Soli Deo Gloria

My wife sent me this video this morning about this elephant seal who literally cuddles with a woman on a beach. It’s one of the most amazing things I have seen in a while. Several things run through my mind when I watch this video. One is how amazing our great God is and being in awe of His creation. The heavens and the earth and all creation declares the glory of God indeed!

I am also reminded though that because of sin and because of man’s fall and rebellion Scripture tells us that all of creation groans in anticipation of Christ’s return when all things will be made new. (Romans 8:22) This truth from Scripture is precisely why seeing a clip like this makes us take attention. This kind of response from a wild animal is indeed a rarity.

Viewing this short video clip it made me wonder what life was like in Eden when Adam and Eve were with the animals and there was no fear. Do you wonder if they had experiences like this woman had with this wild animal – an animal that by all understanding should run from humanity in fear? This I believe is another way God gives us a small glimpse of what He has provided in Christ Jesus and thus points us to the necessity and grace of Christ Jesus.

Salvation and the cross of Jesus Christ is like a diamond with an infinite number of facets. Each time you begin to be in awe of the cross of Christ that diamond keeps turning with infinite facets of glory – each illustrating a new and awesome truth. One of those facets is that through the cross there will be a day at His Second Advent where Eden is restored and all things are made new. God in His infinite wisdom and grace continues to give humanity a small taste of heaven and the unfathomable riches in Christ Jesus through events like what we’re watching in this video.

Let us be reminded though that all creation groans because sin has separated us from God and His wrath rightly rests on all. Sin has marred all creation and that is evidenced by the rarity of this wild animal’s lack of fear with this woman. God’s wrath and love are simultaneously displayed at the cross of Jesus Christ showing us that Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life. Our conscience bears witness against us that we have sinned against the one true infinite, holy God and His wrath justly rests on all outside of Christ. It is only through Christ that our sin is expiated and propitiated and where God’s righteousness can be credited to us in the most glorious transaction in all of creation. (2 Corinthians 5:21). Cry out to the Lord and ask Him to grant you true repentance and faith and embrace the One true God – Christ Jesus the Lord and Savior.

Soli Deo Gloria.

The Gospel

O MY SAVIOR, I thank Thee from the depths of my being for Thy wondrous grace and love in bearing my sin in Thine own body on the tree. May Thy cross be to me as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs, as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty, as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith. By Thy cross crucify my every sin, use it to increase my intimacy with thyself, make it a ground of all my comfort, the liveliness of all my duties, the sum of all Thy gospel promises, the comfort of all my afflictions, the vigor of my love, thankfulness, graces, the very essence of my religion, and by it give me that rest without rest, the rest of ceaseless praise.

OH MY LORD AND SAVIOR, Thou hast also appointed a cross for me to take up and carry, a cross before Thou givest me a crown. Thou hast appointed it to be my portion, but self-love hates it, carnal reason is unreconciled to it, without the grace of patience I cannot bear it, walk with it, profit by it. Oh blessed cross, what mercies dost thou bring with thee. Thou art only esteemed hateful by my rebel will, heavy because I shirk thy load. Teach me, gracious Lord and Savior, that with my cross Thou sends promised grace so that I may bear it patiently, that my cross is Thy yoke which is easy, and Thy burden which is light.

From Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers

Devotional

“Men evangelized cannot go to hell but over the bowels of God’s great mercies. They must wade to it through the blood of Christ.”

- John Duncan

Evangelism, Preaching

“People say the cross is a sign of how much man is worth. That’s not true. The cross is a sign of how depraved we really are … The only thing that could save a people like us was the death of God’s own Son under the wrath of His own Father, paying the price, rising again from the dead. Powerful to say, this is the Gospel of Jesus.” – Paul Washer

The Gospel

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” – Mark 8:34-36

HT: Contemporary Calvinist

Daily Walk, Rants

“May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Galatians 6:14

Scripture

Oh, to see the dawn Of the darkest day; Christ on the road to Calvary. Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten, then nailed to a cross of wood. This, the pow’r of the cross: Christ became sin for us; took the blame, bore the wrath— we stand forgiven at the cross. Oh, to see the pain written on Your face, bearing the awesome weight of sin. Ev’ry bitter thought, ev’ry evil deed crowning Your bloodstained brow.

This, the pow’r of the cross: Christ became sin for us; took the blame, bore the wrath— we stand forgiven at the cross.

Now the daylight flees; now the ground beneath quakes as its Maker bows His head. Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life; ”Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

This, the pow’r of the cross: Christ became sin for us; took the blame, bore the wrath— we stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see my name written in the wounds, For through Your suffering I am free. Death is crushed to death; Life is mine to live, Won through Your selfless love.

This, the pow’r of the cross: Son of God—slain for us. What a love! What a cost! We stand forgiven at the cross.

“The Power of the Cross” by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Devotional, The Gospel

“Do not flatter yourselves of being good enough, because you are morally so; because you go to church, say a prayer, or take sacraments, therefore you think no more is required.  Alas, you are deceiving your own souls; and if God, in His free grace and mercy, does not show you your error, it will only be leading you a softer way to your eternal ruin.  But God forbid that any of you, to whom I am now speaking, should imagine this; no, you must be abased, and God must be exalted, or you will never begin at the right end. You will never see Jesus with comfort or satisfaction, unless you go to Him only on the account of what He has done and suffered.”

- George Whitfield (1714-1769) from “The Folly and Danger of Parting With Christ”

Evangelism, The Gospel

When we think about some of the most amazing creative acts of God I believe that most people would point to Genesis and the account of the creation of the world through the word of God Almighty. If we really step back and think about the creation account it should bring us to our knees in praise to our God – that He would simply speak things into existence – things from nothing.

When Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, he had to be thinking about that glorious truth of God creating everything from nothing, or ex nihilo as the theologians put it, when he penned chapter 4. There is a profound verse that speaks so many truths in this chapter…

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”  2 Corinthians 4:6

This verse is comparing the miraculous creation of the world by the unlimited power of God to the regeneration of the dead soul at war with God to a new creation that longs to know Him. I believe it was Paul Washer who once gave a powerful sermon stating that the regeneration of the soul is a greater act of God than His creation of the world. The apostle Paul I believe is saying just that in this verse.

This powerful verse of Holy Writ illustrates so many truths:

1. Only God can cause the regeneration of a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Notice that God is the One who gives the light of the knowledge of His glory in Christ. This is not something that any man can obtain on their own – Scripture is clear on that. We want so much to be able to cling to something within ourselves to come to God. The only thing you have to bring to God is your sin. All of our salvation, all of it, is from God.  He graciously causes us to be born again granting us repentance and faith to come running to Him, all to His glory.

2. The absolute miracle and power of God to speak light into existence is the same miracle and power of God to create a new heart – to create a heart of flesh from a heart of stone. God speaks in Isaiah 66:2 that His hand created all things, by His hand all things came into being. But as He looks out over the landscape of a billion galaxies what catches His attention, what causes Him to look is one with a contrite and broken heart and one who trembles at His Word.

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”  Isaiah 66:2

God looks for His greatest creation – the regenerated man. This regeneration is all for His glory. We have nothing, absolutely nothing to boast in except the cross of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. I am so humbled that God would save a sinner such as I.  I am a man who deserves nothing but eternal damnation because of my rebellion and willful sin against my Creator. But He saved me. My God and Savior Jesus Christ saved me. And my God who spoke light into existence transformed my stony heart to one of flesh and opened my eyes to His glory in the face of Christ Jesus my Lord. All to Him I owe.

3. What is the purpose of salvation? Why did God choose to save His elect? The Westminster Catechism sums it up better than any other – for God’s Glory. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God is glorified through what He does to save sinners. Since all men are born haters of God and enemies of God, our natural desires are things other than God – namely self. Regeneration causes us to love the things we once hated and hate the things we once loved. We become new creatures in Christ and the scales come off our eyes to see God in Christ and to seek with all of our might to know Him more and more. God is glorified in our knowing Him. In fact, Jesus in what I call “The Real Lord’s Prayer” in John chapter 17 explains in absolute beauty what eternal life truly is…

“This is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  John 17:3

In regeneration, God gives the light of His glory in the face of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus being God reveals the fullness of God to us. To know Christ is to know God. The glorious truth is that it is only by God’s gracious and unmerited regenerative miracle that may we know Him in Christ.  

This is just touching on this amazing verse.  Like all of Scripture we can never exhaust the riches of what it contains and Who it exalts and glorifies. I am just amazed that God would save any one. The cross of Jesus Christ exemplifies the perfect love as well as the perfect justice of God. There on that cross was God in the flesh loving us beyond all measure taking the place of His elect, bearing the full wrath and punishment from God that we so deserve as rebels, idolaters and enemies of God saving us from the wrath to come. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Father in Heaven, may we all be humbled by Your gracious love, mercy, grace and justice in the cross of Your Son – The Prophet, The Priest, The King. May we boast only in His cross as we take up our own and follow Him. May we be constantly and ever increasingly amazed at the miracle of regeneration, the new birth, being born from above by Your power for Your glory. May You be glorified in all that we do as we seek to obey Your word by Your grace. 

I love you Lord Jesus. Maranatha.

Soli Deo Gloria

Related Post: The Sacrifices of God

Bible Studies, Scripture, The Gospel

We’ve sung this old hymn so many times but have we truly listened to the words. Like “Rock of Ages”, my absolute favorite hymn, and “The Solid Rock” this beautiful hymn also sings such truth of Holy Scripture.

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.

The Church

Daily Walk, Devotional, The Gospel