and truly have Jesus Christ and not just be religious or a member of some form of clergy.

As the media reports about each person that has died, the most important parts are missed because they are not going to report about spiritual realities and of the eternal destiny of the person that has died. The media will report on how great an athlete was or on how wonderful an actor was, but they never report on the adulterous relationships and things like that. We want a nice and sanitized view of things. However, I am not sure Christians are given that luxury. We are to look at these events through spiritual lenses and we are to see the hand of the sovereign God of the universe in all of these events. God is sovereign over all of these events in that He either brings His child home or He brings a person into eternal torment. We must see these things or we don’t see reality at all.

We must pray and ask God for eyes to see the reality of what is going on. As a nation we are reaping the consequences of our sin, but for individuals things may be different. Each person that dies is not dying by some cosmic accident, but each person dies at the exact moment that God has chosen for that person to die and that person dies in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose. With each murder that is committed, the One that is truly sinned against is God as each person is made in His image. I have never heard one person in the media ever say anything like that. However, with each murder God is attacked. When policeman are murdered, the rule of God through law is attacked. When we see open season on policemen, what we are seeing is a nation being turned over to hard hearts against God.

We see private persons and the police alike crying out that we must stop the violence. Why should the violence stop? Well, so that people would not be hurt so much and so that we can live in peace. Yet, we teach our children that they have evolved in a purposeless universe and are headed toward eternal extinction. When the children are taught that, they have no real reason not to be violent. They will have a short life and when they die (they try to convince themselves) they will have no consequences. While it is true that those people are deceived and have deceived themselves, let us also know that as a nation we have set out the foundation for all of this violence because we have turned from God. To be rude and blunt about it, yet quite biblical, when we hear people say we should pray, let us not deceive ourselves in this matter too. Why would God hear our prayers? We have turned from Him, we have rejected Him, and we have demonstrated hate toward Him. The professing churches need to repent as they are far from God as well. We need to return to God and yet we cannot in our own strength. We are in His hands to do with as He pleases.