Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Cross: A Depiction of God's Glory

In our Adult Bible Class we have been looking at the nature and character of God for quiet some time. It has been an eye-opening, breath-taking, and humbling journey. Recently we touched on an area that led us to contemplate the area in which we saw God‘s glory most depicted. I think the answer may have shocked many of those in our class. The answer was actually very simple; God’s glory is best seen by the cross of Jesus Christ. John Piper wrote: “The death of Christ is the wisdom of God by which the love of God saves sinners from the wrath of God, and all the while upholds and demonstrates the righteousness of God.” As you contemplate the horrors of the cross it is significant to understand the lengths that Christ went in order to preserve and uphold His Father’s glory. You must ask yourself, what was God saying about His glory when he was pleased to bruise and crush (Isaiah 53) His own Son on Calvary’s cross? What was Jesus saying about His Father’s glory when He willingly endured the horrors of the cross? John Piper also wrote: “…the cross demonstrates the infinite worth of God’s glory since Christ was willing to go to such great lengths to uphold the value of His Father’s holy name. It shows that God the Father is an all glorious God who refuses to settle for anything less than being all glorious, and that God the Son loves His Father infinitely and therefore places infinite worth on His glory.” If God, and the Son, take God’s glory so seriously, shouldn’t we? Of course! Let me share a few things to include in your prayer time that will help you promote, preserve, and protect God’s infinite glory. Pray for: An abhorrence of sin To know Christ’s loathsomeness of sin To know by the cross the awful miseries from which you were saved For the ability to ponder the meaning of the cross To adhere to Christ with firm faith To be devoted to Christ with all of your being To detest sin as strong as Christ’s love for you
That holiness is the atmosphere in which you live

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