Something Greater

Ready For The Real Thing | Genesis 1:2-4 Sounds like an advertising slogan. I intended to use it for the title of a sermon. Not sure about it now. But, it does capture a bit of what I feel the Lord is working in, with and around me. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:2-4 (ESV) God wanted the earth to have light. He wanted whatever and whoever that was earthly to have light. Why? Because light reveals what's real. Darkness hides what's real. Shadows distort and confuse. The black of night overwhelms color and form. Gloom depresses. God wants me to see the real thing. Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his na...

Isaiah 19, Part Two: In That Day Isaiah 19:16-25 What's gone before... In the previous 15 verses of this chapter Isaiah declared an oracle ("massa", a heavy burden or a song of doom) concerning Egypt. The LORD would stir up conflict with the nation, confounding their leadership, bringing devestation to Egypt's political, economic and geographic foundations. Now, in Part Two... Isaiah repeats the phrase "In that day" six times in this passage, declaring six specific events or conditions that would befall the Egyptians when the LORD brings war to their nation. In that day the Egyptians will be like women... In that day there will be five cities... In that day there will be an altar... In that day the Egyptians will know... In that day there will be a highway... In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria... IN THAT DAY: yom "yome" (to be hot; a day, as the warm hours of daylight, whether sunrise to sunset, or fr...

Psalm 8: How Majestic Is Your Name! To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalms 8:1-9 (ESV) What do y...

Images of Pride Stephen compares the nation of Israel's rejection of Moses with that Jesus, despite signs and wonders that declared both to be heaven-sent prophets . God responded sternly to His people's disregard. "God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: - Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon." Acts 7:42-43 (ESV) Stephen was quoting from the Book of Amos: "Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god, your images that you made for yourselves, and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, - says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts." ...

Rejection of God and Self-Rejoicing Stephen, disciple of Christ, arrested and on trial for heresy and blasphemy, defends himself before self-righteous religious rulers, using the history of his people as an object lesson in religious rejection of God . "This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, - Who made you a ruler and a judge? - this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, - God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers." Acts 7:35-37 (ESV) This is Stephen's grand thesis. This declaration is the climax of his argument defending himself from the false charges of heresy and blasphemy. This careful, sequential overview of his people's history, from faithful Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now Moses, leads inevitably to...

Moses Trembled Stephen stood before the accusing council of religious rulers, defending himself against charges of blasphemy and heresy . He had quickly traced the history of the nation of Israel, beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He is at this point reminding the court of the great disappointment that Moses must have felt after forty years of sheepherding, exiled in fear of punishment by Egyptians after a failed attempt to deliver his people from oppression. After forty lonely, lowly years of regret, God spoke to Moses . "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. - And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, - Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt." Acts 7:33...

Then We Worship "Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God. Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self." John Calvin "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, - Give me a drink, - you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." John 4:10 (ESV) Worship requires two distinct elements of knowledge: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves . Alone, neither is sufficient for worship. We can recognize the majesty and power of God only in comparing it to our own misery and poverty. In other words, imagine if it were possible for a human to have no true self-awareness, no knowledge of their own limited power or intelligence . Allowed to observe God or to sense God's work, the human would simply accept every observation as completely normal. The human, in fact, would be unable to place any value or worth upon God's work. It would be similar to bringing an inf...

Expressions of Worship How does the Bible describe worship? Two words, one Hebrew and one Greek, are translated as "worship" in the Bible. In the Old Testament: "I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord." Genesis 24:48 (ESV) WORSHIP: shaha (to depress, to prostrate) Our English word, depress, means to press down, to let fall or lower. It commonly now is used to describe longlasting sad and lethargic emotions. Prostrate literally means to throw down. It describes a person with face on the ground in humble adoration. It can also describe someone utterly exhausted, lying flat on the ground. In the New Testament: "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24 (ESV) WORSHIP: proskyneo (to fawn or crouch to, to prostrate...

Wayne Grudem on Worship As part of my study of worship, I read a chapter of Systematic Theology , by Wayne Grudem . The following are quotations from the book (in bold) with references from the Bible (in italics). Worship is the activity of glorifying God in his presence with our voices and hearts. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16 (ESV) Worship is therefore a direct expression of our ultimate purpose for living, to glorify God and fully enjoy him forever. God is worthy of worship and we are not. "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." Revelations 4:11 (ESV) When we feel the absolute righteousness of this deeply within ourselves we then have the appropriate heart attitude for g...

Worship and Blessing When God created the heavens and the earth, vegetation, animals and man, He blessed them and praised them as very good: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, - Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth...God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, - Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:1, 21-22, 27-28 God blessed His creation, and He continually blesses us all , with breath and life and fa...