God of grace

Some tremendous insight by John Piper on the nature of grace.

“One of the great divides in American religious life today, as I see it, is whether God is made a means to grace, or grace is made a means to God.

Does the quest of our lives and the longing of our hearts and the labor of our minds terminate on God, in whom we live and move and have our being, so that grace is indescribably precious because it carries us safely to him? Or is God brought in alongside our planning, and our techniques and methods and political strategies and therapies and treatments as a means to the experience of various forms of grace?

I want to press this because I believe it makes a tremendous difference whether our ultimate treasure is the grace of God or whether our ultimate treasure is the God of grace. It seems to me that the most fundamental question standing before American evangelicalism today is whether we put God or ourselves at the center of grace. And my passion today is to plead for the God-centeredness of saving grace; that we cherish saving grace because it brings us to God, rather than cherishing God because he brings us grace.” - John Piper

The entire text this quote was taken from can be found here.

Jesus at the Center or We Waste Our Time

The book of Ecclesiastes has been called the most modern book the Bible. Not because it was written or translated the most recently, but because of what it has to say about the vanity of life apart from Christ.

 

The Vanity of Wealth As Our Source of Satisfaction:

(Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 ESV)

“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.”

(1Timothy 6:9-10 ESV)

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

(Hebrews 13:5 ESV)

 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

He who loves money will not be satisfied with Money. This is one of the most profound statements on money in all of scripture. I would paraphrase it this way. “If it takes something plus Jesus to be happy, you will never be happy” And how often do we think of money as something that is potentially dangerous? Something that could pierce our souls and cause us to perish?

 

The Vanity of Relationships As Our Source of Satisfaction:

(Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 ESV)

 “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”

This text could be interpreted two ways. One way would be to say. “See God wants us to enjoy our spouse, our work, and our stuff!” But the problem words for me are “vain life”. A vain life is a wasted life, and a wasted life brings God no glory, so I can’t see this a positive statement to live the good life. The “Preacher” seems to be saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” Also notice the word Sheol, which is sometimes used in Hebrew to refer to Hell.

Are You Saying That Money and Relationships Are Wrong or Pointless?

No, because the Bible is clear that we cannot say we Love God and then not love other people.

(1John 4:20 ESV)

 “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

(1John 3:15 ESV)

 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

(John 17:3 ESV)

 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

 (John 13:35 ESV)

 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

Notice that having eternal life is equated with having Christ and that hating ones brother is equated with not having eternal life (Christ). It is impossible to love God and not love other people.  Having Christ is the point of eternal life and if we don’t love others we don’t have Christ.

 

(Ephesians 5:25 ESV)

 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,”

(Colossians 3:19 ESV)

 “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

An admonishment for the Rich: Almost everyone in America.

I couldn’t find much in the Bible that made me want to have riches, other than a few versus that prosperity gospel types love to use out of context. But the one I did find in the New Testament is sober advice.

(1Timothy 6:17-18 ESV)

 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,”

Are you confused yet? Which is it? Can we enjoy God’s blessings or should we shun them? Is it a waste of time to work hard, earn a living and love our families? Well, according to Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 it might be.  We can do all the right things from a Judeo-Christian perspective and still be throwing every thing away; we could be “toiling for the wind”. It is a sobering thought to realize that what can look like an admirable Christian life could turn out to be a life lived in vain. How can we make sure that we don’t waste our lives on the American dream? How do we earn a living, raise a family and love our spouse without it being a waste? Look at the following text as a pointer.

 

(Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 ESV)

 “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”

I love how the Amplified Bible puts it:

  20For he shall not much remember [seriously] the days of his life, because God [Himself] answers and corresponds to the joy of his heart [the tranquility of God is mirrored in him].

 

 What is this Joy that keeps him occupied? Is it the blessings of God or God himself?

We should enjoy the gifts and give thanks for them but they where never meant to be the main thing. God gives us things because He loves us, not so that we can fall in love with gifts.

The author of Hebrews says to be content with what you have “because Christ will never leave you or forsake you” Be satisfied with “Christ our great God and Savior” in all our joys and sorrows, in all our wealth and poverty, in all our health and sickness. This is the central theme of Ecclesiastes.

The crucial question is what brings the most joy to our heart. The Gifts or the Giver? This is the line that separates Religion from Christianity. The line is very slim and only the Holy Spirit knows the difference. We can look at externals and see if someone is a religious person, but to know if they or we are indeed converted requires an inspection of the heart. We must be very careful about measuring the reality of our conversion and that of others on how well they or we keep the “rules”. Keeping a long list of “do’s and don’ts” is not saving faith. James said faith without works is dead, but God is as much concerned about the “Why” as he is with the “What”.

Why do we obey? What is the driving force behind our lifestyle?

Jesus at the Center: Our Treasure as the Measure of our Faith.

We can follow Christ so that we get His gifts (Prosperity, Eternal Life, a better family, a better marriage, respect from others) this is religion and I fear this is what most people define as being a Christian. I sure did, maybe this is one of the reasons I feel so passionately about this subject. It isn’t that possessions or relationships are bad; they where created by God for our enjoyment, but if the church only appears to be filled with good people striving after the American dream those outside the church will say “Me too, I just go about pursuing it without God” They want the good life and figure that if they work hard and obey the rules they can attain it and they probably will. But this is all vanity!

The church has to be more than people who work hard, have good families and attend church. We must have an aroma of Christ about us. We must be worshippers of Jesus first and from here our worship flows into good works. When asked why we act a certain way by the unbeliever it must not be “I don’t do sin because I am a good moral person and Christians don’t do that, but instead, I act a certain way because Jesus is better than anything else”. We must show that we have a different value system so that the world can see what we truly value. What I have in mind here is not primarily, We don’t smoke, drink, cuss or watch R rated movies, but a spirit of humility, love, mercy, and a lifestyle that says “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.

A Question for each of us:

How can we live in a way that shows the world how supremely valuable Jesus is to us? 

Some help from scriptures.

(1Peter 3:15 ESV)

 “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

 

(2Timothy 4:2 ESV)

 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

 Be prepared and ready to explain the gospel with confident, patient, humble, and winsome words.

 (Hebrews 10:34 ESV)

 “For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Jesus!)

 

When we can suffer wrong, lose out on material blessings and still have our Joy because Jesus is our Joy we say something magnificent about the value of our Treasure.

 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

(Matthew 5:16 ESV)

Do good works in such a manner that people look beyond your human ability. Live such a transformed life that it leaves no doubt that something supernatural has happend to enable your works. The light that shines from us must point to God. 

  

Conclusion:

I recently heard a sermon by Francis Chan and at the end of the sermon he said something along the following lines that sum up what I have tried to say. “If you follow Jesus I can’t promise that your health and financial problems will go away, that your job or your marriage will improve, they even might get worse, but here is what you will get if you follow Jesus, you will get Jesus, and he is worth it.”

The Holy Spirit makes men penitents long before He makes them divines; and he who believes what he knows, shall soon know more clearly what he believes. C. H. Spurgeon 

One Thing.

We must remember this One thing in all our coming and goings to Church, in all our service and the exercises of our varied spiritual gifts. It must all be about Jesus and done as an outflow of our love and worship of him, anything more or less, is just religion.