God's Majesty

I think of the following study as a meditation. I enjoy thinking about these Scriptures and the way they emphasize the power and majesty of God and His redemptive work in my life.

Psalm 119:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

This Scripture tells me that I have something to learn. God is bigger than I think. He will always be bigger than I think. I’m finite and He is infinite. We are challenged to hear what scripture is telling us about God.

I will give you some numbers about creation but the numbers are only to give us a “feel” for the magnitude of creation. It won’t work because I know that creation causes my mind to stagger at it’s size every time I try to think of it. You’d have a better chance trying to measure the Pacific Ocean with a yardstick. Even with this sort of planned failure each time I think on these thinks it is still a blessing.

I start by thinking of the earth the size of a marble (1.5 cm or on 850 millionth actual size rather than 7,921 miles in diameter). If we were that big in relation to the earth we could flick it out of existence. We would be pretty big.

Moon: Distance - 19 inches; Size - 0.16 inches
Venus: Distance - 126 yards; Size - 0.56 inches
Sun: Distance - 192 yards; Size - 5.3 feet

If the sun went out right now it would be 8.3 minutes until we were in the dark. Light would take 76 minutes to go 1 mile.

You could walk at 3 to 4 times the speed of light in this imaginary universe and you could bicycle at 25 times the speed of light. Even in Startrek that would be fast so you could begin to explore creation.

Our solar system would be about 10 miles across. So if you wanted to find Pluto then you’d be looking for something about the size of a peppercorn hanging in space a few miles out there. It would be pretty hard to find but you could at least get there.

The nearest star would be about 30,000 miles away (28,469). That is more than one trip around the actual size earth. Stars are other suns not just little lights in the sky. Many of them are larger than our sun. You could cycle 30,000 miles as long as someone was helping you and you had lots of time. I’d need lots and lots of time but pretend the course is flat (since up would be arbitrary) and I could do about 80 miles a day for a year.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has 100 billion stars (at marble size they would circle the earth about 42 times). If you had 100 years to look at stars, and God assigned the Milky Way to you, then you would need to look at 32 stars per second. From earth to the center of the Milky Way (30,000 light years) would still be over 200 million miles. Over twice the actual distance to the sun. The diameter of the Milky Way (80,000 light years) on this reduced scale would be 500 million miles. You’re not going to cycle 500 million miles so that even at 25 times the speed of light you’d never make it.

Now remember that the Milky Way is just one galaxy in God’s creation. The nearest other galaxy is 2 million light years. So not only could you not cross the galaxy you live in, you would have no chance of seeing even the closest other galaxy with another 100 billion stars to look at.

A few years ago I read that astronomers had mapped 2 million galaxies in a portion of the sky. That was just a portion of the galaxy. One of my favorite pictures from the Hubble Telescope is a deep field shot that just shows galaxies stretching off to forever.

Solomon rightly said, “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).

The Psalmist said, “What is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” (Ps 144:3) .

The Psalmist said, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Ps 8:1-4)

God says, “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Is 40:25-26).

Even on the marble scale I wouldn’t qualify for dust in God’s smallest closet. The depth of God’s love is beyond imagining and really beyond understanding. We live on a planet in rebellion against the creator of this universe and we are sinners. We ourselves have broken His law.

If you don’t have a fear of a God this big then you are not thinking clearly.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Prov 1:7).

It should be particularly terrifying that He is aware of you and is Holy and hates sin. Living in a corrupt world has so corrupted our minds that we think of people as great. We make idols of entertainers and ignore God.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Ps 33:6-9)

Creation should cause us to stand in awe of God. If we are thinking clearly there is no way we can ignore God.

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zep 3:14-17).

We see this scripture fulfilled in our salvations. He does take great delight in you and rejoices over the Church.

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:17-19).

I like the stretch and fail of “to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” Every time we stretch and fail we grow in our knowledge of His infinite love. Eternity will not be enough time to learn about His love.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (Jn 1:10-13).

This scripture says a bunch about how fallen the world is. The creator was here and the world did not recognize Him. But we who are born of God know Him.

because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Ro 8:14-17).

The God of the universe claims you as a son. Why would he want us? I have no idea. Why would He make us heirs? I have no idea.

He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Heb 1:10-12).

The psalmist is saying that the heavens will wear out. He may have seen a “falling star” but that wouldn’t really be a star it would just be a rock. Only by inspiration could the psalmist have know that stars do wear out. They collapse and explode but the psalmist probably wouldn’t have know that. Even the big dipper is wearing out. In 100 thousand years the handle will be bent and the lip bent out of shape. It won’t really look like a dipper and the North Star will be out of place. You’ll see it. Remember you heard it hear first or I’ll have to come find you and say I told you so (assuming God will put up with me doing stuff like that in heaven). The heavens will wear out but God doesn’t change and the highest heavens are not big enough to contain God. We children of dust are Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. It boggles the imagination.

how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Heb 2:3-4).

To ignore the God of creation is irrational. How could a rational thinking person ignore a God that big and expect no consequences. The demands of God should be first in our minds and not something we ignore. That His Grace is poured out on us it truly a blessing and His mercy endures forever.

How can love take a small place in our hearts when God has defined the Glory of His Love by Creation and His demonstrated mercy in salvation? It takes love beyond imagining to become flesh, dwell among us, to pay our debt for rebelling against God, to reconcile us, and make us His children.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 Jn 4:7-12).

God’s love in the context of creation forms a context for this command to love like God. As He enables us we can obey this command but it is a much greater command than we would imagine in ourselves.

The majesty of God in creation is staggering and while the fear of God is often thought of as “awe” and “reverence” towards God there is also a fear that comes when you realize who God is in His power. But God has sought to redeem us and heal us and bring us into a relationship with Him.

“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ” (Is 51:12-16).

Are you going to live in the fear of man? It can only happen if you forget the Lord your Maker. Are you going to live in the fear of the enemy of your soul? God has freed His children, put the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God in our mouths, and then He covered us with His hand. Who is going to pull His hand up to get us? Nobody! There is no creature that can even budge the hand of the Creator and He says that you belong to Him.

Soli Deo Gloria!
To God Alone Be Glory!

Ephesians Lesson 7

Ephesians Chapter 6:10-24

This week Paul describes the armor of God.  This is an interesting portion of Scripture and I’ve even taught a 16 week study for new Christians based on this passage.  

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

We have a command that will be followed by enabling instructions.  What I mean is that this command doesn’t just stand without God providing the means for obeying it.  He knows how weak we are and has made provision for our lack of ability.  William Gurnall 1655 said, “In heaven we shall appear not in armor but in robes of glory; but here they (the pieces of armor) are to be worn night and day; we must walk, work, and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.  In this armor we are to stand and watch, and never relax our vigilance, for the saints sleeping time is Satan’s tempting time; every fly dares venture to creep on a sleeping lion.”

Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

As he starts to describe our armor provided by God, Paul offers a word of explanation so that we understand why spiritual armor is important.  We should expect to be attacked in our spiritual walk.  We should also realize that others in the church are not those that we struggle against.  So the armor prepares us for the attacks that come against us from the enemy of our souls.  The enemy has three main characteristics; 1) they are powerful, 2) wicked, and 3) cunning.  We don’t want to over or under estimate what we are up against.  Our sin nature is tough enough but we also have an enemy trying to trip us up.  Only God can save us and fortunately He can and will.  We need to be careful how we walk out our salvation though since the enemy wants to hinder us.  Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Ephesians 6:13-14a Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

God starts with the “Belt of Truth”.  Truth in our lives is a precious thing and I think we drift from simply telling the truth all the time pretty easily.  God won’t let us drift far and will correct us.  Sometimes the correction isn’t recognized as something God has done but God wants us to always “speak the truth in love” with each other.  Back in chapter 4 verse 15 we were told to speak the truth in love.  Not be simply abrasive in speaking the truth but to speak it in love.  In chapter 4 we are told that we much put off falsehood and speak truthfully.  This resting in truth and staying away from posing as something you are not is part of God’s way for us to mature.  Christians are famous for being hypocrites.  I’m sure that much of that is not deserved but some of it is and I’m glad God chose this as the first part of our armor.  We have the expression in which we say someone was, “caught with their pants down” when they are caught in a lie and embarrassed.  If we keep the belt of truth on then we won’t be caught in a lie because we won’t have any lies to trip us up.  This isn’t just a “within the body issue” but it is part of being a good witness.  

In Titus scripture says about our relationship to the unsaved:

Titus 2:7-8 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Paul continues with …

Ephesians 6:14b with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

It is a key part of our Christian life to understand the nature of our righteousness or right standing with God.  First, salvation is by grace alone … sola gratia.  Those were fighting words a few hundred years ago.  We are justified or judged righteous by God as a result of the finished work of Christ.  We can’t add anything to the perfection of His work on the Cross.  We are saved by Grace through faith and even that is a birthed by the Holy Spirit of God.  This breast plate guards our heart.  You can’t have the peace you need if you aren’t grounded in this truth.  You need to know the nature of your salvation so we can say with Paul;

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The preservation of the saints is a product of your salvation not a product of your good works and clever thinking.  God does it in you.  You get to participate and work together with God for your sanctification so that you are set aside for His work and purposes.  He will work all things for good for those of us who have been called according to His purpose.  He is at work in your life and this breastplate of righteousness, if you wear it, will protect you heart and give you great peace.

Ephesians 6:15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

How is your life ordered?  Does the Gospel order your life decisions?  How do you decide where you will walk and where you will stand in the larger sense of how you will spend your life?  Certainly our study of John Piper’s work addresses the essence of having our feet fitted with Gospel shoes.  We can’t just wear Gospel shoes on Sunday and then keep secular shoes on during the week.  In this sense we need to get rid of all our shoes except the one pair God has provided.  Your life will be simpler if you just act one way and seek God alone for all the issues of life.  The Gospel also protects us as it teaches us what to expect of the world.  We will not have unrealistic expectations and we will have the right goals in our relationships with others (for example, our wives) if we will allow the Gospel to rule in our hearts and govern our interactions with the world.

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Keeping in mind that our faith is a shelter that is built on the revelation of God … we use our faith in what God has said to stop the arrows that the enemy sends our way and to batter the enemy.  I think a great example of using the shield of faith for shelter is Joseph.  He was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in prison.  God blessed him and made him Pharaoh’s trusted steward.  When his brothers showed up in need and realized who they were talking too they were terrified but Joseph said;

Genesis 45:5-8 “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

That is a man who has extinguished the flaming arrows of the evil one.  His faith has shielded him from the bitterness and hatred that the enemy intended.  Joseph knew that God had a plan.

Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

These are the final two parts of your armor.  The way in which our salvation protects our mind does make it like a helmet.  While our emotions are protected by the breastplate of righteousness (our heart or our bowels in the 1st century) our minds are protected too as the fullness of our salvation is known and embraced.  The three fold salvation is worth reviewing.  We are saved (justified) by the completed work of Jesus.  We are being saved (sanctified) by the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We will be saved when the dead in Christ arise and those that remain are caught up on resurrection day (glorified).  

Psalm 62:1-7 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.  How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down -- this leaning wall, this tottering fence?  They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.  Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

I like to think of the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit being used together.  The shield isn’t just defensive but it batters the enemy and sets them up for the sword.  I think a great example of this was Jesus as He was attacked in the wilderness.  Each time the enemy attacked Him, Jesus responded in faith and said “it is written”.  Matthew chapter 4 details each of three attacks.  For example,

Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus stood up in the provision of God trusting in God slapping the enemy in the face with the Shield of Face and then swung the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Bam, slice, bam slice, bam slice and the devil left Him.  Now Jesus is perfect so we may stagger in unbelief but the principle He demonstrates is for us too.  Step out in faith and stand on scripture.  We have the promise that if we resist the enemy he will run (James 4:7).  Remember that this is done in humility with faith in God.

Ephesians 6:18-20 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Properly clothed, you are ready to pray in the Spirit.  Certainly we need to intercede for our class, I really desire that you guys would pray for me, we need to pray for each other, and for all the leadership of the church.  We are commanded to pray all kinds of prayers, be alert, pray for all the saints, and pray for those who minister (our pastors).

Ephesians 6:21-24 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.  I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.  Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Here Paul wraps up the epistle as a pastor would by sending someone to let them know how things were going with him.  Then he prays for us.  He asks for peace, love with faith, and grace.

Ephesians Lesson 6

Ephesians Chapter 5:21 to 6:9

This week Paul continues to give us instructions for moving on into spiritual maturity.  This week Paul describes submission in our sexual natures, our generations, and in our economic roles.

Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

All the following hangs on verse 21.  Remember the connection between this scripture and those that follow.

Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

This is how women submit and then the submission for the husbands follows.  Women graciously submit by allowing their husbands to lead.  We have a natural need to be respected by our wives.  Sometimes we don’t deserve it but our wives graciously (given as a gift) allow us to lead.  The submission is to the office of husband rooted in the way we are as humans.

Ephesians 5:25-31 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

Husbands submit by ministering to the needs of their wife.  Christ sets the standard and responsibility demands a sort of submission.  Christ humbled Himself and became a servant.  I have trouble seeing this as male dominance.  I see it as something entirely different.  It is a call to being a servant in a deep and profound way.  We as men should stagger at the call and acknowledge we are unable to comply except as enabled by the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:32-33 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Marriage is elevated to a higher status than we would imagine and we are called to picture Christ in our service to our wife.  

Now, we hear how children submit.

Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Now, we hear how fathers, in a sense, are in submission to their children.  Responsibility brings submission.  

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Next we hear how slaves submit.  This applies to those we work for.    

Ephesians 6:5-8 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

And even masters must, in a sense, submit to those they have responsibility for.

Ephesians 6:9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Notice that this entire list is about submitting one to another.  Even the command to masters is a command to submit to the role and to God’s authority in the role.