The Circumstances of God's Covenant Love

This morning, we come to a new section in our series on “The Love of the Triune God”. For the next five weeks we are going to examine the “Covenant Love” of God. We began with the complete love of God. God is love, which is to say that his nature is defined by that quality. He is good and merciful and gracious. This love is affectionate, but it goes beyond affection to will the good of another. We saw that God’s love is not deficient, and there was never a time that he was not loving, even before he created the world. He has always been abundantly happy in the relationship of the Trinity. The Father loves the Son, and the Son the Father. And the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. So, God did not create this world to meet some deficiency in himself but out of the overflow of his abundant love within himself. Then we saw that God expresses his love in and through his creation by revealing himself. The creation speaks of its Creator, and the Creator speaks through his word to his special creation, humanity. Finally, we just finished covering God’s common love for all humanity. Even though men and women are sinful and rebellious, God still loves them and gives them good things. He provides for them every day of their lives, allowing the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. He also sets protective boundaries around their lives. These boundaries are meant for their good, to constrain evil and promote human flourishing. So, God gives mankind government, culture, and the church.

Yet, throughout all of this, we’ve had this problem that keeps coming up. How can God be loving and just? How can he will the good of the other while still sending people to hell for their rebellion? I gave a solution to this by explaining that God’s love is directed towards the ultimate good, not our own personal felt needs. The ultimate good is found in Christ, the Son of God, because he reflects the glory and goodness of God. So, we experience God’s love in relationship to and union with Christ. As Psalm 2:12 says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” It is clear throughout the Bible that God’s love is specially reserved for those who take refuge in the Son, and his wrath is upon those who rebel. God’s love is ordered according to relationship. The Son is the eternal and perfectly worthy object of the Father’s delight. Fallen man stands not in that relationship of delight but in rebellion and under wrath.

This is the problem we have before us this morning. How can we be reconciled to God? How can we know this relationship of delight? Some might say, well, God just loves me for me. I’m special, I have talent, I have worth, so surely God would love me. But, we’ve already established that this is a perverse understanding of love. We might also think that we can become deserving of God’s love, like the child of an austere and demanding father. We might think that we can work to earn God’s favor, checking off a list until we merit his love. This, too, misses the point. So, today, I want to establish one fact of God’s covenant love - we do not receive God’s covenant love based on anything in us or done by us to deserve it. We are unworthy sinners who deserve God’s judgment and wrath. To see that, let’s read Eph. 2:1-3. From this text, see three points: Because we are fallen sinners, we are spiritually dead, willfully disobedient, and deserving of wrath.

First, from verse 1, see that we are spiritually dead. Ephesians 1 and 2 are beautiful in their extremes. In these two chapters, Paul contrasts, in many ways, our inability and God’s great work. Over the next five weeks, I hope to work through all of those contrasts, but there is none greater than what starts here in verse 1 of chapter 2. Paul says that our condition before God, as sinners, is not one of sickness or deformity. It is one of death. There are some who would say that the problem of sin is a matter for reform. They would say that the problem with humanity is not something inherent in their nature, but something environmental. So, the Muslims, for example, believe that men are born Muslim, but through the influence of the unclean and impure, they become corrupted. The Liberal Secularist believes something similar. They would say that it is society that causes crime. Evil is caused by a lack of healthcare or poverty or poor education. There are others who would say that sin is a sickness that simply needs help to overcome. These would say that mankind needs a spoonful of the right medicine to awaken and follow God.

None of this is the language that Paul uses to speak of mankind’s sinful condition. He says, instead, that we are “dead in our trespasses and sins.” Now, obviously, he does not mean that we are physically dead, nor does he mean that we are completely incapable of any moral decision making. What he means is that we are dead to things of God. We cannot effectively act to do the will of God. We don’t even want to do so. In Romans 8:7-8, he says that the mind that is set on the flesh “does not submit to God’s law, indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” 1 Cor. 2:14 says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God… and he is not able to understand them.” Our minds and souls are so corrupted by the fall that we do not want to do God’s will or truly know him. Now, we all know people who are unbelievers, and yet they seem to earnestly desire to do good. They will even speak of wanting to know God. I can’t tell you the number of experiences I’ve had (some recently) where a person will hit rock bottom and want help. In those moments, they will quote scripture. They will speak of their relationship with God. But given time, they will fall right back into the pattern of sin that they claimed to want to escape. They do this because their heart is spiritually dead.

Second, in verse 2, we see that we are willfully disobedient. We could make the mistake of thinking, based on what Paul has already said, that we are innocent victims of spiritual death. We might say that our sin cannot be helped because we inherited this sinful nature from Adam. Paul does not leave room for that. We are dead, but we are dead men walking. He says that we walked after the course of this world, following the prince of this world, who is Satan. Notice that walking and following are action verbs. They are things we choose to do. In our spiritual death, we choose to walk after the ways of this world. We pursue our desires of greed and lust and idolatry. And, we choose to follow Satan. As we read from Psalm 14 in our call to worship, “There is none righteous, none who seeks after God, all have turned aside.”  We choose to walk in sin and follow Satan because our desires are for the things of this world. We are dead to the things of God, and our desires are for sin. So, Titus 3:3 says that we are “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures.”

Finally, from verse 3, see that we are deserving of wrath. In our spiritual death and willful rebellion, Paul says that we are “by nature children of wrath.”   Here is where this connects to what I said earlier about the love of God. When we are outside of a relationship with God, we do not experience the fullness of God’s love. Instead, we experience his wrath. If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ, your default destination is not heaven. God does not love you just the way you are. You are, by your very nature, a child of wrath. John 3:36 says, “Whoever does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” This is an interesting verse because it is in the same chapter as John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.” In fact, verse 36 is offered as a commentary on 16-18. God does will the good of the whole world by giving his son to secure salvation for all who believe, but if you do not believe, the wrath of God remains on you. If you continue in this path of spiritual death and willful rebellion, you will be judged and cast into the depths of Hell where there is no love or mercy or grace, only wrath.

So, friend, repent and turn to Christ. Know the deep, covenantal love of God by being united to Christ through faith in his death and resurrection.

Brothers and sisters, we know the love of God, not because we have earned it, but because God, in his grace, rescued us from the darkness and blindness of our sins. He changed our hearts to desire the things of God. He showered us in the grace of Christ. In him, we have no boast. We can only marvel at his great love and rejoice in it.

God Loves Through His Church

For the past few weeks, we’ve been in a section of our study of “The Love of the Triune God” where we have focused on the common love of God. God loves the whole world, which is to say that he wills the good of all humanity. Even though we are fallen, sinful creatures, God still loves us and shows good to us. We see this in his providential care (“He causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust”). But, there are certain good gifts that God gives to all humans. We first saw that he loves all of mankind through human government. Government is given authority by God to restrain evil and promote human flourishing. Then, we saw that God loves all mankind through culture. The works of human hands are a good gift from the Creator who places us in an ordered, understandable world and makes us with desires for beauty and creativity. So, men and women are empowered by God to make good things that glorify him and do good for others. Today, we come to the final gift that God gives to the whole world. God loves the whole world through the church.

At first blush, this might seem like a strange claim. We live in a society that calls itself secular. In modern America, we claim to value a strict separation between church and state. Politicians are expected to have a religion; they just aren’t supposed to talk about it. I remember Hillary Clinton, in the 2008 campaign, claiming that her faith was very deep and very private. This is just the way mainstream America likes it. Some 70% of Americans are religious, but you will not find a character on TV that goes to church. Though our legal tradition was explicitly rooted in the Christian moral code, government officials can face legal action for displaying the Ten Commandments in public. This attitude is only a recent development in American life, though. The founding fathers believed that religion was an indispensable support to the nation. George Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” John Adams agreed, saying “It is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.” Of the thirteen original states, nine had state-funded churches. That practice ended with Massachusetts in 1833, some forty years after the First Amendment was ratified, which shows that, in modern times, we have grossly misapplied this idea of strict separation of church and state.

The reason the founders, and all Americans until the middle of the 20^th century, saw religion as a public good is because they recognized that there are some things that cannot be done by the state or by culture. So, this morning I want to consider the good that the institution of the church provides to this world by studying 1 Pet. 2:4-12. From this passage, see three points: The church displays the beauty of God’s kingdom, declares the truth of God’s Word, and distills the goodness of God’s moral law.

First, from verses 4-8, see that the church displays the beauty of God’s kingdom. This statement by Peter is beautiful and profound, and it cuts to the heart of the church’s public witness in the world. He begins by defining what the church is. First, in verse 4, we see that the church is comprised of people who have come to Christ. The church is not an association or club. It is not a community gathering place. The church is made up of people who believe that Jesus is the cornerstone of their lives. They believe that Jesus Christ is the king of kings who died for their sins and rose again to defeat death and hell for them. Second, the church is a spiritual building of these people who have believed on Christ. In verse 5, Peter calls believers “living stones” that are being put together into a spiritual house. This is magnificent imagery, and the NT is shot through with this idea. In John 1:14, Jesus claims to be the temple of God. He says, “if you tear down this temple I will raise it up in three days… referring to his body.” By extension, the people of God are the true temple, too. 1 Cor. 3:16-17 says, “you are God’s temple.” Eph. 2:19-22 speaks of Jew and Gentile believers being built together into “a holy temple in the Lord.” Understand that there was never anything significant about the materials or location of the temple in Jerusalem. There is nothing that is inherently sacred about this building, either. The only thing that made the temple or this building sacred is the fact that the presence of God dwells here. Together, we are the temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. As the church father, Irenaeus, put it, “For where the church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the church.” Lastly, the church is a priesthood. Every member of the church acts as a priest in this world because we all offer sacrifices that are acceptable through Jesus Christ. We present our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12), show hospitality and care for the weak (Heb. 13), and give to support missions (Phil. 4). All of these are sacrifices according to the NT.

But, a temple is a public place. It is a place where the world can experience the presence of God. This is why Jesus became so enraged over the moneychangers and merchants in the court of the Gentiles, which was the outer court of the temple. Remember, he said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations.” The intent of God was for the world to be drawn to him through the glory of his presence in the temple. The same thing is true of the church. We are living stones in this spiritual house that is the temple of God, and when we gather, the presence of God is at work among us. This is a public witness to the world. 

Over the course of my life there has been a hot debate over what the aims of Christian worship should be. Some say that worship should be organized to attract the unbeliever who is seeking God. So, these “seeker-sensitive” churches will go to great lengths to make every aspect of Christian worship palatable to the world. On the other hand, there are those who say that Christian worship is only for the redeemed, and so it should only be concerned for that which is edifying to believers. My answer to this question is “Yes”. The NT is clear that Christian worship is intended to build up believers. We are to sing to one another to encourage each other in the faith. Pastors and teachers are to edify the flock. So, yes, Christian worship is for the redeemed. But, the NT also assumes that there will be unbelievers who are drawn to and by our worship. In 1 Cor. 14:24-25, Paul imagines an unbeliever entering the gathered church, hearing God’s truth, becoming convicted, and crying out, “God is really among you.” So, yes, Christian worship is intended to draw unbelievers to Christ.

Here is the thing, though. We do not build this temple. Christ does. We do not make God’s temple beautiful by offering our own flare or structural creativity. Christ builds his church. He has given the means by which he builds it, and it is not in gimmicks or productions or technology. He builds his church through three things: Word, Sacrament, and Discipline. 1 Cor. 1 says that it is through the foolishness of preaching that people are saved. God creates new stones through the proclamation of his Word. He also builds his church through visible elements of his grace. Baptism is a visible symbol of the conversion experience - we die to our old self and raise to new life in Christ. In 1 Cor. 11:26, Paul says that, in the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Church discipline is also a means by which God builds his church. As we will see shortly, the church is called to live out the law of God so that the world might see his goodness in us. That means that the church is the place where God’s law is applied to God’s people, and this witnesses to the world.

This brings me to my second point: The church declares the truth of God’s Word, from verses 9-10. Once Peter establishes what the church is, he then moves to what the church does. As a temple of priests, we have a responsibility to proclaim the excellencies of Christ. Notice the national language that Peter uses in verse 9. These Gentiles to whom he is writing, who “once were not a people but now are a people”, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for his own possession. This is fascinating because it is the exact same language God uses for the people of Israel in Exodus 19:5-6. Like Israel, the church is the covenant people of God, bound together through faith in Jesus Christ. This makes us a nation in a real sense, because we are all citizens of the kingdom of God. We may be American citizens (and thank God for that!), but our greater and higher citizenship is in God’s Kingdom. This means that every church is an embassy of the kingdom of God. We are a visible representation of that kingdom on earth.

This means that the church has a real public presence in this world. We should never allow ourselves to be excluded from the public discourse, and regardless of censorship or persecution, we should always fight for our king. Yet, the instruments of our fight are not the weapons of this world. The church has not been given the sword - that is the jurisdiction of the state. The church has been given the keys of the kingdom. We fight with the Word of God. 1 Tim. 3:15 says that the church is “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” 2 Tim. 4:2 calls on the church to preach the word in season and out of season. Matt. 28:20 commands the church to disciple the nations.

Now, there are some who say, sure, we should preach the word to believers, but we have no business preaching out on the street corners or in the halls of congress or at the White House. They would argue that we shouldn’t use the Bible in our political conversations. We shouldn’t quote scripture when supporting a new law. But, there are abundant examples in Scripture of prophets and preachers who did just that. Nathan confronted King David. Daniel preached to Nebuchadnezzar. Jonah preached to an entire foreign city. John the Baptist rebuked King Herod for his affair. Paul was commissioned to carry the Gospel to “Gentiles and kings” (Acts 9:15). The apostles saw themselves as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20). 

With this understood, let’s turn back to the idea of the separation of church and state. For the Christian, there can be no strict separation of church and state, in the sense that Hillary Clinton meant it. We cannot check our religion at the courthouse steps. This means that a Christian baker must run his business by the convictions of his faith. A Christian politician must pursue the public good out of his loyalty to Christ. A Christian teacher cannot keep silent when a student asks about Jesus. And, the church should speak truth to power. Pastors and denominational leaders should voice our opposition, grounded in Scripture, to those laws and social practices that are a reproach to God. We should also advocate for proper care for the poor, oppressed, and forgotten - from womb to tomb. As Charles Spurgeon said, “Christ is king of politics as well as theology.”

Finally, see my last point: The church distills the goodness of God’s law, from verses 11 and 12.  Peter gives us something else that the church does. It practices the truth of God before a watching world. This begins with God’s mercy to us. Back in verse 10, he reminds these Gentile believers that they once were outside of God’s mercy, but now they’ve received it. That is the basis for what he now commands in verse 11. So, he urges them to live moral lives both inwardly and outwardly, because in so doing, they display the goodness of God to the world. That starts with our inward passions. We are to “abstain from the passions of the flesh.” Christians are unique among all the peoples of the world because we believe that morality begins with the heart. So, if we are to be witnesses of the kingdom of God, we must, by the power of God’s Spirit, rule our passions.

But, again, our faith is not just a private affair. We should also practice the obedience of our faith publicly. Peter says, in verse 12, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” See in this that the church is a public witness of morality when we actually put the truth of God’s Word into practice in our own lives. For Peter, it is not enough that we proclaim the truth of God’s Word. We must also live it out before a watching world. What Peter says is almost exactly what Jesus said in Matt. 5:14-16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father.” So, the church doesn’t merely argue that God’s moral order is good. It becomes a community in which the goodness of that order can be seen. The church is a community where marriage is honored, children are treasured, the elderly are cared for, widows are protected, sexual purity is practiced, the poor are assisted, enemies are forgiven, anger is restrained, racial and social unity are realized, and repentance and reconciliation are celebrated. Understand just how radically the Church has changed our world. The early Christian church opposed the Roman practice of infant exposure. In Rome, it was socially acceptable to place an unwanted child out in the cold to die. Christian widows began adopting these children, leading to the establishment of orphanages. The church didn’t just proclaim that abandoning children is wrong. It practiced the truth by adopting those children. William Carey, a Baptist missionary to India in the 1700s, witnessed the brutal practice of “sati”, where the wife of a dead man would be placed on the funeral pier with him and burned alive.  He and other missionaries petitioned the government, which eventually made the practice illegal. It remains illegal to this day. In the 1800s, William Wilberforce, a young Christian politician in England, campaigned to abolish the slave trade. But England went even further.  For the next hundred years, they devoted blood and treasure to stamp out slavery wherever they could.

Brothers and sisters, we are living stones in the holy temple of God, which means we are a witness to the world of the presence of God. We are called to proclaim the truth to a world that does not know it. And, we are called to live out that truth so that the world may see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. We are called to this because God loves the world, and he has given the church as a good gift to all mankind.

Bibliography

Adams, John. "John Adams to Cotton Tufts." Adams Papers Digital Edition. 2026. https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-04-02-02-pb-0020?utm_source=chatgpt.com (accessed October 2, 2026).

Ireneaus. "Against Heresies." In he Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, vol. 1 of Ante-Nicene Fathers, by James Donaldson, and A Cleveland Coxe Alexander Roberts. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.

Spurgeon, C.H. "The First Sermon in the Tabernacle." In The Mtropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 7. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861.

Washington, George. "Farewell Address." In George Washington Papers. Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1796.

1  Washington, “Farewell Address”

2  Adams, “John Adams to Cotton Tufts”, 2026

3  Ireneus, Against Heresies, 3.24.1

4  Spurgeon, “The First Sermon in the Tabernacle”, 174

God Loves Through Culture

This morning, we come back to our section on the common love of God for the whole world. Last week we saw that God loves the whole world by giving us human government. Government is intended to constrain evil and promote human flourishing, and we should support legitimate institutions with honor and taxes. Today, we move to the second way that God loves the whole world. God loves the world by giving us culture. To see that, let’s read Eccl. 3:9-15. From this text, see four points: In culture, God gives us a Business, a Beauty, a Benevolence, and a Boundary.

First, from verses 9 and 10, see that in culture, God gives us a business. I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the scientists that challenged God. One day, the world’s leading scientists made a discovery. They figured out how to create life. In their hubris, they called out to God, “Hey God, we’ve figured it out, and we challenge you to a contest.” Amused by this challenge, God answered, “What do you propose?” The scientists proposed that they have a competition to see who could create life the quickest. God smirked and said, “OK, on your mark… get set… go!” At that word, the scientists frantically set about gathering dirt to begin the process, but God quickly stopped them and said, “No no… get your own dirt.” This joke is cute, but it also gets to a fundamental truth about God’s creation. God has made a world from which things can be made, and he put into the very fabric of human existence this desire to grow, learn, and create. Solomon says, in verses 9 and 10, that God has given man business that he is to be busy with. The Hebrew word used for “business” in verse 10 means an occupation or a job. We see this in the creation story itself. Gen. 1:27-28 says that God gave man and woman dominion over every creature, and their task was to subdue the earth. In Gen. 2:5, we find that God places man in an immaculate garden full of trees and animals made for his enjoyment. Yet, even in this garden, God gives man a task - he is to work and keep the garden. Contrary to popular belief, the ideal human state is not a utopic society free of work. It is not universal basic income where the robots do all the work for us. It is not a heaven where we only sing and float on clouds. No, we were made to work, and we find meaning and fulfillment in it. Yes, God made a world full of plants and animals and rivers and mountains and fields, but it is man’s responsibility to subdue this raw creation into a place fit for the glory of God. Man is made in the image of God, and so like God, he is made to create. We take the stuff of God’s creation, and we fashion it to works of beauty and goodness that glorify God and benefit our fellow man. God made grain, but man makes bread. God made trees, but man makes tables and houses. God made sound, but man makes music. God made iron, but man makes tools. Culture is the image bearer unfolding the possibilities God placed within creation.

Now, certainly it is true that, after the fall of Adam, work became toilsome. Thorns and thistles grew up to complicate work. And, now there is a neediness to our work. Before the fall, the garden provided for every need Adam could have. After the fall, Adam had to bring it up by the sweat of his brow. But, that does not mean that work is now evil or simply punishment. The work is still good, even though it has been marred by the fall.

Second, in culture, God gives us a beauty. In verse 11, Solomon says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time… and put eternity into man’s heart.” If you’ll remember from our lesson on the goodness of God, I explained that the OT concept of beauty means “fitted to an order.” God has made a beautiful world that is fit for a purpose. One of the ways that we know this is by working in this world to make good things that benefit others. It fascinates me how every generation builds and improves on the last. I’ve told the story of the St. Marks Basilica in Venice, Italy, which took over 400 years to construct and crosses four different architectural styles. At one point, the church burned, and that generation built from its ruins something greater than what came before. This is what I think Solomon means when he says that God has made everything beautiful in its time. God raises up men and women with gifts for their time. He raises up great mathematicians and scientists who make new discoveries.  He raises up architects and builders to develop new and effective means of construction. He raises up engineers and artisans to invent tools. He raises up farmers who find new ways to grow food for the masses. He raises up artists and musicians to build on the genres that came before. It is all fit for its time, and it is given by a good God who intends us to make culture that is good and true and beautiful.

But, it’s important to recognize that, whatever we build and discover can never give us ultimate satisfaction. Only God can do that. So, Solomon says, “God has put eternity in man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end.” In other words, God has created us in such a way that we desire to create and bring up meaning out of the bare ground. Culture is good in this sense. It can speak truth to us. The high ceilings and ornate beauty of a cathedral can convey the loftiness and majesty of God, but that architecture cannot speak for God. The scientist can explore the mysteries of the universe and marvel at the complexity of creation, but those formulas will never save him. This hits at the mystery of what theologians call “Divine Hiddenness”. God has given us enough evidence in creation so that we know his nature and goodness, but there is enough hiddenness in creation that we need something else. Specifically, we need God to speak to us.

Third, in culture, God gives us a benevolence. In verses 12-13, Solomon wonders, if God has not revealed himself completely in the work that man has been given to do, what is man to do with his work? He answers that by saying, “they should be joyful and do good as long as they live… and eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil - this is God’s gift to man.” Here again we see that work is intended for our good. Solomon says that it is a gift from God to man. So, what should we do with this gift? We should enjoy it! There are three ways that we should enjoy the culture that we make in our work. One, we should “be joyful.” We should find joy in our work. Now, sometimes you have a job that is just not enjoyable. Perhaps your job is mondain or repetitive, and it is hard to find joy in it. That’s fine. It may be your job, but it is not your work. Your work is that which God has uniquely gifted you to do. Perhaps it is a talent you have (singing, painting, carpentry, leadership, caregiving, and on and on). It could be an interest you have (something that you daydream of, a problem you want to solve, a design you keep coming back to). Work is the task that you enjoy because it engages your mind and body to do what God made you to do. So, even if your job is mondain, you can still keep a vegetable garden or sing in the choir or write music or paint or a hundred other things. Many times, your job is your work, and praise God when that is the case. But, whatever your employment may be, there is work for you to do that brings joy.

Two, we should “do good as long as we live.” Work is the task that involves your mind and body in the pursuit of something good, whether it be the glory of God or the benefit of mankind. Again, that may be a hard line to draw directly from your mondain job and the benefit of others, but you have talents and interests that will do that, and you should nurture those things.

Three, we should “take pleasure” in the things that we make. Yes, Christian, you have permission to enjoy the good things of culture. You have permission to enjoy good things that people have made. You can even take pleasure in things like bread and wine and music and movies. You can be proud of your tomato crop and delight in it when you put that first slice of the summer between two pieces of white bread that have been covered in mayonnaise. You can savor a delicious BBQ sandwich from that Boston Butt you slaved over for four hours. The work we do is given to us by a benevolent God who wants us to enjoy his creation. God gives good thingsthat make human life rich and enjoyable. As we read from Psalm 104:14-15, he “gives wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen his heart.” God didn’t just make bread, but also flavor; not just sound, but also harmony; not just speech, but poetry.

This brings me to my final point: In culture, God gives us a boundary, from verses 14 and 15. Having said all of this about the joy and pleasure of work, there is a boundary to it. In verse 14, Solomon draws a distinction between God’s work and ours. Whatever God does endures forever and we can’t add or take away from it. This goes back to my joke at the beginning. No matter how great our culture might become, we will never be like God. We can only create from what he has created. We can only enjoy what he has given. And, God will judge what we do with the things that he has given us. This is what he means when he says, “God seeks what has been driven away [or what has been pursued].” God has made you with talents and interests, so what are you doing with them? Are you using them to enrich yourself and gain power, or are you bringing glory to God and blessing mankind with them? This is the cultural conundrum. Because of our fallen nature, we use our talents and interests for sinful things. In Genesis 4-11, we find men who build cities to escape God. They learn to use metal to make weapons. They discover bricks and build a tower to make a name for themselves. None of those technologies are evil. Cities can be places of unity and protection and commerce. Metal can make plows and scythes as easily as it can make swords. Bricks can build cathedrals. The technology is not the problem. The heart of the men using the technology is the problem. God will judge what we do with our hands, because he has given us work and culture for our good out of the abundance of his love.

In the time we have left, I want to address a common misconception that Christians have about work. There is a tendency within Christianity to devalue any work that is not directly connected to evangelism. Often times, when I tell someone that they can bring glory to God in their work, they will respond by saying, “Yes, I know I can be a witness at my work.” That’s not what I mean. Your work matters not only because you have the opportunity to be a witness at work, although that is good. Your work matters because any time you do something worthwhile, whether it is in building good products that make life easier for people or providing care for someone or administering an organization or building a house where a family can grow - whatever it is, it is good and glorifying. I want to leave you with four ways that our work glorifies God. One, our honest work is evidence of our repentance. Eph. 4:28 says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Two, our work is a service to Christ. Col. 3:17, 23 says, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus… whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord…” Now, when Paul says, “whatever you do… do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus”, he doesn’t mean that every time you drive a nail you yell out the name of Jesus. He means that you are to work as though Jesus is your master. Paul says this very thing to slaves in Eph. 6. They are to serve their masters, not out of fear, but in service to Christ. So, you are not driving nails for the foreman. You are driving them for Jesus. Three, our work is a public witness. 1 Thes. 4:11-12 says, “Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” We should work and earn an honest wage because it is a poor witness to be dependent on another person. Now, there are certainly times in life and rough patches where we may need help. We may have a chronic condition that makes us dependent on others. But, as a general rule, Christians should not be dependent on the welfare of others. We should not mooch. We should earn our wages honestly, because our work witnesses to our character in the Lord. Finally, we should work to help the weak. In Acts 20:34-35, Paul tells of how he worked as a tentmaker to support his ministry and help others. Even as an apostle, Paul did not claim his privilege to be supported by the church, but rather, he set an example of work for the sake of others.

Brothers and sisters, our work matters because it is given to us by a loving God as a good to this world. We should work diligently and honestly because it glorifies God and benefits our fellow man. And, we should enjoy the works of our hands and the blessings of culture, because in them we experience the good gifts of a loving God. 

God Loves Through Human Government

Last week we started a new section in our study of “The Love of the Triune God”, considering the fact that God has a common love for all of humanity. God loves the whole world, in spite of our sin and rebellion. He puts us in our time and space so that we might search after him. He providentially cares for each of us. And, he calls all of humanity to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. For the next few weeks, I want to dive deeper into the ways that God loves the world by considering the common good that he shows to all mankind. We will see God’s common love through human government, culture, and the church.

This morning, we start with God’s common love for humanity expressed through his establishment of human government. Any time I preach on this, it can be prickly because, as Americans, it is ingrained in our DNA to be skeptical of government. The material cause of the American Revolution was the overbearing hand of the English Crown on the American colonies, both in terms of over-taxation and the unjust confiscation of property. With the ever-expanding role of the federal government, and especially the federal bureaucracy, we have become increasingly disenchanted with our government. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, we prefer the absence of government to what we have now. The free-market capitalist will argue that we need less government involvement, not more. But, interestingly enough, the end goal of the communist is the same. Contrary to popular belief, there has actually never been a communist government because no such thing exists. Karl Marx viewed communism as the end of government. He believed that socialism could bring us to a point where we would no longer need government, and that would be communism. So, whether you are far left or far right, in America, we really do not like government. We seem to think that, under the right conditions, humanity would flourish in an Edenic utopia, if only government would get out of the way. Yet, that attitude is not a biblical one. Government is not the enemy of human flourishing. It is a minister of God intended to promote flourishing. Human government is established by God because God loves the special creation he has made, even in our fallenness. He wants us to flourish in the world that he has made, even as we resist doing that at every turn. He wants us to know truth and goodness, even as we see his law as oppressive. So, out of love, God has ordained human government for our good. To see that, let’s read Rom. 13:1-7. From this text, see three points: Government is established by God’s authority, commissioned for our good, and supported for conscience’s sake.

First, from verses 1-2, see that government is established by God’s authority. Paul begins this chapter by calling all Christians to be subject to governing authorities. It’s helpful to understand why he commands this. In context, he has just encouraged believers to endure persecution and to avoid seeking vengeance. In verse 19, he calls us to leave vengeance in God’s hands. Now, in chapter 13, he explains how God brings justice to the oppressed by directing Christians to submit to government. There are three aspects of human government that I want you to see here: God over government, institution over individual, and obedience over obligation. First, in verse 1 we see that God is over human government. Paul says that we should submit to governing authorities because “there is no authority except for God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” At first blush, this statement can seem strange. There is no authority except for God. That would seem to teach that we should only be obligated to God. But, then he says that there are other authorities instituted by God. So which is it? It’s helpful here to define our terms. The Greek word Paul uses for authority is exousia, which focuses on the power to choose. A choice involves at least two things: freedom and power. If you desire to stand up, but you are tied to the chair, then you have no real choice to stand. You are not free to act. Also, if you desire to stand, but your legs are too weak, you have no choice to stand. You do not have the power to effectuate your choice. Paul’s first point is that God is the only true authority, in the ultimate sense. He is the only being who is totally free and completely powerful. His choices are not constrained by the actions of others, and there is no one who can resist his choice. Yet, it is God’s prerogative to delegate his authority to beings that he has created. He does this with angels and men alike. He has established spheres of authority in this world - certain institutions and positions that hold some of his authority in their realm of influence. This means that people in these positions of authority have been given the freedom and power to act on God’s behalf. One of those spheres of authority is that of the government. Daniel 2:21 says, “[God] changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings.” Because this authority has been granted by God, resisting it is not just an act against the people in authority. It is an act against God.

Second, God establishes institutions over individuals. What I mean is that the concern Paul expresses here is not for any one individual ruler, but for the governments they represent. While it is certainly the case that God is sovereign over every election and ascension, this is not a command to unquestioningly serve a tyrant. It is important to balance our obedience to government between two poles. On the one hand, we do not want to fall into political idolatry where we say, “God has established authority, so whatever this ruler does is right.” On the other hand, we don’t want to fall into political anarchy, either, where we say, “this ruler is wicked, so the civil authority itself is illegitimate.” In our day, both are real and present dangers. We can idolize our politicians, placing them above critique because we want the power associated with their rule over what is right and good. But, we can also think that because one individual ruler (or “all politicians”) are corrupt, that the whole government should be ignored or abandoned. What we should recognize is that, regardless of the individual ruler, God has put this government over us, and we have an obligation to honor and obey because it is established by God.

Finally, God expects obedience over obligation. Government is an authority, but it is not the authority. That supreme position belongs only to God. So, if government directs us to sin, we have a higher commitment that supersedes that obligation. As Peter says in Acts 4, “we must obey God rather than men.” Daniel and his friends are examples of this balance. Chadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were faithful servants to the pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar, until he commanded them to bow to an idol. Then, they were willing to resist, even to the point of death. So it should be with us when facing the evil commands of a government, even as it has been granted a realm of authority by God.

Now that we understand the authority of government, let’s consider the purpose of government in my second point: government is commissioned for our good, from verses 3-4. Verse 4 gives us a direct connection between human government and God’s love for the world. It says, “the ruler is a servant of God for your good.” This is a loaded statement that our English translations don’t really bring out. When Paul says that the ruler is “a servant of God”, he uses the Greek word diakonos, which is where we get the word “deacon”. A government official is authorized by God to serve his people. This says two things about human government. First, it says that God views government officials in much the same way as he views pastors and deacons. Certainly, they are accomplishing different tasks, but the work of a government servant is just as legitimate and beneficial to the kingdom of God as the work of a pastor. I want many of you to hear me on this, because our church is full of folks that work in local government in some way. We have clerks and tax assessors and schoolteachers and administrators and fire fighters and policemen who are all connected to this church. Your work is God-ordained and intended for the good of the world. You may have to deal with people having their worst day. You may have to absorb a person’s distain for Joe Biden or Donald Trump because you are a cog in the machine. But know that what you do is intended by God for the good of mankind.

Second, this statement establishes an expectation for those who serve in government. They are to be “servants”. This means that the aim of anyone in power is for the good of the people under him, not his own personal gain. You are not serving so that you can put in enough hours to earn state retirement. You are serving for the good of humanity. You are not serving because it will connect you with powerful interests that you can then leverage after you leave your political career. You are serving to make society better.

This is the heart of what Paul says here - government is instituted by God for our good. The very first establishment of government goes all the way back to Genesis 9:5-6. After the flood, God recommissions humanity to carry out the cultural mandate: “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” That mandate had been all but abandoned before the flood. Men had killed their own family, destroyed the marriage covenant, and the earth was full of violence. In order to constrain the sinfulness of man and protect his image bearers, God established a new law in Genesis 9. He told Noah, “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” In this statement, God gives authority to men to exact punishment for murder, and in that he establishes human government. From this we see the original intent of government. It is intended to constrain evil. This is why Paul says, in verse 3, “Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.” 1 Peter 2:14 reflects this, saying “governors are sent by [God] to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good.” Government can never make men good, but it can create a space where good can be done. And, it can encourage those things that lead to human flourishing. So, it can protect the institution of the family and church. It can exact punishment for acts that devalue life or destroy the family or disrupt the church. As a side note, in times past, Christians have been suckered into accepting the idea that government “cannot legislate morality.” This claim is false for several reasons. For one, it ignores the basic God-ordained responsibility of government to punish evil. To say that anything evil is to make a moral claim. Yes, the government can and should enforce a common morality that constrains evil and promotes the common good. For another thing, any law is inherently moral. Laws against murder, steeling, fraud, tax evasion - they are all making moral claims and enforcing them.

Because government is established by God to constrain evil and promote human flourishing, we should support it. This brings me to my final point; government should be supported for conscience’s sake. In verses 5-7, Paul gives two reasons for why believers should support their government. First, we should be obedient to our government because of wrath. If we resist the authorities instituted by God for any reason other than our higher obligation to God, then God will be on the government’s side, not ours.

Second, we should be obedient to government for the sake of conscience. Because we know that all authorities come from God and that our local government has been instituted by God, our conscience obligates us to obey those authorities. And, it is not just a question of obeying the speed limit or complying with an officer’s instructions. We should also actively support our government in seven ways. One, we should obey lawful commands. Titus 3:1 says, “remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.” Two, we should pay what is owed. Paul says in verses 6-7 that we should pay our taxes because it supports the public ministry of government. This is a principle established by Jesus in Matt. 22, “Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Three, we should give proper honor to those in authority. 1 Pet. 2:17 says, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” What?! Even the pagan emperor, Nero, who was actively persecuting Christians? Yes, as far as his authority and position go, we should honor him. Even a Democrat president that campaigned on abortion? Yes, even as we resist his policies that would lead to death, we can honor his position and authority. Four, we should pray for our rulers. 1 Tim 2 calls us to pray for rulers because faithful rulers lead to peaceful societies where the church can flourish. Five, we should seek the community’s welfare. In Jeremiah 29, God tells the exiles in Babylon to pursue the good of the city to which they are sent. Sixth, we are to use our lawful rights and appeals. Paul never turned away from an opportunity to use his citizenship to defend his rights. He even appealed to Caesar to avoid the unjust punishment of the Jews. As long as we are justified, we can use the legal system to defend our rights, especially if it leads to a benefit for others. Finally, we should serve in public office when called. The Bible is full of examples of believers who were taken to foreign lands and rose to prominence by God’s sovereign work. They did not turn down these opportunities, but instead they leaned into them because it benefited the world and their people. Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and Ezra all served in the courts of their foreign kings and serve as shining of examples of how we can do the same.

Brothers and sisters, we should support and honor those in authority because they are ministers of God. We should vote for wise men and just laws. We should pay our taxes. We should serve in government when called to. We do all of this because we know that government constrains evil and promotes flourishing, and this is all established by God because he loves his world.

God Loves the Whole World

We’ve covered a lot of ground so far in our study of “The Love of the Triune God”. We first saw the complete love of God. God is love. His love is seen in his goodness, mercy, and grace. His love is complete and perfect, meaning that he is love in himself. From all eternity past, God has been a God of love because the Father has always loved the Son and the Son the Father. We then saw God’s creative love. Because God loves his own glory revealed in his Son, his love overflowed in the creation of the universe. The universe is a reflection of God’s glory and goodness. He loves to reveal himself in and through his creation. In particular, he loves to reveal himself to his special creation, humanity, through his creation. And, he also loves to reveal himself by speaking to his covenant people through His Word.

This morning, we move to a new section of our study called the common love of God. Throughout the study, we have wrestled with some challenges that the love of God presents. Chief among them is the objection that unbelievers make to the Bible’s condemnation of sin and warning of Hell. You will often here the objection, “If God is loving, then how could he send anyone to Hell?” I’ve already done some work to answer this in earlier sermons by showing a couple of things. First, God is lovingly merciful to all humanity in his providence and Gospel call. Second, while God’s love is infinite, it is not generic. In other words, while God’s love is infinite in its capacity and reach, it is also ordered. God loves his own glory above all else. In fact, his love for his creation is ordered towards that end - the glory of his name. He loves his Son above all else because His Son is the express image of his nature. As Christians, we often handicap ourselves in a right understanding of God’s love and justice because we tend to say something like, “God loves everyone the same.” This comes from a good place. What I think we mean to say by that is that there is no partiality with God, and that is true. But God doesn’t even say that he loves everyone the same. He also never commands us to love everyone the same. Psalm 5:4-6 says that God “hates all evildoers” and destroys those who speak lies. Psalm 11:5-7 says that God’s soul hates the wicked and violent. Prov. 3:32 says that the devious person is an abomination to God. Malachi 1:2-3 says, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” John 3:36 says that all who reject Christ remain under God’s wrath.

We can see from this that there is an order to God’s love. Yes, he loves all of humanity, but that love is not a permission structure for sin. We understand this in our own lives. For one, if you are a Christian, then you understand that your greatest allegiance is to Christ. I was even taught this by my football coach. He told us to love “God, family, country, and football, in that order.” In Matt. 10:37, Jesus says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Wow! So, we should love our mamma’s less than Jesus? Yes, because there is an order even to our love. In our own lives, that order is determined by our relationship to the other person. We love Jesus most, then our spouse and children, then extended family, then church family, and then our neighbor. We do not love all people the same, and it is not sinful or a limitation to make that distinction. It is a reflection of the way God loves.

So, back to our question about a loving God sending someone to Hell. In order to answer that question, we need to know the relationship of that person to God. Are they united to Christ through faith? Are they part of the family? If so, then God certainly does love them and would never send them to Hell. Are they rebellious sinners set against the things of God who refuse to worship and serve his Son? Then God’s wrath is on them, and they will be judged forever. Having said that, God is still loving to all of humanity in ways that we often ignore. It is funny that we would wonder how God could be loving and condemn someone to Hell, when God providentially cared for that person every second of every day and gave him good things like family and friends and revealed himself in creation and called him to repentance through the Gospel time and again. God has a common love for all of humanity that we find in the everyday workings of this world, and we take it for granted. This morning, I want to consider that common love from Acts 17:22-31. From this text, I want you to see the common love of God for the whole world in three points: our common source, our appointed setting, and our universal summons.

First, from verses 22-25, see our common source. Paul has been stuck in the great city of Athens. While there, he took a tour of the city and found idols on every street corner. The Athenians had centuries of false worship to pagan gods. They had a god or goddess for everything. They were also highly educated with centuries of philosophy. In Paul’s day, Greek philosophy had divided into two camps. The Epicureans were the atheists of their day. They believed that everything in life was pure chance and that men should pursue pleasure as the ultimate good. The Stoics, on the other hand, believed in the ordering principle of fate. They believed that all things were fated by a divine force, and man’s responsibility was to accept their fate and find inner peace in it. The Greeks loved to debate these differences, and so they regularly assembled on Mars Hill for that purpose. It is in this very place that Paul stands and preaches the sermon we just read. He begins by declaring that he is a representative of the one God that the Athenians didn’t know. In all their religiosity, they’d even tried to cover themselves by having an idol to the unknown god, and Paul says that this one God they didn’t know is the one who made everything. In this statement, he sets forth five principles of this one true God. First, this God who was unknown to the Greeks is the one who made the world. The Greeks believed that the universe was eternal and that the gods were part of the created order. Paul introduces them to the one God that stands outside of the material world and creates it by his Word. Second, the God the Greeks didn’t know is the sovereign God over heaven and earth. Yahweh is not Zues. He is not just the Jewish version of another god. He is the sovereign over all things. Third, this unknown God cannot be contained by a statue or a temple. He is not material. Fourth, he does not need humanity. Again, the Greeks, like the ancient Sumerians, believed that the gods needed men to serve them. The one true God, on the other hand, is the source of everything. Finally, the God the Greeks didn’t know is the God who sustains everyone. Here is where we find the common love of God, even for those who rebel against him. Even while the Greeks were making idols to other gods, Yahweh was sustaining them. God caused their herds that they used for sacrifices to idols to flourish. Even though they sought help from Demeter for fertile crops, it is God who gave them bread. As Luke 6:35 says, “[God] is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

Second, see our appointed setting from verses 26-29. God’s common love is also seen in the way that he appoints our lives. As we’ve said before, He did not just create the world and forget it. He sovereignly orders each human life. That order is found in five ways here. First, we have a common origin. Paul says that God made all of humanity from one man. We all have a common ancestry in Adam. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it means that we inherit Adam’s sinful nature. But, on the other hand, it goes to the second way God orders our lives: we inherit Adam’s dignity. Here, Paul quotes a Greek poet, who wrote, “Surely we are all his offspring.” Now, in quoting this, there are a few things to recognize. One, Paul is not endorsing pagan philosophies in quoting a pagan poet. Rather, he is recognizing that all truth is God’s truth, and that God has given to all men a sense of his truth. Two, Paul is not saying that we all are literally offspring of God, as the Mormons believe, or that we have the divine spark, as the Gnostics believe. Three, He is not saying that we are all part of the family of God by default. This does not mean that we are all destined for Heaven because we are all children of God. Rather, what Paul means to bring to mind is the idea that we are all created in the image of God. All of us have unique dignity and worth because we bear God’s image.

Not only did God order our lives in origin and dignity, but he also gave us distinct boundaries both in time and space. In verse 26, Paul says that God has sovereignly placed every human in a specific time and dwelling place. I was born in the year 1980 to Tim and Pat Skipper of Greenville, AL because God purposed it. Sure, there were millions upon millions of variables (biological, social, political) that all led to my birth, but they were all superintended by a sovereign God. That sovereign ordering was done for a reason, which is the fourth way he orders our lives. God puts us in our time and place so that we might seek him. We all have different parents - some good, some bad. We all had different life circumstances - some rich, some poor. Regardless of what those circumstances are, God put you where you are so that you might seek after him. All of the circumstances of your life were meant to drive you to God.

Lastly, God has ordered our lives in such a way that we are always near him. Paul adds this note at the end of verse 27, “Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.” This ties in with my sermon on general revelation. All of creation reveals the nature and truth of God. God is not far from anyone because he has revealed himself in his creation. Beyond that, God is but a thought away from every human on this planet. The monk in the monastery and the boy in the slums of India are the same distance from God. They need only pray in their minds, and he hears them.

Finally, see my last point: our universal summons, from verses 30 and 31. Paul ends his sermon with a radical closing argument. He begins by saying that, in previous times, God overlooked the ignorance of the pagans. Yes, they made idols from wood that God had created. They offered sacrifices with sheep that God had provided. And through all of that God was patient. Now, this is not saying that God let all the people of prior generations into Heaven, regardless of what they believed. No, what he is saying is that God did not bring a final judgment on the world at the first act of idolatry. He allowed men to walk in blindness, patiently working behind the scenes to build to a moment where the whole world could be redeemed. And, that moment is now. So, Paul says now the Lord commands everyone everywhere to repent. This call isn’t just for the Jews to whom the Messiah came. It is for everyone. The time is short. In verse 31 he says that God has fixed a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness. He’s proven he will do that because he has raised the Messiah from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the final proof of the one true God. None of the idols scattered through Athens had ever brought anyone back from the dead. But, the unknown God had. And, that man he brought back from the dead is the one who will judge all nations. So, now is the time for repentance.

This call of repentance is an act of love from the God the Athenians had ignored for centuries. That same God extends this loving call to you today. If you will turn in faith and believe in the man that God raised from the dead, Jesus Christ, you will be saved from that final judgment.

Brothers and sisters, God loves the whole world, and he proves that by calling this world to repent and believe. We are his appointed instruments for that call. So, may we take the love of God to this world and call them to repentance.

God Loves to Reveal Himself, Part 2

This morning, we return to our study of “The Love of the Triune God”, looking specifically at God’s creative love and how he loves to reveal himself. Last week, we saw that God loves to reveal himself in his creation. The creation speaks of God in its design, purpose, and truth. I explained that this is what we call “General Revelation”. God speaks to everyone through creation, so that they are without excuse. However, as I pointed out, the revelation we see of God in creation is enough to condemn us, but it is not enough to save us. As Paul said in Romans 1, “Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God… and their foolish hearts were darkened… claiming to be wise, they became fools and worshiped the creation rather than the creator.” Because of our sinful nature, inherited through Adam, we desire our own designs over God’s design, our own purposes over God’s purpose, and our own truth over God’s truth. So, sinful humanity exchanged the truth for a lie, the creator for creation, and the natural for the unnatural.

It would seem God’s revelation in nature really does us no good, then. In fact, it seems that it only serves to harm us, as it condemns us because we are made culpable in our false worship. God’s love for his self-revelation does not end with creation. There is another way that God reveals himself, and we call that “Special Revelation”. God reveals himself by speaking directly to his people. Before we go any further, I want to return to a common point I’ve made throughout this study. God does not have to love us. His love is freely given. And, he does not have to reveal himself to us, either. He reveals himself out of his love and grace. This is important to recognize when studying “Special Revelation”. After all, it is called “special” for a reason. Yes, God reveals himself in his creation to all of humanity, so we are without excuse. But, God does not speak directly to all of humanity. He chooses to whom he will speak. He chooses how and when he will speak. So, God’s revelation of himself through His Word is his own prerogative.

This morning, I want to consider two passages in two points to understand God’s special revelation. First, we will see The Miracle of God’s Revelation in Heb. 1:1-4, and then The Means of God’s Revelation in 2 Tim. 3:14-17. To begin, let’s read Heb. 1:1-4 to see the miracle of God’s revelation.

The writer of Hebrews, at the very outset of his letter, sets forth a progression of God’s special revelation of himself to his people. There are three characteristics of God’s revelation that I want you to see here. First, God’s speaks through his covenant. Notice that the writer says that God has spoken in various ways and at various times “to our fathers.” This letter is to Jewish believers, and so he means to draw their minds to the ancient covenant that God made with Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12. There, God called Abraham out of the land of Ur and promised that he would bless him and make his name great and through him all nations would be blessed. As Joshua 24 emphasizes, there was nothing special about Abraham. He was a pagan living a foreign land. God called him out, and this began a covenant between Yahweh and the descendants of Abraham. Now, it is certainly the case that God can speak to whomever he wants, whenever he wants. He spoke to the Egyptian slave Hagar, the false prophet Balaam, and the people of Nineveh through Jonah. God can do what he wants. But, God typically speaks to and through his covenant people.

We see this in the other characteristics of God’s revelation in Heb. 1. The writer says that God spoke to the fathers through the prophets. From Abraham to Malachi, God chose individuals through whom he would speak to his people. This revelation through the prophets begins with his law, and in the law of God we find an expression of God’s loving revelation. Now, we don’t often think of the law as loving, because we are sinners. We see it as restrictive and arbitrary. But, the law reveals the character of God and the way of life, and it is given in love to his people. Deut. 33:3-4 says, “Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you; when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.” Later in the history of Israel, as they strayed from faithful worship to Yahweh, God would call them back by sending his prophets. The prophets had two responsibilities. On the one hand, they acted as prosecuting attorneys, laying out the case against Israel in their violation of the covenant. But, on the other hand, they served as advocates, calling the people back to obedience and offering redemption. As 2 Chron. 36:15 says, “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.”

But, the people would not turn because their hearts were hardened. They needed a new heart, and that new heart could only come through God’s complete revelation of himself. So, the writer gives us a third characteristic of God’s revelation. God has ultimately and finally revealed himself through his Son, Jesus Christ. He writes that Jesus is the “exact imprint of his nature”, the perfect sacrifice for sin, and now the Messiah over all creation. There are three ways that Jesus fully revealed God. First, he revealed God in his presence. John 1:18 says, “No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” Jesus is “God with us”, so he communicates the nature of God by his very presence with us. But, his presence also reveals our true nature, as well. Jesus is the second Adam. He was born of a woman, born under the law, to give back to God the obedience he demanded of us.

Second, He reveals God in his preaching. Jesus spoke with the authority of God. In fact, at his baptism, God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” And, at the transfiguration, he said something similar, “This is my beloved son, listen to him.” Jesus did not speak of his own authority, but he spoke every word given to him by the Father. So, in his “Sermon on the Mount”, he could correct the traditions of the elders by saying, “You have heard it said, but I say…”

Third, Jesus reveals God in his payment for sin. In his death and resurrection, he fulfilled the demands of the law and began a new creation. This is why, from the cross, he cried out, “It is finished.” The great drama of the OT was complete. God had proven himself faithful to his covenant, and able to redeem the world through his Son. So, Paul says in 2 Cor. 1:20, “All the promises of God find their ‘yes’ in [Jesus].”

Jesus is the full and complete revelation of God, but there is still a problem for us: how are we to know that? I mean, Jesus lived at a specific time and place, and we weren’t there. So, how are we to know this special revelation of God? Beyond that, how are we to know how to live as believers in this world and the will of God for his people, the church? We find that answer in my second point, the means of God’s revelation, in 2 Tim. 3:14-17. Paul is writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, who is the pastor at the church of Ephesus. His intent is to encourage this young pastor to stand firm in his role against false teachers that have cropped up in the church. To stand firm, Paul gives him a guiding principle, which we find in this passage. Timothy is to stand on what he has been taught and known from an early age. That teaching is anchored in the Scripture. Paul establishes here that Scripture is the means by which God reveals himself to his covenant people, the church. There are three characteristics of Scripture that we find here. First, in verse 16, Paul says, “All scripture is breathed out by God.” The Scriptures are not helpful thoughts from wise men. They are not a collection of ancient human knowledge. The Scriptures are God’s words. As 2 Pet. 1:21 says, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This means that Scripture is the ultimate authority for the individual Christian and for the church. Notice that Paul does not direct Timothy, when fighting false teaching, to appeal to his calling as a pastor, or to the majority vote of the church, or to the traditions. He directs him to appeal to Scripture because it is breathed out by God. As the London Baptist Confession of 1689 puts it, “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.” This is not to say that there is no other authority besides Scripture. The Bible itself lays out other authorities (pastors, governors, parents). But, those other authorities are to be governed and corrected by Scripture. The Word of God is the final say in all matters of faith and practice. As Martin Luther so boldly said in his trial at the Diet of Worms, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason … my conscience is captive to the Word of God.”

Second, scripture is the means by which we have knowledge of salvation. In verse 15, Paul reminds Timothy that it is through the Scriptures that he was made wise of salvation. Rom. 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing the words of Christ.” It is the word of God, given to us through Scripture, that opens our hearts to the Gospel. It is the word that gives faith. It is the word of the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation. We are not saved by fog machines and light shows. We are not saved by contemporary music or hymns. We are not saved by smooth talking celebrity preachers. We are saved by hearing the Word of God.

Finally, Scripture is the means by which we mature as Christians. In verse 17, Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is profitable for every aspect of the Christian life - for rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. All of this is beneficial because it makes the man of God complete and ready for every good work. There is no aspect of the Christian life or the life of the church that should not be governed by Scripture. No podcaster or TikToker should hold more sway that the Word of God. No meme on Facebook should have more say than the Bible. No politician should cause us to compromise on the Word of God. Yet, so often, we indiscriminately and undiscerningly substitute the wisdom of man for the Word of God. Because we do not know the Word ourselves, we are deceived by the hot takes from influencers. Because we lack discernment, we quickly share posts on Facebook without thinking through what they teach. Because we love power more than truth, we give politicians a pass when they abuse Scripture. Scripture rebukes our lack of discernment. It corrects our ignorance. And, it is able to make us wise and mature, if we will but take it up and read.

In closing, I want to bring this passage home for us as Baptists. We love to beat up on the Roman Catholics for their belief that the traditions of the church hold as much authority as Scripture, but it is sad to say that we make similar errors in practice. I want to propose that there are four authorities that the modern evangelical church regularly gives as much or more authority than Scripture. First, we can value superstars over Scripture. In the evangelical church in America, we have a terrible habit of making our preachers into celebrities and following them at all costs. A sobering example of this comes from the case of Solid Rock church in Myrtle Beach, SC. You may have heard the story of their pastor, JP Miller, and his wife, Mica, who tragically took her own life in 2024. There is a documentary about this on Netflix, called Death of a Pastor’s Wife. Even though the subject matter is mature, I’d encourage you to watch it, because it should serve as a warning to any church of the “Cult of Celebrity” that can grow up in a church. In short, JP Miller was a pastor’s son who became a youth pastor in his father’s church and then started his own church at Solid Rock. JP was a talented musician and speaker. When he founded Solid Rock, he was married to Ali and had three children, but he began to have an affair with his worship leader, Mica. This led to a divorce and remarriage to Mica. JP had a perverted appetite and drove his wife to fulfill his deviant desires, all while he preached and she led worship. He had multiple affairs and appeared to drive his wife insane, leading to her suicide. Now, this story is still very live. There are ongoing court cases and investigations, so there is no way to know the whole truth. But, in watching the documentary, I was continually frustrated, not just by JP, but by the church. The elders of the church knew of his affairs. Another pastor and the deacons knew. Many on the worship team knew. And yet, he continued to serve without question. No one challenged his authority. No one questioned his errant teachings that were meant to justify his own sins. Everyone went along because he had such charisma and spoke with such authority. Brothers and sisters, please understand, no one in this church (or any church) has more authority than the Word of God. No pastor should ever be given that privilege. No church member, regardless of how long they’ve been a member, should be given deference only reserved for the Bible. If anyone in this church abuses Scripture and claims an authority equal to or greater than it, then you have a moral and biblical obligation, even if you are the only one, to resist it. Make a stink. Stand up in the middle of service and object if you have to. But, do not let the celebrity of one man take authority over the Word of God.

Second, we can value seekers over Scripture. Many churches today have adopted the “seeker sensitive” model of Church, which basically says that the practices of the church should be governed by the desires and interests of “seekers” (unbelievers who are curious about the church). So, these churches have organized their worship around the felt needs of unbelievers, changing worship into a concert and preaching into a self-help lecture. This, too, places something else in authority over Scripture.

Third, we can value statistics over Scripture. This is something Baptists are particularly guilty of. We put numbers to everything, and so, when our attendance is down, we ask, “What can we do?” This question can often lead to making changes, not because they are commanded in Scripture, but because we think it might be more effective.

Finally, we can value sensation over Scripture. Many believers determine where to attend a church not based on whether the church is faithful to Scripture, but whether it has the right feel, whether their kind of music is played, or whether the church “has the Spirit”. Churches can be guilty of selecting a pastor, not because he faithfully preaches from the text, but because he really pulls at the heart strings. Both of these instincts are placing something else over Scripture.

The Word of God is our supreme authority for faith and practice. It is able to make us wise unto salvation. It is able to make us mature in Christ. It is an act of love from a gracious God who delights to reveal himself. May we have no other authority over it or beside it.

Bibliography

Death of a Pastor's Wife. Directed by Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro. 2026.

London Baptist Association. The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. n.d. https://www.the1689confession.com/1689/chapter-10?utm_source=chatgpt.com (accessed August 8, 2026).

Luther, Martin. "Career of the Reformer II." In Luther's Works, by George W. Forell. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1958.

1  Second London Baptist Confession, 1.6.

2  Martin Luther, “Luther at the Diet of Worms,” 112-13

3  Death of a Pastor’s Wife