Today as I read in Genesis about the life of Abraham, I was again reminded of God's sovereign control and direction over all things. That was especially heartening as so many bad things are happening in the world today (just listen to any newscast), and it would be very easy for a Christian to become discouraged. Then I read #11 in John Piper's book, Taste and See, and found more food for thought:
"God's loving us is a means to our joyfully glorifying [H]im. God's love is penultimate; God's glory is ultimate...God has been merciful to us so that we would delight in glorifying [H]im for [H]is mercy...The goal of loving us through predestination is that we might have the everlasting joy of praising [H]is grace...God's love is the ground. His glory is the goal." Mr. Piper used these Scriptures to illustrate each point: Romans 15:8-9; Ephesians 1:4-6; and Psalm 86:12-13.
He then went on to say: "Why is this important? It's important because unless we understand this, we will not know what love really is. The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centered sin so that we can enjoy making much of [H]im forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but our helping them to find eternal satisfaction in making much of God. The only ultimate love is a love that aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead a person to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered or it is not the greatest love; it leaves people without their deepest need and only hope.
After discussing the cross, forgiveness, and the justice of God, Piper states:
"So to vindicate [H]is justice [H]e does the unthinkable--[H]e puts [H]is Son to death as the penalty for our sins...But notice that this ultimately loving act has at the center of it and at the bottom of it the demonstration and vindication of the glorious righteousness of God. Calvary love is a God-glorifying love. God exalts God at the cross...man was rescued from sin in order that he might enjoy God's acts of glorifying God...If God values the glory of God so much in the rescuing of man, then the aim of that rescue would be to give man the ability and inclination to value God the way God does (see John 17:26). This is the ultimately loving aim of the cross. Christ did not die to make much of us, but to free us to enjoy, and participate in, God's making much of God forever."
In light of this, Piper points out that it is "wrong to turn the cross into a warrant for self-esteem as the root of mental health...That is not the presence of health but bondage to self. The only ultimate love is the sacrificial act of God saving me to share God's passion for the supremacy of God. Nothing glorifies [H]im, or satisfies us, more."
Everything God does is for His glory and our good. Praise His name!
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