"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling,and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."1 Peter 2:4-9
I am a reformed member of the dog haters club of America South Orange County Chapter. It all started when my son Kai wanted a dog for Christmas. Then my neighbors invited me over to introduce me to their little Bijon puppy because they wanted my family to have her. Of course my initial reaction was an obstinate “No way!” All I could think of was whining, barking, destroying my home, dog doo, hyperactivity, slobber, having to walk it, having to spend money in order to feed it, veterinary bills, etc. But soon with a little of my wife’s unique persuasive skills, coupled with my son Kai’s begging and pleading, I reluctantly agreed to go over and see the dog. Of course, I already decided that there was no way in the world that we would own a dog. That is until I saw her, this little white puppy named Maggie with big brown eyes, long floppy ears, eager to love and please, looking like a living white shag carpet, and having this seeming perpetual wagging tail and big grin on her face. What can I say; I melted at the sight of that little bowser. So, I gave in, the dog moved in, and in the days that followed spending time with little Maggie: watching her, walking her, playing with her, snuggling with her caused her to become very precious to me. I guess you could say I fell in love with that little dog.
To call something precious according to Webster’s Dictionary is to say that it is of great value or highly esteemed and cherished. Who is the most precious above all? To God the Father, to the Apostle Peter, and to a band of Christ lovers (including myself!) for over 2000 years, Jesus is precious! There is nothing in this world more precious to me than Jesus Christ! My life is a continuing and insatiable quest for Jesus to become more precious to me day by day. It is my purpose, my passion, my longing, my battle cry, my compass, and the central theme of my ministry to spread a passion for the preciousness of Christ to all the nations.
Is Jesus precious to you?
The Apostle Peter shares three things about the preciousness of Jesus. The first is His intrinsic worth: “Jesus is precious” (1 Peter 2:4, 6). The second is His worth to those who believe: "To you who believe Jesus Christ is precious" (1 Peter 2:7). The third is the gladness of those to proclaim His worth:"that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him..." (1 Peter 2:9). Because Jesus is precious we are to tell the world about his preciousness. Your power to give a passionate witness about Jesus to unbelievers will grow in direct proportion to how precious Jesus is to you .
JESUS IS PRECIOUS
In verses 4,6 Jesus is likened to a precious stone. The word Peter uses (Greek: entimon), means worthy of honor, esteemed, and of the highest value. Jesus preciousness is spoken of in terms of the Father’s heart towards Him (verse 4) as well as His intrinsic value in Himself (verse 6). How is Jesus precious? Peter does not tell us how precious Jesus is. No wonder. How we even begin to comprehend the infinite worth and value of Jesus. Words cannot begin to communicate Jesus' preciousness. Never the less, we can try. How is Jesus precious? Let me give you a few thoughts to consider.
1. Jesus is precious because He is of Infinite and Ultimate Value Paul calls Him the indescribable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)His worth is far greater than all earthly treasures put together. He is precious because of who He is. "For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9)
2. Jesus is precious because He is One of a Kind
There are many “gods” in the world, but there is only one Jesus. Yes, there are many “Jesus’” being preached in the world, but there is only one true Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who “came to save His people from their sins.” In all of Heaven there was only one Jesus Christ, who was able to be the Lamb of God and take away the sins of the world. There was not another in all Heaven, who was qualified to be our savior. Jesus is unique- He is the only Savior; the only door and the only way into Heaven; the only hope of salvation. His Name is the only Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved! (Acts 4:12). Spurgeon says, Jesus is so precious that He cannot be matched! There is none like Him! The fairest of the fair are unlovely and deformed when compared with Him! You shall find none that can be compared to Him, even if you ransack time and space... If you search eternity, and ransack immensity, there shall never be found one fit to be second to Him, He is so precious.
3. Jesus is precious because He is so Glorious
He far excels all of His creation for holiness, and power, and wisdom, and beauty. He is perfect in every way. There is not the least flaw in His Person, or in all of His marvelous works. In fact, Jesus is the standard of excellence and splendor in all of Heaven and earth. The brightness of His glory is above the brightness of the sun when shining is his strength (Acts 26:13). His glory lights every man that comes into the world (John 1:9). His glory was seem by the apostles (John 1:14) and shines into the hearts of His people (2 Corinthians 4:4), and enlightens them to the way of repentance, and faith in His work of redemption. And His glory will lighten New Jerusalem in the eternal age (Revelation 21:23), so that there shall be no need for the light of the sun! Jesus is most glorious.
4. Jesus is precious because of His Impact and Influence
There has never been a man that has influenced more people, and more nations, throughout the past 2,000 years than the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is the most influential man ever born into this world. He has touched the lives of millions, and brought millions of men and women, and boys and girls, out of their bondage of sin and death, and has given them forgiveness of their sins, and new lives of true love, true holiness, true peace, and true happiness and joy. And more importantly, He gave them eternal life with Him in glory! Yes, He is influential in the salvation of all of His people.
TO YOU WHO BELIEVE JESUS IS PRECIOUS
Notice what happens when we connect verses 4, 6, and 7. In verses 4 and 6 Christ is chosen and precious in the sight of God. Now in verse 7, he is therefore precious to us who believe. Jesus is not precious because we make Him precious. Hed is precious and the Spirit of God graces us to see how precious He really is. Thus, believers are chips off the Old Block as it were. We choose what our Father chooses. We feel to be precious what our Father feels to be precious. The personal attractions of Jesus are all inviting and irresistible! His love wins us. His glory charms us. His beauty attracts us. His sympathy soothes us. His gentleness subdues us. His faithfulness inspires us. He is the "altogether lovely One!" says Octavius Winslow. He becomes to us, as Jonathan Edwards puts it, "an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies."
Jesus prayed for us in John 17:26 that “the love the Father has for Jesus may be in us.” As Jesus is precious in Himself, as Jesus is precious to the Father, Jesus is meant to be precious to us. When you see Him in all of His excellencies how could He not be anything else but precious to you? Do you see Him? Do you really see Him?
Peter speaks of this experience of seeing Jesus in a way that goes beyond physical seeing to spiritual seeing and its wonderful effect upon all who see Him. “Though you have not seen Him (Physically), you love Him (He is precious to you), and though you do not see Him now (Physically), but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8). Seeing the preciousness of Jesus causes us for inexpressable joy to beleive Him, trust Him, and love Him. How precious is Jesus to you? Where does he come in your scale of desires?
Jesus once told a parable that describes how precious it really is to inherit the Kingdom of heaven. And since he himself is the King of that Kingdom and the One who makes it valuable, the parable applies to Him also. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:44-46).
Notice well: the man does not sell all that he has begrudgingly; he does it joyfully. The reason is because he sees how precious the treasure is. He knows that, whatever he pays for that field or that pearl it's a steal. Jesus is worth so much more than anything else in all the world, which every loss endured to have more of him, can be endured with joy. Is Jesus your treasure?
Dear Christian what would life be like without Jesus? How essential is Jesus to our satisfaction and happiness? What would this world be like to live in without Jesus? What if Jesus hid Himself from us? What would we do in this world without Jesus? How would you face your days? How would you handle life’s difficulties? What if there was no door of fellowship, friendship, and companionship between you and Jesus? I pray it can be said of you dear reader:
TO YOU, JESUS IS PRECIOUS!
To be continued...
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Psalm 103:1-5 ESV
Every moment in our life is both an ending and a beginning. It is the end of your past and the beginning of your future. If you see your life in a God-centered way like the writers of scripture, you will be able to seize that moment and look through the lens of God and stand inside that world in great humility before Him.
Each moment is a moment where, through the lens of God, all of His works in the past are reasons for us to look back and be grateful. At the same time this moment points us to the future with an opportunity to look ahead with faith in God’s future grace. I really believe that if we learn to “be here now”, to “seize the moment”, and “to be still and know that He is God” that looking back and looking ahead are two great God given means of spiritual growth in our lives.
The Psalmist exhorts himself to look back and to remember what God has done for him in verse 1, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” How often do we forget all of God’s benefits, workings, blessings, providence's, deliverance's, provisions, protections, forgiveness, mercies, kindnesses, and miracles that the Lord has done in our lives? How often because we have forgotten all of His past mercies do we face the present with fear, doubt, anxiety, and unbelief?
When I look back at my own life I see that I have often failed to remember the big things that God has done and made them seem small in my forgetfulness while making the little thing that I faced in my present seem large in my unbelief.
I find it very helpful to see that the Psalmist is preaching to himself to remember all the preciousness of past grace that God has given Him. God in the past had “forgiven all of his iniquity, healed all his diseases, redeemed his life from the pit, crowned him with steadfast love and mercy, and satisfied him with good so that his youth was renewed like the eagle's.”
Preaching to ourselves is very important.
In his book Spiritual Depression Martin Lloyd Jones says,
I say that we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing 'ourselves' to talk to us! Do you realize what that means? I suggest that the main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you.
This is what the Psalmist does to counter this. Instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. So he stands up and says: 'Self, listen for a moment, I have something to say to you: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
Jones says,
The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself.
So we must learn to speak to ourselves and exhort ourselves: ‘Self, remember what God has done for you. The same God who has done for you in the past will work for you in the future, so bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!”
That is exactly what we must do. Jones asks, "Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?"
Let me ask you: Have you realized? Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to this reality, this fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? See, what we have each day is an internal conversation that never ends. It is ceaseless. It continues always within us. And so each day, throughout the day, we have two simple choices: We can either spend the day listening to ourselves, listening to ourselves in our constantly changing feelings and circumstantial interpretations, or we can spend each day talking to ourselves. We can talk truth to ourselves. We can seize each ending to be a moment for gratitude and each beginning to be a moment for faith.
Other characters in the bible did this. Joseph looking back on the past providence of God spoke to his brothers: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). The Proverb writer looked forward on the future providence of God: "The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). David could look ahead and say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6).
Gratitude causes us to see God’s past grace aimed at helping us. When we remember what God has done we can transfer that past working into present faith for God’s future promises aimed at helping us as well. Since every moment is the beginning of the rest of your life, and every moment is the end of the past, every moment should be governed by gratitude and faith. If you see the world in this biblical way - and if you stand inside that biblical world and preach this past grace and future grace to yourself - then every moment will be a point of gratitude toward the past and faith toward the future.
The practical implications of this are great. It will make you humble and bold! Humble, in feeling the preciousness of past grace and an honest memory of mercy; humbly remembering that “every good gift comes from above”; living in deep, dependent, gratitude and worship; knowing that it is the Lord who provided, sustained, protected, healed, delivered, and intervened in the past.
It will also awaken boldness by transferring the benefits of your God governed past into your future! At this moment are you confidently looking ahead to this God continuing to work, bless, provide, deliver, protect, forgive, show mercy, and work miracles in the future? Do you trust His rock solid promises for your future? Oh that we would agree with George Mueller that “The living God has been, is, and will always be the living God!”
At this moment your past and your future are meeting together. May you look back this day with the look of gratitude and may you look continually forward with the look of faith! Remember: Endings are for gratitude and Beginnings are for faith!
Pastor Bill
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” Psalm 19:1-6 ESV
On Sunday night I was sitting on a blanket on my Crazy Creek chair watching the sunset in Joshua Tree National Park. My wife and I were eating dinner and looking out the horizon as the sun slowly set and the full moon steadily rose. It was truly a sacred moment for me. You could see the alpine glow on the peaks of the distant mountains as the sunlight gradually faded away. If you looked at the sky you would see an amazing pallet of ever changing colors. The upper half of it in clear blue color and the lower half a light violet. My chair was placed in such a way that in front of me was a Joshua Tree, to the right was a hill covered with big smooth round rocks (unique to this national park) and in the middle between them was a huge rising Harvest moon. At that moment I felt so alive and at peace. Here I was in the presence of such beauty of God's creation, savoring each moment with the woman that I love, and feeling a profound sense of my Creator’s presence and His amazing grace. Here and now nothing else mattered to me in the whole world, it was well with my soul.
As I was basking in the glory of my Maker’s creation my heart began welling up with a deep sense of gratitude to God both for the moment and for the fact that the moon, the sky, the mountains, the rocks, the Joshua trees, and the desert were just there. I was blessed and privileged to drink in of their beauty and glory. I thought of how many moments like this have taken place throughout the created world where no one was there to see and enjoy it but God Himself.
While gazing at the splender and beauty of the moment, wonder and gratitude began welling up inside and out of my lips came deep, heartfelt praise. I exulted in the beauty and wonder of God, His workmanship in the created world, and His creating and sustaining grace over the world that He made. It was simply amazing to me that God is God.
At that moment I realized that God had surprised me with the gift of another gift. He gave me anew the gift of amazement at what I see. He gave me the gift of sight that awakened me to the reality that every day, every moment, if I open my eyes and look, that there is always more to see in what I see.
The Psalmist tells us that Creation is telling us stupendous things about God! “The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament declares his handiwork" (Verse 1). Creation is a gift from God (and by creation, I mean all that God has made, not just mountains, birds, and trees). It is meant to display and communicate his glory. The voiceless, visual, universally available knowledge is that behind it all is a glorious God as maker of the world. The world is his handiwork, and he is glorious.
I love what Spurgeon says about the revelation of God in nature,
The Great Master Author has sent forth several volumes; among the rest is one called the "Book of Revelation," and another styled the "Volume of Creation." We have been reading the Word-volume and expounding it for years, we are now perusing the Work-volume, and are engrossed in some of its most glowing pages. Our love for the sacred book of letters and words has not diminished but increased our admiration for the hieroglyphics of the flood and field. That man perversely mistakes folly for wisdom who persists in undervaluing one glorious poem by a famous author, in order to show his zeal for a second epic from the same fertile pen. It is the mark of a feeble mind to despise the wonders of nature because we prize the treasures of salvation. He who built the lofty skies is as much our Father as he who hath spoken to us by his own Son, and we should reverently adore HIM who in creation decketh himself with majesty and excellency, even as in revelation HE arrayeth himself in glory and beauty.
Modern fanatics who profess to be so absorbed in heavenly things that they are blind to the most marvelous of Jehovah's handiwork, should go to school, with David as the schoolmaster, and learn to "consider the heavens," and should sit with Job upon the dunghill of their pride, while the Lord rehearses the thundering stanzas of creation's greatness, until they cry with the patriarch, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." For our part, we feel that what was worth the Lord's making, richly deserves the attention of the most cultivated and purified intellect; and we think it blasphemy against God himself to speak slightingly of his universe, as if, forsooth, we poor puny mortals were too spiritual to be interested in that matchless architecture which made the morning stars sing together and caused the sons of God to shout for joy.
John Piper, one who has taught me much about reading the Volume of Creation says,
God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation, but not for its own sake. He means for us always to look at his creation and say: If the work of his hands is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself! These are but the backside of his glory seen through a glass darkly. What will it be to see the Creator himself! Not his works! Not even a billion galaxies will satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul's end.
I think I can say that I the experience of delighting in some awesome natural phenomena—the moon rise at Joshua tree, a night sky in the clear pollution free Zion National Park, the astonishing Yosemite Falls, or a sunrise over the hills of San Clemente, where I live-is as Piper says, “the prep-school of our affections, readying them to delight in God.”
Christians ought to have better eyes than people in general for seeing the knowledge that every day and night pours forth. We ought to be the kind of people who walk out of the house in the morning with the same sense of suspense and expectancy.
John Piper mentions often the influence of the late Wheaton College professor Clyde Kilby. He says that Professor Kilby “pled with us to stop seeking mental health in the mirror of self-analysis, but instead to drink in the remedies of God in nature.”
I agree. Oh how nature is God’s great gift to our mental health! The moment on that evening in Joshua Tree I can honestly say that I had virtually no thoughts about myself and my problems because I was drinking in the remedy of God’s presence, His greatness, His glory, His power, His majesty, His beauty, and His peace.
In order to glimpse the glory of God in creation we actually have to engage with creation. It means to intentionally, “BE HERE NOW”. That is in obedience to “Be still and know that I am God.” When I practice “BEING HERE NOW”, I consciously stop, look, and listen to God speaking to me though His Volume of Creation, and quietly become alive to nature, being alive to life, and being alive to Him at that moment. At that moment I experience what is called “Transcendence” where I rise above myself, my life, my problems, my little thoughts, and enter into a world so wonderful, so vast, and so much bigger than little me that God has graced me to be an active part of.
Jonathan Edwards describes one of his experiences communing with God in nature:
As I was walking there, and looking up on the sky and clouds, there came into my mind so sweet a sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express.... The appearance of everything was altered; there seemed to be, as it were, a sweet calm cast, or appearance of divine glory, in almost everything. God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon and stars; in the cloud, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water and all nature.
Clyde Kilby recommends that we consider nature simply because it is. That is, simply because God has made it. His plea was that we stop being unamazed by the strange glory of ordinary things.
"I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence."
I invite you, with Clyde Kilby and myself, to open your eyes and ears, to BE HERE NOW” and to look and listen to the “heavens declaring the glory of God.
Amazed at God again!
Pastor Bill
