Grace and Peace Multiplied

One of the benefits of having money in a bank account is to have a percentage added for interest.  It is a basic way to have money "working" for you while at the same time is secure and insured.  While adding to wealth is desirable, multiplying wealth is even more appealing.  Why add when you can multiply and earn faster?

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus mentioned how people tend to worry about their lives, what they will eat, drink or wear.  Because born again Christians have God as our Father in heaven, we ought not to worry like others do about an uncertain future because God will supply all our needs.  Matthew 6:33 said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  All the things we need are found in God who has created us, given us eternal life and all things which pertain to life and godliness.  It is in knowing God and the promises of His word that build and strengthen our faith.

In seeking God we discover all our needs are abundantly met and added to us:  did you know it is possible to have grace and peace multiplied to us?  This is revealed in the introduction of 2 Peter 1:1-4:  "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ: ² grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."  As our knowledge of God in whom we trust expands, grace and peace are multiplied to us in the knowledge of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Our faith is not an airy-fairy longing but rests in the reality of God's existence, the facts of who He is and all His exceedingly great and precious promises.

As our knowledge of God as revealed in scripture and by our relationship with Him, God's grace and peace abounds.  God's divine power has given us everything we need for this life and all eternity, for we are made partakers of the divine nature:  the Holy Spirit who regenerates and indwells us.  The people of this world have plenty to eat, drink and wear and are not satisfied, yet we have "escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."  Lust leaves us dissatisfied with what we have and always thirsts for more, better and new.  Our precious faith which believes Gods great and precious promises sustains us, for our hope is in our God who multiplies grace and peace unto us.  We have multiplied to us what the world cannot earn or obtain by any effort of the flesh.  How privileged and blessed we are to know God and to be known by Him!

Glory in Knowing God

"Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; ²⁴ but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD."

Jeremiah 9:23-24

This passage has a two-fold emphasis for me today:  God can be known, and it is possible to glory in many things rather than knowing Him.  Even in the days of Law and the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to all in the earth by the great things He had done.  Though unapproachable in glory, God provided evidence for man to seek and know Him.  He created mankind with the ability to reason and ponder, with curiosity and an unquenchable thirst to learn, explore and discover.

The prophet Jeremiah addressed this discourse to the children of Israel who had turned from the living God to idols, bringing down the majesty of their Creator to an image fashioned by man's devising of wood, stone or precious metal.  It is natural for men to glory (to praise, boast) in his abilities and accomplishments, like the athlete who raises his arms on the podium after winning an event.  The crowd cheers their champions, and the arms raised in triumph and saluting of the multitude is an acknowledgement of himself.  The mighty man naturally glories in his might, and the rich are pleased to be so.  God spoke through the prophet, "He who glories glory in this, that you understand and know Me, that I am the LORD."  The strength of the mighty man and riches we acquire are a gift from God, but strength and riches have their limits; in time strength turns to weakness and riches pass to another.

Our glorying should not be in our abilities or achievements but in God who has revealed Himself to us, who exercises "lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth" because He delights in them.  God's character and ways can be known by those who trust Him, whose eyes have been opened by His grace to believe on Him.  God's ways are unsearchable and His thoughts higher than ours, but we can know Him!  What a joy it is to know He who is most glorious, and will ever be in the height of His power and majesty forever!  God has spoken and He also puts into practice what He delights in without respect of persons.  God's love is active and loyal and governs justly.  He upholds the righteous standard He has set and keeps it Himself without fail.

God knows us and desires we would be intimately acquainted with Him and His ways.  The lack of the knowledge of God led to the destruction of His people, and God remained faithful.  James 1:16-17 reads, "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."  The things we believe we have earned are actually gifts from God, and we are deceived to think by our own power or wisdom we can accomplish anything.  We will be tempted to imagine our good deeds or hard work is the reason for the blessings we enjoy, but every good gift is from the LORD who does not change.  Our situations and circumstances change yet God remains good who exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth.  By His grace we live, and by grace we are saved.  Let us praise and glorify Him!

Fear the Holy LORD

How important it is for God's people to fear Him and walk in His ways!  In our age of grace under the New Covenant it is possible our familiarity could lead to lack of reverence.  There were occasions in scripture when people acted presumptuously and paid a heavy price for it.  The situations recounted to us in the Bible remind us of God's holiness and man's tendency to forget our unworthiness to approach Him.

After the ark of God was brought into battle by Hophni and Phinehas, it was taken by the Philistines and set in the house of their god, Dagon.  Twice the image of Dagon fell prostrate before the ark of God, and a great plague broke out among the people.  For 7 months the ark was moved through the major cities of the Philistines, and death and destruction followed it.  The ark was returned to Israel on an unmanned cart drawn by two cows who made their way straight to Beth Shemesh.  The people rejoiced to see the ark, the cart was chopped up for wood and Levites offered the cows as a sacrifice to God.

But though Levites were involved in the process, the people transgressed by looking into the ark of God.  1 Samuel 6:19-20 says, "Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?"  The people wondered who is able to stand before their holy LORD God, and the answer was clear:  no one who sins can stand before God.  The wages of sin is death, and the punishment of death was righteous and just when unsanctified people transgressed His commands and treated His presence as a common thing.

Another incident occurred when King David sought to bring the ark into the Tabernacle erected in Jerusalem.  The ark had been housed with Abinadab and his sons Uzzah and Ahio brought the ark on a cart.   2 Samuel 6:6-7 reads, "And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God."  The ark of God had no business being set on a cart when it was to be carried by the Levites, and Uzzah was struck dead for steadying the ark when the ox stumbled.  The happy procession was quickly sobered by the shock death, and after David looked into the matter he realised they had not followed the proper order.

Moments in scripture like these serve to remind Christians of the awesome God we serve and not to treat His presence or His word like a common thing.  God is unapproachable in glory, yet He has graciously taken human form in the person of Jesus and brought the hope of forgiveness and salvation to us.  As many as believe and receive Him have the right to become children of God.  Having been justified and sanctified by His grace, we should retain the fear of the LORD which is the beginning of wisdom.  God remains God, and we remain mere men.  His ways are higher than ours, and our thoughts are not God's thoughts.  Instead of being filled with pride and speaking presumptuously, we ought to be further humbled God knows us and still loves us with an everlasting love.  We have been delivered from punishment and power of sin, and thus we should repent and walk righteously.

God is not just one of many "gods" or idols worshipped by men, and Christianity is not another religion.  The Bible is not like other books, and Jesus is not like other men.  1 Peter 2:17 shows us the fear of God is central to righteous relationships with others:  "Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."  We are to value all people and fear God, and we can reverse this:  we can be afraid of men and their power or opinions and this reveals we are not fearing God as our Sovereign like we ought.  When we truly fear God the honour of others is kept in the proper degree.  Solomon wrapped up his musings in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Instead of fear of death or punishment, Jesus emphasised the importance of our obedience to God being prompted by love of God in John 14:15:  "If you love Me, keep My commandments."  We have been given eternal life and our sins have been atoned for by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus loved us first, and so we love Him in return.  God's love is not a common thing, for it is eternal and borne of God's goodness, compassion, mercy and grace.  Fear the LORD, you His saints, for He offers life and rest for all who trust in Him.  Fear of God smiting us should be replaced with the knowledge that we deserve to be, and yet He loves and accepts us as sons and daughters.

God Alone Is Worthy

A book I read recently related a concept I have heard many times before:  "Your worth is so great that if you had been the only person created upon the earth, God still would have sent His Son to die for you.  You count that much to Him."  The authors went on to say, "In your relationship with the Son of God, you are assured of worthiness." (Wright, H. Norman, and Wes Roberts. Before You Say "I Do". Harvest House Publishers, 2019. page 43.)  I cannot discern the intent of the authors, but to go from saying we have worth (value) to God to saying we have worthiness is a common error which undermines our need for God's grace.

To claim one has "worth" is different from claiming "worthiness."  Worth designates the value of something, while "worthy" means "deserving; such as merits; having worth or excellence."  A fine line we must not cross is the suggestion because God values us we are in the slightest worthy of being deemed righteous ourselves.  I have heard people espouse the worthiness of others to bolster their self-esteem, yet it is God we ought to esteem and magnify His grace toward us.  Because of our sin we are fit for damnation in the flames of hell and God still values us--not because of our worthiness but out of His goodness, grace, mercy and love.  It is being loved, pursued and accepted by God's grace that moves us to esteem Him and others as we ought.  Self-esteem is a foundation of eroding sand which only pride can hold fast.  Righteous standing with God is received by faith in God alone.

Man has been created in the image of God and because of sin we are irreparably cut off from God and doomed to destruction.  We are unworthy of forgiveness, acceptance or notice because of our rebellion, pride and self-righteousness.  We are helpless; we are hopeless.  God out of His grace and compassion took action to redeem and reconcile us to Himself.  It says in Romans 5:6-8, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Paul did not say this to pump up the self-esteem of the Romans, but so they would instead esteem God as worthy of all honour, glory and praise.

I have heard people push back against the implications man is worthy by explaining when God looks at us as born again believers, He sees Jesus and therefore we are accepted.  This deflects the fact God loves us individually and personally with full knowledge of our unworthiness.  For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son, and this shows there is no divine nepotism at play from which we benefit.  How often has humanity, well-meaning though we are, resisted and opposed the gracious love and acceptance of God freely offered to all!  We easily fall into the trap of ascribing a degree of worthiness to ourselves, work to obtain favour by God only received by faith, or claim we could not possibly be loved because of the unrighteous wretches we truly are.  We are wretched sinners AND loved; we are unworthy yet God values us so much He sent His only Son to die in our place so we might be saved.  Let us extol God who alone is worthy and rejoice in Him who has lavished such mercy, grace and goodness upon us.