The letter of 1 John is one that many people are familiar with. There is a focus on multiple themes; from the truth of Jesus as the Son of God and as our advocate, to obedience as evidence of our love and of our faith that is manifested in love for others. But what I want to meditate on this morning is 5 verses found in chapter 4.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Here we hear the call to love one another. This is not an unfamiliar call (cf. John 13:34,35; 15:12, Romans 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9, 1 Peter 1:22; 4:8). This is something we all believe and hopefully we strive to do. And how vitally important this is in the time in which we find ourselves. Not only to help care for others in the midst of our ‘shelter in place’ order, but also to be loving and gracious toward others who hold different persuasions in regard to what should be done next as we move out of this season of sheltering. Love is an amazing attribute that we all hope and pray grows more fully in us.

Yet as great as the display of love between humans can be truly beautiful, there is a much greater love - that is the love of God. And John makes clear that his love is most plainly and undeniably seen in Jesus Christ. God sent Christ so that we could live. Ponder that for a moment! And he didn’t just send Jesus to give us some steps to follow in order to know how to live. He sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Now there is a million dollar word: propitiation. What does that mean?

To propitiate is to turn away wrath. It is the satisfaction of God’s demand for justice. God is holy and righteous - and that cannot be ignored. Our sins cannot merely be swept aside (cf. Romans 3:21-26). They must be dealt with. They must be atoned for. That is what Jesus did for his children. He took the penalty that our sins deserved. He died in our place. This is unquestionably the greatest love ever witnessed.

In the Heidelberg Catechism Question 37 asks (this in reference to a line in the Apostles’ Creed): “What do you understand by the word ‘suffered’?”

Answer: “That during his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race*. This he did in order that, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice he might deliver us, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, and gain for us God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life.”

Jesus took the blame and bore the wrath - and because of him - through our faith in him - we stand forgiven at the cross. Take time to meditate on this glorious truth…this wonderful manifestation of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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* For those who read this and wonder if it goes against the “L” in the TULIP - it does not. This, according to Ursinus (the primary author of the catechism), refers to the sufficiency of Christ’s death. It is absolutely sufficient for all, but it is efficient only for those who are God’s sheep (cf. John 10:11, also John 6:37, Matthew 1:21, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 5:25).

This will likely be the last post for a little while. I am taking this next week off and I’m not sure whether I will be posting anything. If I do, I don’t know what time of day it will be posted, and I seriously doubt it will be daily.

But for today, I turn back to the Psalms. In particular Psalm 130.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 

2 O Lord, hear my voice! 

Let your ears be attentive 

to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, 

O Lord, who could stand? 

4 But with you there is forgiveness, 

that you may be feared. 

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 

and in his word I hope; 

6 my soul waits for the Lord 

more than watchmen for the morning, 

more than watchmen for the morning. 

7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! 

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, 

and with him is plentiful redemption. 

8 And he will redeem Israel 

from all his iniquities. 

Here is a lament over sin. The language and tone that the psalmist uses expressions desperation. This is a cry for mercy. These are the words of someone who understands the weight of sin. Sin is rebellion against God and it is an affront to his character.

On top of that the psalmist knows that if the Lord kept account of our sins and held them over or before us - none of us could stand. If he held us accountable with strict justice…we would be lost. And then we come to the great conjunction - “But.” God is not one who holds sins over those who are penitent. With God there is forgiveness (cf. Psalm 103:3; Nehemiah 9:17; Ephesians 2:4-10). That forgiveness that God gives restores our relationship to him. It allows us to walk in proper fear (cf. Psalm 128:1). We are forgiven to be free to obey, not to continue to walk in disobedience.

The psalmist then waits in hope. He waits with eager anticipation - more than the watchmen (the sentry or night guard) waits for the morning. And he closes the psalm with encouragement. It is a call to all of God’s people to hope in the Lord. His soul had been refreshed and now he calls on others to find that refreshment - the blessing of forgiveness. Because - with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. What an amazing description!! What an amazing God! And we see that so fully displayed in Christ Jesus - the one who died so that we might be declared righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Romans 5:6-8: 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Here’s a song I love (though I wish it were played a bit faster).

Lately I have been thinking more about the nature of Jesus…not his divinity per se, but his character and his heart. It has been challenging, comforting, and convicting. When I tend to think of the Lord I gravitate towards the high and lofty. Passages like Hebrews 1:1-4:

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

That is well and good to consider and to ponder and to be used to generate praise and adoration in our hearts. But it is not the full story. As I prepared the sermon for today, one of the phrases in Ephesians 4:13 is that believers are to attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The place I went to was Colossians 1:15-19 (another lofty passage on the grandeur of Christ). However, that felt incomplete - and perhaps so lofty that we could easily forget about it.

As believers we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). How is Jesus portrayed in the incarnation? In his ministry on earth? He was compassionate (Matthew 9:36). He is gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). He is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He is fully resolute in and submissive to the will of the Father (Luke 22:39-44). Even now, risen and ascended he is our high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16).

There is certainly more. We cannot exhaust the grandeur and the beauty of Christ. Take some time today and think through this beautiful reality: we who are united to Christ are being conformed to this image (and I have not scratched the surface of who Jesus is and who he is for us!). [I may likely have more posts related to this topic as the book “Gentle and Lowly” has been the catalyst for this thinking - I do highly recommend it.]

Whatever I need in Jesus dwells and there it dwells for me as I’m being confirmed to his image!

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Jesus, the Lord, my Savior is, 
My Shepherd, and my God; 
My light, my strength, my joy, my bliss; 
And I His grace record.

Whate’er I need in Jesus dwells, 
And there it dwells for me; 
’Tis Christ my earthen vessel fills 
With treasures rich and free.

Mercy and truth and righteousness, 
And peace, most richly meet 
In Jesus Christ, the King of grace, 
In Whom I stand complete.

As through the wilderness I roam, 
His mercies I’ll proclaim; 
And when I safely reach my home, 
I’ll still adore His name.

“Worthy the Lamb,” shall be my song, 
“For He for me was slain;” 
And me with all the heavenly throng 
Shall join, and say, “Amen.

There appears to be light at the end of this stay-at-home tunnel. The Governor has put out a plan to restart Ohio; though there is a still a long way to go. And though it is still a long road ahead of us, once this is passed, it could be something that we simply forget about and don’t learn from (surely not right away, but we have a tendency to forget). That would be tragic in its own right.

I think about Psalm 90:12: So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Having a heart of wisdom would enable us to live our lives in light of what is good and true and beautiful. A heart of wisdom would direct us in our priorities. A heart of wisdom would help us not only know what is most important, but also see our lives reflect that knowledge.

Ephesians 5:15-21: 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

Be very careful…pay close attention to how you walk…that is, to how you live. Be wise, not foolish. We are to seek to understand what the will of the Lord is (his general precepts for our lives that are for our good)…and Paul shows us in part. It is being filled with his Spirit, speaking the Word of the Lord, singing, giving thanks, and loving/submitting to one another because of Christ. And in an even more general way - the wisdom that we are called to is knowing who the Lord is…it is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7; 15:33).

If we go back to Psalm 90 the first two verses are foundational:

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place 

in all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, 

or ever you had formed the earth and the world, 

from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 

Our God is eternal and unchanging…whereas this psalm tells us how our days are numbered. And so we are to live those days in wisdom. Part of that wisdom is learning where we find our satisfaction…where we find our contentment. Look at verse 14:

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, 

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

Our satisfaction is in the Lord. Our satisfaction is in the steadfast love of the Lord. And we see that most clearly in our Savior. …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8; cf. John 3:16). And when we know the nature and character of God, we can rest in him more fully and live a life of wisdom and not folly.

So Lord, teach us to number our days rightly. Here is a great song/prayer from this psalm. Lyrics can be found here - or just follow along with Psalm 90.

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4 Delight yourself in the LORD, 

and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

These words from Psalm 37:4 are likely familiar. They are also misused a lot! It is important for us to understand what the psalmist intended by those words. We must understand that our heart has been changed as believers and therefore our desires have changed. It doesn’t remove the delight; it actually enhances it. Let me share the words of Charles Spurgeon commenting on this verse:

“The worldly person says, “I thought religion was all self-denial; I never imagined that in loving God we could have our desires. I thought godliness consisted in killing, destroying, and keeping back our desires.” The religion of most people consists in abstaining from sins they secretly love. Negative godliness is common; it is supposed by most that our religion consists in things we must not do rather than in pleasures we may enjoy. And they suppose us to be a crabby, miserable bunch, who undoubtedly make up for denying ourselves in public by some private indulgence. Now it is true that religion is self-denial; it is equally true that it is not self-denial. Christians have two selves. There is the old self, and there they do deny the flesh with its affections and lusts; but there is a new self, a newborn spirit, the new man in Christ Jesus. Our religion does not consist in any self-denial there. No, let it have the full swing of its wishes and desires, for all it can wish for, all it can pant after, all it can long to enjoy. When I hear persons say, “My religion consists in some things that I must do and in some things that I must not do,” I reply, “Mine consists in things I love to do and in avoiding things I hate and would scorn to do.” I feel no chains in my religion, for I am free, and no one is more free. He who fears God and is wholly God’s servant has no chains about him; he may live as he likes, for he likes to live as he ought. He may have his full desires, for his desires are holy, heavenly, and divine. He may take the full range of the utmost capacity of his wishes and desires and have all he needs and all he wishes, for God has given him the promise, and God will give him the fulfillment of it.”

 (Spurgeon. (2017). The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (pp. 721–722). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.)

Look at Ephesians 4:20-24 and see that, as believers, we have been renewed in righteousness and holiness - and our true desires are in accord with that. Or turn to Colossians 3, particularly verse 10 that speaks of believers being commanded to put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the imagoes its creator. All of this flows from the fact that Christ is our life as believers. And that is not only a good thing, it is the best thing. Let’s meditate on this truth and be overwhelmed by all that we, as believers, are given in Christ, and the true pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

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Sometimes while reading Scripture it seems as though it leaps off the page at you. That’s what happened for me this morning as I was reading Psalm 81. This is a familiar psalm for me, but this morning the heart and character of God shone through this psalm with the brightness of the sun.

1 Sing aloud to God our strength; 

shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 

2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine, 

the sweet lyre with the harp. 

3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, 

at the full moon, on our feast day. 

4 For it is a statute for Israel, 

a rule of the God of Jacob. 

5 He made it a decree in Joseph 

when he went out over the land of Egypt. 

I hear a language I had not known: 

6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; 

your hands were freed from the basket. 

7 In distress you called, and I delivered you; 

I answered you in the secret place of thunder; 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah 

8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! 

O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 

9 There shall be no strange god among you; 

you shall not bow down to a foreign god. 

10 I am the Lord your God, 

who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; 

Israel would not submit to me. 

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, 

to follow their own counsels. 

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me, 

that Israel would walk in my ways! 

14 I would soon subdue their enemies 

and turn my hand against their foes. 

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, 

and their fate would last forever. 

16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, 

and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” 

As you read through that psalm - what leapt off the page for you? We see that it begins with a call to give God great praise. God has delivered his people from slavery, from bondage. The allusion is to the exodus, and for believers today there is a greater picture - our redemption from slavery to sin. But what it shows is God responds to our pleas, to our cries. And then when we see verses 8 & 9, God’s heart admonishes and warns his people of danger - specifically of the danger of foreign gods, of idols that we bow down to and to whom we give our allegiance.

And then the folly of that turning to false gods is shown so clearly in verse 10. The image is of baby birds opening their mouths wide as can be for their mother to feed them with everything they need. God is saying to his people - “Simply open up…come to me…and I will fill you with all you need.” Can you hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30? What about Psalm 23:5 or John 15:11 or Ephesians 3:14-19?

Yet the Lord will let us suffer in our poor choices to help us to see our own folly. Yet he longs for us to choose the path of blessing, the path of abundance. He is the God who longs to bless us (see v. 16).

Oh may we hear the heart of our God! May we hear the delight he has in his children and how he delights (yes…delights) to care for us and to provide us with abundant blessings. His grace is magnificent. And those blessings are most clearly and gloriously shown to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us open our mouths wide and be filled with the goodness of our God!!

Two songs this morning. The first is Good and Gracious King by CityAlight. Beautiful words. The second is from The Gray Havens - Storehouse. (Here’s a little information about the song)

"Good and Gracious Kingl" from our new album "Only a Holy God" recorded live at our church St Paul's Castle Hill available to purchase at http://apple.co/2h3...