“All that may be known of God for our salvation, especially his wisdom, love, goodness, grace and mercy on which the life of a soul depends, are represented to us in all their splendour in and through Christ. No wonder then that Christ is glorious in the eyes of believers!”
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 20.
[HT: Of First Importance ]
“God did not create us to get the cosmic, infinite joy of mutual love and glorification, but to share it. We were to join in the dance. If we center our lives on him, serving him not out of self-interest, but for the sake of who he is, for the sake of his beauty and glory, we will enter the dance and share in the joy and love he lives in. We were designed, then, not just for belief in God in some general way, nor for a vague kind of inspiration or spirituality. We were made to center our lives upon him, to make the purpose and passion of our lives knowing, serving, delighting, and resembling him. This growth in happiness will go on eternally, increasing unimaginably (1 Corinthians 2:7-10 ).”
- Timothy Keller, The Reason For God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 219.
Today at Cornerstone School of Ministry we are studying perhaps the most important paragraph in all the Bible. It’s truths are so compellingly beautiful I can hardly contain myself; teaching God’s Word ignites my soul. Romans 3:21-26 is the paragraph in view, and verse 20 sets the stage.
“It is radically humbling to confess that the source of all our joy resides outside ourselves.”
—John Piper, Future Grace, p. 88.
Kari and I have been thinking and talking quite a bit lately on the topic of belonging. We are pilgrims in this world, while still seeking to be indigenous and plant ourselves here for the good of all people. I call this a ‘happy tension’ (my favorite tagline for necessary mysteries), we this world is not our home, and from it we patiently await the Savior. Even still, we have every reason to make this layover the best possible, and to influence others for God and for good. We belong with God eternally. Because of that truth we have this one: we belong here for now.
Kari and I think and talk often about having a home of our own again. (And we sort of chuckle because we do own a home, but rent it out to others.) In the meantime we live with family in this sort of suspended reality, patiently (okay, not always patiently, that’s why we talk about it so often) awaiting the day when we will walk into a new home again of our own. That sounds comfortable, but not on the same degree that God Himself is our comfort. In the second chapter of Don Postema’s book Space for God, he brings up the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism, which asks:
What is your only comfort in life and death?
The answer:
That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.
Belong. What a word. It means “to be the property of a person or thing.” That The God of the universe, the One whom I have often offended and rebelled against calls me His own. Not simply on account of His creating me but more so because He has redeemed me in Jesus. I am twice-bought, and He owns me completely, eternally. That truth will stir one’s affections to love and honor God above all.
My identity is a chosen and beloved child of God The balance of the Scriptures reveal the blessedness of belonging to God in Christ, such as this classic:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
At the climactic point of Romans 8 — in my opinion the most important and life-changing chapter in the Bible — we see a string of questions aimed at revealing the secure love an adopted son of God should experience and embrace. Indeed, if God Almighty Himself is for us, in all His exhaustive love, why would it matter if anyone else is against us?
Kari's latest Patterson Family Margin
