The Puritan, Thomas Manton said, "Men fail to have a deep apprehension of the beauty of holiness and the excellency of Christ because they do not exercise their thoughts more upon these things." (By Faith, p.50)
When I first read this line from my nightly devotional I read it as "deep appreciation." Both, I think, are true but Manton's point is far more critical to us having a complete and correct view of the God of the Bible.
On the one hand God wants us to call Him, "Abba, Father," and come boldly to the throne of grace. On the one hand, we are co-heirs with Christ and He calls us "friend."
On the other hand, the very voice of the Lord makes the hinds calve and flames of fire burst forth while the wilderness writhes in travail! A single word from His mouth and the cedars of Lebanon shatter.
Power! Majesty! Glory!
Is this part of your understanding of God?
In a church climate that rarely speaks about personal sin or the judgment and wrath of God we can easily fall into believing that God is passive or even impotent. When nearly 45% of those who call themselves Christian don't read the Bible for themselves, it's safe to say that most are more likely to have a wrong view of God than a Biblical (right) view of God.
A "right view" doesn't just happen, it comes by "thinking upon these things." By meditating on the beauty of His holiness and excellency of Christ.
Salvation does not come to us by way of the wedding and wine but by the blood and cross.
The cross is Love at it's most terrible.
We do well to be apprehensive about such a display of the beauty of holiness and excellency of Christ.
When I first read this line from my nightly devotional I read it as "deep appreciation." Both, I think, are true but Manton's point is far more critical to us having a complete and correct view of the God of the Bible.
On the one hand God wants us to call Him, "Abba, Father," and come boldly to the throne of grace. On the one hand, we are co-heirs with Christ and He calls us "friend."
On the other hand, the very voice of the Lord makes the hinds calve and flames of fire burst forth while the wilderness writhes in travail! A single word from His mouth and the cedars of Lebanon shatter.
Power! Majesty! Glory!
Is this part of your understanding of God?
In a church climate that rarely speaks about personal sin or the judgment and wrath of God we can easily fall into believing that God is passive or even impotent. When nearly 45% of those who call themselves Christian don't read the Bible for themselves, it's safe to say that most are more likely to have a wrong view of God than a Biblical (right) view of God.
A "right view" doesn't just happen, it comes by "thinking upon these things." By meditating on the beauty of His holiness and excellency of Christ.
"One thing I ask of the Lord, it is the one thing I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord..." Ps 27Anyone who believes God is love, in the hippy- 70's-love-fest sense of the word, will never be able to face and confess the truth about sin.
Salvation does not come to us by way of the wedding and wine but by the blood and cross.
The cross is Love at it's most terrible.
We do well to be apprehensive about such a display of the beauty of holiness and excellency of Christ.
Shalom,
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