National health care reform. President Obama this afternoon will deliver remarks on health care reform before meeting with members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
1-2 What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I've always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
where I could sing for joy to God-alive! (The Message)
Most people would more easily recognize the traditions versions that begin with "How lovely is your dwelling place..." This is the Psalm that Matt Redman's "Better Is One Day" is based from.
"The end he had in view in desiring so earnestly to enjoy free access to the sanctuary was, that he might there worship God with sincerity of heart, and in a spiritual manner. Those are sadly deficient in understanding who carelessly neglect God's instituted worship, as if they were able to mount up to heaven by their own unaided efforts."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"The Highest Calling"
Romans 1:1
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (ESV)
"If the church must recover anything in our day, it is confidence in the power of the Word of God. Our Lord did not choose to save His people through innovative programs; rather, He gave His Word to the church and appointed pastors and teachers to proclaim it to the people (Eph. 4:11-14)."
Boy, there are some blockheads that I really wish I could get to understand that truth!
"We can be confident in the power of the preached Word of God because it is in this Word that our Creator has placed His might." The Gospel is God's invention, as we read in Romans 1:1. God has invested in it the power and authority to call people to repentance and faith. "A preacher does not have to trust in his own abilities, all he must do is exposit the Scriptures faithfully, knowing that all of His hearers who have been appointed for eternal life will receive from God the gift of faith and believe in His promises through Christ (Eph. 2:8-9)." This, of course, takes a tremendous amount of pressure off the preacher, doesn't it? Salvation is not up to man. It is up to God, and God alone!
Let us not think, though, that the preacher can just walk up to the pulpit and wait for the lighting strike of inspiriation for his sermon. God does expect him to study and prepare himself. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, ESV)
"Propitiation? What's That?"
1 John 2:2
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (ESV)
That's a big word, propitiation. And the only place I have ever seen it is either in the Scriptures or in commentaries on the Scriptures. What does it mean?
Well, in the act of propitiation, Jesus exhausted the wrath of God. "He bore the full, unmitigated brunt of it."
Isaiah prophesied this in Isaiah 53:4-5. Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed. The bold words describe the outpouring of God's wrath on Jesus. God emptied the cup of his wrath on Jesus. "For all who trust in Him, there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty." That, my friends, is the essence of the Good News!
When Jesus cried, "It is finished," it was not a cry of relief, but one of triumph. He had accomplished everything he came to do.
"All who trust in Jesus need never fear the possibility of experiencing the wrath of God. It was exhausted on His Son as He stood in our place, bearing the guilt of our sin."
That is propitiation.
I pray for preachers to be trusting solely on Your Word for the preaching. Let us have faith in the Gospel of Christ to be able to save people. Let us not, dear Lord, keep depending on clever programs to lure people into our churches. And most of all, Father, I pray that we not be guilty of luring people in under false pretenses. ("Hey...wanna join a book reading club? Surprise!! The book is the Bible!") I can think of nothing more reprehensible than trying to "trick" people into following you. Your Word is the power. The Gospel is the Power. I pray, Father, that you forgive us, your children, for mucking up the works with our own inventions, trying to make you more attractive or more "fun." There is nothing more attractive than you, Lord! You are infinitely beautiful!
I praise you with all my being for the "propitiation" that Jesus accomplished when he withstood the fullness of your wrath on the cross. Even with everything I have read about the atrocities of crucifixion, I cannot begin to imagine the horrors that Jesus faced on that cross, especially during those three hours when you poured out the wrath that I deserved on my Savior. I praise you for the fact that that cup of wrath is empty. There is nothing left in it for me or my brothers and sisters because Jesus drank it all. I cannot praise you enough for that.