In addition to posting the weekly devotions for The Gospel Project, we'll be doing our best to provide you with a weekend recap (like the one below) which will simply provide a summary of the main points from the weekend message. Enjoy!
Here are 3 Truths that flow from the reality of God as Speaker.
The God Who Speaks...
Words change things. When a pastor stands next to a gushing groom and a beaming bride and says,
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” their status changes. They become united before God
and God’s people. They are ushered into the union of holy matrimony. The spoken word changed
them forever because it was spoken with authority. But words have no authority in themselves.
Words are only powerful when spoken by someone with power.
Responding to the powerful nature of God’s speech, the psalmist praised God for His creative authority: “Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for He commanded, and they were created” (Ps. 148:3-5). Notice the progression: God commanded, and the universe was created.
Words matter. Words carry weight. And the weightiest words are those uttered by the most glorious (the weightiest) Being in the universe. His words matter because of who He is.
Responding to the powerful nature of God’s speech, the psalmist praised God for His creative authority: “Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for He commanded, and they were created” (Ps. 148:3-5). Notice the progression: God commanded, and the universe was created.
Words matter. Words carry weight. And the weightiest words are those uttered by the most glorious (the weightiest) Being in the universe. His words matter because of who He is.
2. IS MERCIFUL (EX. 3:2-6).
We have no right to demand an audience with God. God is not accountable to us; we are
accountable to Him. God would have been fully just and righteous to create this world and leave it
to natural processes, never to intervene, never to communicate with His human creatures, and never
to involve Himself with our human plight. There is nothing about our existence that forces God to
be a God who reveals Himself. And yet God speaks. The very fact that we are created is a result of
God’s grace.
He created us to fellowship with Him, to join in the love song the three Persons of the Trinity
sing to one another. Out of grace—not necessity—God has created this world. He has spoken, and
therefore, we exist. It is also an act of grace that God would reveal Himself to us personally. God was
under no obligation to pull back the curtain and let us see aspects of His character and evidences of
His power. He could have spoken the world into existence and then never spoken again, leaving us
in ignorance about our Creator and our purpose.
Here we see the good news of the gospel! The gospel is the story of a God who issues a call to
helpless sinners. In our blindness and deafness, we are imprisoned by our own sinfulness. We cannot
see the goodness of God until He gives us new eyes. We cannot hear the voice of God until He
opens our ears. Like Helen Keller, we struggle to make sense of the world around us—why we are
here and where we are going.
But God—out of sheer grace—chose to enter our world of darkness through the person of Jesus
But God—out of sheer grace—chose to enter our world of darkness through the person of Jesus
Christ. In His perfect life and sacrificial death, Jesus revealed God to us. He showed us God’s
character. He demonstrated the love at the heart of the Father’s authority.
3. GIVES US TASKS (GEN 1:27-30).
If it is true that God has spoken, then there is nothing greater we can do than listen to what our Creator has said. Once we recognize the authority of the God who speaks and the mercy from which He speaks, we are then responsible to lovingly and willingly obey God’s commands. The command has been issued. What will our response be?
In Genesis 1:27-30, God told the first humans, Adam and Eve, what He expected of them. Notice the progression again: God created (authority); then He blessed (mercy). Finally, He gave tasks.
Out of His authority, God created Adam and Eve. Out of His mercy, He blessed them. Then God’s mercy led to His tasking Adam and Eve with cultivating His good creation. Too many times, we get the order backwards. We begin with the tasks of the Christian life and seek to receive God’s blessing as a result of our obedience. But the gospel turns these expectations upside down. God first blesses His children. Only then does He task them with ruling wisely over the earth.
When we begin with the task rather than the blessing, we cut ourselves off from the very power that is necessary to fulfill the tasks God has given us. The blessing of the gospel—the gift of undeserved grace—should motivate and drive our obedience. As we embrace the gospel, the gospel then empowers our love for God and for our neighbor.
When we begin with our obedience instead of God’s blessing, we invert the gospel. We begin to think that we can somehow put God in our debt. If we only do enough good works, maybe God will bless us. This is humanity’s futile attempt at keeping control. We’d rather think that God owes us. As long as we think someone owes us, we maintain a sense of control.
Grace—in contrast—is scary! When we come to understand that accomplishing our task is made possible only because of God’s initial blessing of grace, then there is nothing God can’t ask of us. There is nothing He owes us. We owe Him everything—our very lives.
If it is true that God has spoken, then there is nothing greater we can do than listen to what our Creator has said. Once we recognize the authority of the God who speaks and the mercy from which He speaks, we are then responsible to lovingly and willingly obey God’s commands. The command has been issued. What will our response be?
In Genesis 1:27-30, God told the first humans, Adam and Eve, what He expected of them. Notice the progression again: God created (authority); then He blessed (mercy). Finally, He gave tasks.
Out of His authority, God created Adam and Eve. Out of His mercy, He blessed them. Then God’s mercy led to His tasking Adam and Eve with cultivating His good creation. Too many times, we get the order backwards. We begin with the tasks of the Christian life and seek to receive God’s blessing as a result of our obedience. But the gospel turns these expectations upside down. God first blesses His children. Only then does He task them with ruling wisely over the earth.
When we begin with the task rather than the blessing, we cut ourselves off from the very power that is necessary to fulfill the tasks God has given us. The blessing of the gospel—the gift of undeserved grace—should motivate and drive our obedience. As we embrace the gospel, the gospel then empowers our love for God and for our neighbor.
When we begin with our obedience instead of God’s blessing, we invert the gospel. We begin to think that we can somehow put God in our debt. If we only do enough good works, maybe God will bless us. This is humanity’s futile attempt at keeping control. We’d rather think that God owes us. As long as we think someone owes us, we maintain a sense of control.
Grace—in contrast—is scary! When we come to understand that accomplishing our task is made possible only because of God’s initial blessing of grace, then there is nothing God can’t ask of us. There is nothing He owes us. We owe Him everything—our very lives.
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