"The ultimate aim of the gospel is the display of God’s glory and the removal of every obstacle to our seeing it
and savoring it as our highest treasure."
~ John Piper
Behold Your God
- From Jesus Christ,
- the trustworthy witness,
- the firstborn from the dead, and
- the ruler over the kings of the earth.
- the firstborn from the dead, and
- To Him who
- loved us and
- washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has
- made us kings and priests to His God and Father,
- washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has
- to Him be
- glory and
- dominion
- forever and ever.
- dominion
- Amen.
- ~ Revelation 1:5-6 (NKJV)
The number three represents entirety or wholeness when it appears in Scripture. Father, Son, Spirit. Beginning, End, Middle. Was, is, is to come. These verses contain three threes.
The Person of Jesus is Trustworthy Witness, in Whom we put faith. He is the Firstborn of the dead, in whom we have life. He is Ruler, Prince, or (literally) Primary over all other authorities, before Whom every knee will bend, either freely in this life or under condemnation on a day to come.
The Presents of Jesus to His people are His love, in greatest fulfillment for the human soul. He washes us from sin, that we may have peace with God, fellow man, and ourselves. He then bestows to us highest honor—we are not merely royalty, but kings; not merely servants, but priests.
The Power of Jesus is His matchless glory, the beauty of purest Light which compels us to fall down in worship. His dominion is unrivaled, and can be contested by no other power in the heavens, on the earth, or under the earth. His power is eis toús aīonas ton aionōn, "unto the ages of the ages," undiminished by passage of time.
Behold your God. Let your pride be diminished before the Person, Presents, and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Love Him well.
Father in Heaven, much dissatisfies us in this world. Forgive us for believing we need more than what You are to us, bestow to us, and reveal to us. Remind of us often of the great honor You’ve shown us. Increase our capacity to love You.
Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
#knowingGod
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May all honor, glory, and praise be His! I hope you have a blessed day in the Lord, Anne.
ReplyDeleteI'm always blown away when I think of God making someone as low as me part of His royal priesthood. Blown away.
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
quote:
ReplyDeleteBehold your God. Let your pride be diminished...
this and something else here was jumping off the page at me. pride is my of my worst enemies and one of my biggest weaknesses.
meant to say one of my...
ReplyDeleteI have just begun to read St. Augustine's "Confessions," and this is reminiscent of the first paragraphs -- the first step to salvation is to recognize how pitiful we are without God for our strength.
ReplyDeleteI felt like I was being washed as I read this, Anne- as if waves we're rolling over me and I am filled with wonder and worship. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAll of You is more than enough Father, more than enough. I love you sis.
ReplyDeletePatty ~ Yes! All honor, glory, and praise are His alone. It's hard not to try to share it now sometimes—yes? But once in His presence, He'll share it, and it won't even matter as much as just seeing Him.
ReplyDeleteWendy ~ Royally-clad, redeemed riff-raff. My mind accepts that truth, but never gets wrapped all the way around it.
Bud ~ The ugly thing about pride is that it comes out so many ways, trying to hide itself. It's utterly insidious. Time with Him, in His presence, worshipping—that's the place to start killing it.
Clifford ~ One of these days I really want to read more of Augustine. I've read just snippets of his biography and words. He fascinates me.
Jason ~ See the prayer below, next comment.
Denise ~ He is enough. Amen.
Lord, You are so good. Thank You for the privilege of being used by You. Thank You for speaking to Jason's heart. Please, Lord, for all of us here, do the same work. Please let us behold Your glory in a way that fills us with wonder and worship—true worshippers, in Spirit and Truth, such as You seek. Let us give to you all the homage of which we are capable as puny mortals.
ReplyDelete✔ He is truly all I need!
ReplyDeleteMary ~ How many ways are there to learn that?
ReplyDelete