His Glory, the Cross, and My Affections

I've begun reading an intriguing book by John Piper called God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards (right after devouring the last two books of the Hunger Games... well-rounded, right?). In recent I've been praying for several things, two of which are for my passion to be for the glory of God, and for my affections to be upon Jesus, seeking this sanctification as I meditate on the cross of Jesus Christ.

This book has been shaping me in these areas, and for that, I'm excited. As I see areas where sanctification is greatly needed, I find rest in the truth that I am justified based on what Jesus has done.

The recent realization of my personal lack of zeal for the glory of God arose while reading another book (Gospel by J.D. Greear)> I considered my reasoning to rejecting sin, and saw that it was far too often based on fear of man (what others think) or fear of what I would think of myself, rather than on dishonoring God (understanding that ultimately I cannot take the glory from God, but that in some way, he is dishonored when I do not glorify him). Ultimately, the glory of God is revealed on the cross, where his attributes are on full, lovely display. His love in giving his Son and the Son dying for us, His wrath against sin poured out upon Jesus, His holiness shown in his wrath towards sin. Oh, we may look at the cross and see that he is such a lovely God. Yes, he is such a beautiful God. And he is a God who is passionate about his glory! He will not give it to another (Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11)! Okay... there's more. It's just so good. His glory is at the same time good for his people! So his people benefit and rejoice when God is glorified. That's where we find happiness! What?! His glory, and our good!

Oh, my affections. I yearn for the day when they are aright. That day will come. When my heart will be easily affected by what it should be affected by (paraphrase from J. Edwards). Right now, I cry during in a movie, but I yawn during a sermon. Ouch. I'm grateful that the process of sanctification includes my emotions. My specific prayer has been that the Spirit of God would imprint the gospel deeper into my soul, and that by so doing, my affections would be upon Jesus Christ who has borne the whole wrath of God in my place! And it is very clear that over the past five years (five years!) he has been increasingly doing so. As I look on the cross, I see Jesus who took all of my sin on the cross and all the wrath of God, and I see the God-man who lived a life of perfect obedience to the law that I am required to live but cannot. Yet, because the corrupted nature of humanity is to hate God, I need the grace of God to make me love Him. And he has been doing it!

The cross turns my affections upon Jesus, and it displays the glory of God in all of it's splendor. Here are a few quotes from Piper in his book.

"The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted." Jonathan Edwards The End for Which God Created the World

"The end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [God]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?" "The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted." Jonathan Edwards

"...If God's glory is the only all-satisfying reality in the universe, then to try to do good for people, without aiming to show them the glory of God and ignte in them a delight in God, would be like treating fever with cold packs when you have penicillin." John Piper God's Passion for His Glory.

What joy we have as children of God to rejoice in His glory for now and eternity!

Kill Sin

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again, death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

Romans 6


Do we take sin seriously? I know I don't I recently read a blog post that described our attitude towards sin like our thoughts towards a bad haircut. We're slightly irritated by it, but we wait it out, hoping it will get better (which, by the way, sin left alone does not naturally get better). John Piper talks about how he hears Christians murmuring about our shortcomings, but sees so little warfare. I felt very clearly the complacency that these two saints were talking about as I examined my own view towards sin.

I see my sin, I talk about it with trusted friends, I would like it to not be there, it often disgusts me, and I yearn for the day when it will be gone. But as far as destroying it in my life today, right now, for this I do not strive.

For me, this is mostly because it's hard to fight sin. Sometimes you just don't want to fight. Here's an example of my laziness in fighting sin: I've found that one of the most helpful things for me in fighting sin is to think on Scripture. Something so simple. Yet, it takes work to focus and direct my thoughts towards the Word of God. It's so much easier to allow my mind to wander wherever it would like. But my thoughts cannot be freely roaming wherever they desire, for they will roam into worry and anxiety, into lust and idolatry, and into bitterness towards those I love. No, my thoughts must be corralled towards Scripture. And what joy I have at the end of the day when the Lord has graciously allowed me to look to his Word throughout the day! Yet, I still find myself resisting this. It is not easy to make war on sin, but it is oh, so worth it.


I. Already righteous in His sight
Dear Christians, we have so much hope! The Father has already declared that we are righteous in his sight! We don't have to strive to kill sin so that he accepts us. We're united to Christ, and Christ was perfect in our place. Christ died for our sins. The Father does not deal with us according to our works, but rather, according to the finished, perfect work of Jesus!

Please, please understand (and as I write this, I'm asking the Holy Spirit to please allow me to understand), that we cannot grow in holiness unless we truly understand that we need not earn an ounce of the Father's favor - it's already upon us because of Jesus! Further, if we want to grow in Christ-likeness  we must be going deeper and deeper into the glories of the gospel. As we understand the gospel more and more, we will be conformed more into the image of Jesus.


II. Not righteous in function

"Simil Justus Epecator" was the way in which Martin Luther spoke of Christians. This phrase means that Christians are both simultaneously Saints and Sinners. In this life, we are free from the bondage of sin, yet, we are not in a state in which we can live perfectly. Oh, one day we will be made like Christ and will be completely free from sinning. Practically, that means that we are called to make war on sin in our lives now. To not take sin lightly, to not simply view it as a 'bad haircut'. No, sin is destructive to our souls, and dishonoring to the God who has created and redeemed us. I'm learning, by the sweet grace of God, that I must do whatever I can (in biblical means!) to destroy sin in my life and my heart, while fully resting in the reality that I'm declared righteous and that Jesus has already won the war.

By the grace of God, may we grow in destroying sin in our lives while clinging to the perfect Savior as our great hope.

How the Gospel Allows me to Repent

Repentance is hard on me. It's probably hard on you as well. I don't like admitting that my heart is wicked. I don't like confessing that I sinned at a specific point in time in a specific thought or deed. I don't like coming to terms with who I am. Repentance has to be rooted properly, however. Because in the grand scheme of things (and in the little scheme of things), repentance isn't actually about me. Deep breath. It isn't actually about me. Okay, let's say it one more time, just to make sure we (I) really get it. It isn't actually about it. It's about God. The triune God who has revealed himself to humanity when he could have just left us here to die in our sins. It's about confessing that we as humanity, and I individually, in a very specific moment in time, have fallen short of his glory. It's confessing that what he has said about us is true. We fall short (Rom. 6:23). It's confessing that his glory and his standard is far higher than what I can reach (though I'm required to). It's about Jesus, in confessing that he is my only righteousness before the Father. That I can't pay for that sin (or my sin nature), and that I cannot live a perfect life. Jesus has done it. He has payed for that sin and my sin nature. He has lived a perfect life in my place. Hallelujah for the work of Jesus! Praise the Father that he does not deal with my according to my work, but according to the work of the Son. It's about him. It involves me, but it isn't about me.

I. Declared Righteous Apart From My Own Works
Because I am declared righteous before the Father based upon the work of Jesus in his death and life, I am able to look into the depths o my heart, deal with sin, recognize the root, and deal with it appropriately. My justification, and thus favor, before the Father based on Jesus, give me the necessary freedom to see, and then deal with the absolute wickedness that is my heart.

II.Treasuring Christ by Meditating Upon his Gospel
When I sin, I recognize that I am (1) ungrateful to God, and (2) not treasuring Christ, but rather sin. (Blows my mind that hearts treasure sin rather than Christ. Yet, that is what my very own heart does all the time).

The deepest issue here is that I don't get the gospel.

If I truly understood that Jesus was born to this earth, lived a life of perfect obedience to the law that I am required to live but cannot, died in my place, taking my sin and the Father's wrath against that sin, rose, and ascended at the right hand of the Father where he is now interceding on my behalf... if I understood this in my mind and in my heart, I would overflow with gratefulness, and my heart would treasure Christ aboundingly as it should! A true understanding of the gospel allows me to genuinely repent of sin and sins.

John Owen has stated that, "Holiness is nothing but the imprinting, writing, and realizing of the gospel on our souls."