Filed under: Some food for today | Tags: Christianity, John Piper, Spectacular sins
This book by John Piper is quite the read. I got a lot out of it and the following is some stuff that made me think.
JESUS
Everything is for Jesus – “All that came into being exists for Christ – that is, everything exists to display the greatness of Christ. Nothing – nothing! – in the universe exists for its own sake” p33 Col 1 has the most concentrated description of the glories of Jesus. There are 15 references. p32
Christ has foreknowledge: God knew everything before it happened. in His infinite wisdom he and his Father took it all into account as they planned the history of salvation. p35
Christianity is an objective reality outside ourselves. It’s base on truth. p57
The gospel of the glory of Christ spreads better and flourishes more because of the different cultures and languages, not in spite of them. The gospel has no boundaries. p70
EVIL
Ephesians 6:12 refers to Rulers and Authorities which are evil – Col 1:16, Col 2:15. The devil can imprison and kill God’s loved ones. But he can’t destroy them. p34 These Rulers and authorities were created knowing what they would become and how it is that precisely in that evil role they would glorify Christ – knowing everything they would become, they were created for the glory of Christ p35
Satan is a murderer and a liar. John 8:44. Serpent – Rev 12:9
* Origin of the devil: Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4
It isn’t helpful to say that the angels had free will because this doesn’t answer the question. Why would a perfectly holy angel in God’s infinitely beautiful presence use hi free will to suddenly hate God? p43
* The fall of satan was for God’s purposes
* God can wipe out Satan but he has reasons p48
8 things to do with Evil – Expect, endure, give thanks, hate, pray for escape, expose, overcome, resist – EVIL. Never despair, Never give in, never yield, never doubt. p50-51
Jesus Christ is better than any other human
All things for Jesus – Even evil. Definition of “ordain” p54
Where God causes and permits evil p55 Evil is used for a purpose Proverbs 16:4
SOME MORE POINTS OF THE BOOK
* We need to look at the world differently – In Australia and the rest of the western world we don’t suffer in the name of Christ. When we read the Bible we don’t do it with a “desperate hunger for evidences of God’s triumph in pain, but with a view to improving our private pleasures” p12
* We need to know great things about God so when trouble does come our way (and it will) we won’t collapse under the pressure of a catastrophe. This vision of God will not let us down even in the worst of times. p13-14. Great Biblical truths are fuel in the fire of a God centered soul. p36
* Sin and evil, no matter the severity can not be bigger than the Christ-exalting purposes of God. Sins of any magnitude “don’t just fail to nullify God’s purpose to glorify Christ, they succeed, by God’s unfathomable providence, in making his gracious purpose come to pass” p17
* John Piper and Paul both share in the same passion – Christ be made to look as great as he really is by the way Paul lives and dies. p28
* There is both Joy and sorrow. In the life of a Christian is a mix of these 2 elements. 2 Corinthians 6:0 makes this clear “Sorrowful yet always rejoicing”. We are connected to the world but disconnected at the same time. We are here but not here. p29
* 5 reasons for knowing the importance of God’s sovereignty over sin p37-38
1. It is objectively true, not merely an opinion or a merely human idea. 2 Thes 2:10
2. It makes clear that Christ alone, not rulers and authorities are to be worshipped. Worship the creator not the created.
3. Our day is not much unlike Paul’s. It could be worse. Paul believed that holding the great truth would protect us from philosophies and traditions that do not cherish the supremacy of Christ.
4. It makes us valiant in the face of odds that seem overwhelming to the natural eye (Job 1:12, Luke 22:31-32)
5. To see and feel that our salvation in Christ is invincible Col 3:3-4
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