Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "The Heart of the Gospel" (Chapter 18, Part 1)
2020-02
2020-02
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "The Jealous God" (Chapter 17)
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Knowing God by J. I. Packer“The Jealous God” (Chapter 17)
How Can God Be Jealous?
Nothing is in the creature as it is in the Creator.
We must let the Bible speak for itself regarding God’s character.
Exodus 20:4–5 NIV4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Exodus 34:14 NIV14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
“Clearly, this unexpected word stood for a quality in God which, far from being inconsistent with the exposition of his name that had gone before, was in some sense an epitome of it. And since this quality was in a true sense his “name,” it was clearly important that his people should understand it.” - J. I. Packer
The Nature of God’s Jealousy
How can jealousy be a virtue in God when it is a vice in humans?
1. Biblical statements about God’s jealousy are anthropomorphisms.
“The reason why God uses these terms to speak to us about himself is that language drawn from our own personal life is the most accurate medium we have for communicating thoughts about him. He is personal, and so are we, in a way that nothing else in the physical creation is.” - J. I. Packer
The Caution of Anthropomorphisms:
Man is not the measure of his Maker, so none of the limitations of human creaturehood are implied of God.
Those elements in human qualities which show the corrupting effect of sin have no counterpart in God.
“God’s jealousy is not a compound of frustration, envy and spite, as human jealousy so often is, but appears instead as a (literally) praiseworthy zeal to preserve something supremely precious.” - J. I. Packer
2. There are two sorts of jealousy among humans, and only one of them is a vice.
Vicious Jealousy:
“I want what you’ve got, and I hate you because I haven’t got it.”
Zealous Jealousy:
Zeal to protect a love relationship or to avenge it when broken.
Married persons “who felt no jealousy at the intrusion of a lover or an adulterer into their home would surely be lacking in moral perception; for the exclusiveness of marriage is the essence of marriage” - R. V. G. Tasker
God’s jealousy is of this latter kind - an aspect of his covenant love for his own people.
Idolatry was viewed as an act of spiritual adultery against God, thus provoking his righteous jealousy for his covenant bride.
1 Kings 14:22 NIV22 Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done.
Psalm 78:58 NIV58 They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
“From these passages we see plainly what God meant by telling Moses that his name was 'Jealous.' He meant that he demands from those whom he has loved and redeemed utter and absolute loyalty, and he will vindicate his claim by stern action against them if they betray his love by unfaithfulness.” - J. I. Packer
“God’s jealousy over his people, as we have seen, presupposes his covenant love; and this love is no transitory affection, accidental and aimless, but is the expression of a sovereign purpose. The goal of the covenant love of God is that he should have a people on earth as long as history lasts, and after that should have all his faithful ones of every age with him in glory. Covenant love is the heart of God’s plan for his world.” - J. I. Packer
God’s Ultimate Objective:
To vindicate his rule and righteousness by showing his sovereignty in judgment upon sin
To ransom and redeem his chosen people
To be loved and praised by them for his glorious acts of love and self-vindication
The Christian Response
1. The jealousy of God requires us to be zealous for God.
Titus 2:14 NKJV14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
1 Kings 19:10 NIV10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
2. The jealousy of God threatens churches which are not zealous for God.
Revelation 3:15–16 NIV15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:19 NIV19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Knowing God by J. I. Packer - "Goodness and Severity" (Chapter 16)
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Knowing God by J. I. Packer“Goodness and Severity” (Chapter 16)
Romans 11:22 NKJV22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Santa Claus and Giant Despair
Modern Confusion about God
Private religious feelings instead of God’s Word
Mistaken notion that all religions are equal - so ideas about God are confused by pagan influence
Failing to recognize our own sinfulness, which distorts our view of God and our attitude towards him
The tendency to divide God’s attributes from one another - to disassociate God’s goodness from his severity
“To reject all ideas of divine wrath and judgment, and to assume that God’s character, misrepresented (forsooth!) in many parts of the Bible, is really one of indulgent benevolence without any severity, is the rule rather than the exception among ordinary folk today.” - J. I. Packer
“Santa Claus Theology”
No judgment or severity in God
A generic benevolence to all regardless of obedience to GodProblem: no need for the atonement of ChristLiberal solution: the cross of Christ isn’t about substitutionary atonement
Problem: "the problem of evil”Liberal solution: God is not omnipotent and omniscient, so can’t do anything about evil
“Thus he is left with a kind God who means well but cannot always insulate his children from trouble and grief. When trouble comes, therefore, there is nothing to do but grin and bear it. In this way, by an ironic paradox, faith in a God who is all goodness and no severity tends to confirm men in a fatalistic and pessimistic attitude to life.” - J. I. Packer
True solution: Associating God’s goodness and severity from the truth of Scripture
God’s Goodness
Goodness
The moral qualities of God such as his perfection, generosity, mercy, grace, and love.
Exodus 33:19 NIV19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Exodus 34:6–7 NIV6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
“God’s truthfulness and trustworthiness, his unfailing justice and wisdom, his tenderness, forbearance and entire adequacy to all who penitently seek his help, his noble kindness in offering believers the exalted destiny of fellowship with him in holiness and love—these things together make up God’s goodness in the overall sense of the sum total of his revealed excellences.” - J. I. Packer
God’s Goodness as Generosity
“A disposition to give to others in a way which has no mercenary motive and is not limited by what the recipients deserve but consistently goes beyond it.”
The focal point of God’s moral perfection
Grace - every act of divine generosity, of whatever kindCommon - “creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life”
Psalm 145:9 NIV9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Psalm 145:15–16 NIV15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
Acts 14:17 NIV17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
◦ Special - manifested in the economy of salvation
Psalm 106:1–2 NIV1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
Psalm 86:5 NIV5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
Psalm 107:1–3 NIV1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
God’s Severity
The Severity of God
God’s “cutting off” of the disobedient (Rom 11:22)
God’s decisive withdrawal of his goodness from those who have spurned it
He is “abounding in love” but he “does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:6-7).
“The principle which Paul is applying here is that behind every display of divine goodness stands a threat of severity in judgment if that goodness is scorned. If we do not let it draw us to God in gratitude and responsive love, we have only ourselves to blame when God turns against us.” - J. I. Packer
God is patient in his severity - “slow to anger” and “longsuffering.”
1 Peter 3:20 NIV20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
2 Peter 3:9 NIV9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Our Response
1. Appreciate the goodness of God.
Count your blessings
Don’t take God’s gifts for granted
2. Appreciate the patience of God.
Learn to marvel at his patience with you
Seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others
3. Appreciate the discipline of God.
Thorns which may awaken you from the sleep of spiritual death and lead you to repentance
As a believer, the discipline of a loving father guiding you to holiness and to “continue in his goodness”
Hebrews 12:5 NIV5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,