A while ago I preached a series on the 4Gs. A big part of that series was thinking about the truths about God that we need to keep telling ourselves and one another… particularly when we’re inclined to listen to other thoughts. They’re great hooks to hang great thoughts on.
I love to simply remind myself that:
God is good, great, gracious and glorious.
Each descriptive word is full of joy inducing meaning.
If you could have anything in the world, without limitation,
What do you want for Christmas?
Sojourn’s Christmas Carols
A great opportunity to eat, sing, think, thank, socialise and ask for more!
Sunday 11 December 2011 :: 5:30pm barbecue :: 6:30pm carols
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I’m preaching on Matthew 5:1-18 on Sunday–focusing on the prayer–and came across this Packer gem in one of the commentaries I looked at:
You sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up I the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God. (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p.224, my emphasis)
He is holy, yet he is Father!
Grab a cuppa and make some time to think about that glorious truth.
I’m still processing the fact that God is great… I guess I’ll be processing that reality for a long time to come. I often need to remind myself that God is good and sovereign, not least when things circumstances don’t fit my design. It’s a comfort and reassurance.
Our follow up discussion after Sunday’s talk when our West End community group met for Bible study on Wednesday was helpful. We revisited the truth about God and thought about how we from time to time affirm and deny it. Our discussion touched on the paragraph I quoted on Sunday from Broughton Knox’s book The Everlasting God. Knox tries to find language to describe the implication of God’s infinite capacity for his relation to his creatures. It’s a thought which brings the surpassing greatness of God into focus. He is so much greater than us… yet, wonderfully, he exercises his capacity for the good of his creatures!
The infinite power and the infinite mind of God, to which the marvels of creation bear witness, mean that he is able to give full attention, care and protection to every person throughout the world with the same intensity of concern that he would give if he were related to a single individual only. The infinity of God is not overwhelmed by numbers, nor stupified by detail. God is able to comprehend, and provide for at the same time the needs of the whole of his creation. Our heavenly father gives each of us his undivided attention and his full friendship as though we were his only friend. (DB Knox, The everlasting God)
I’m thankful to live among friends who remind me of this and other wonderful truths about the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’m especially thankful that the living and true God who has such power and capacity is for me when I so clearly deserve to have him stand against me!
Finite sinner. Infinite God. Stunning grace.
