Making the Theological Understandable
The Scripture pictured below articulates a question that is eternal in its significance. Why does God even care what happens to us? Why did God make humans alone in His image? We are so small and unimpressive and yet God–the sovereign Creator of the universe–cares for us. This is beyond humbling. His mindfulness of our helpless estate is worthy of our praise.
Sometimes adults think they’re too smart. We become too proud. We think we’ve outgrown our need for God. We call Him a crutch for weaklings and only suitable for intellectually deficient people who can’t figure out life on their own. We say the spiritual equivalent of “Me do it!” as if we’re 2 years old all over again, throwing a tantrum.
Isn’t it ironic, that God ordains praise from the lips of babies and that’s how He chooses to silence the proud?
How do we praise Him? We can praise His Name.
There’s a poem by Cecil F. Alexander (1848) called “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and it begins:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.
I was thinking about that today because one of the joys of gardening and feeding the birds is the short window of migration when these jewels of nature wing their way through my yard. The year round residents of goldfinches and cardinals and blue jays have been joined by migratory indigo buntings and rose-breasted grosbeaks. It will not be long before the scarlet tanager and the Baltimore orioles and hummingbirds will be here, too. In their colorful beauty and their cheerful song, I am certain they are praising the LORD.
Everything that has breath praises the LORD. The trees clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12) and if we fail to praise God, even the rocks cry out.
Luke 19:36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Let us praise Him! No one should be outdone by the trees and the stones.
Strange to think about, that the lightning and hail, snow, clouds and wind can do the LORD’s bidding. It’s even more strange to think that they praise Him. How do they praise Him except to obey?
I wonder what sea creatures do when they praise the LORD. Does praise just happen in their doing what they were created to do?
Everything that has breath received its life from its Creator. Therefore, it is only fitting that everything that has breath should praise the Lord.
When we live the Risen Life calling Jesus “Lord,” we become a living demonstration of God’s faithfulness. The result is that He takes pleasure in us.
Just as seeds sprout from the ground because of an unseen power, when we respond to Jesus as our Savior, then we spring forth as His holy garden covering the earth. We are brought to life through His powerful Holy Spirit and will be Living the Risen Life as His Delight.
When we call Jesus “Lord” we can have a peace that passes all understanding because it’s a peace that He gives. The world might promise peace and try to achieve it through compromise, collaboration, and consensus. But, that’s not the kind of peace that God gives us.
Peace that characterizes the Risen Life is a peace with God.
How is this different? Well, our Father didn’t send Jesus to compromise His holiness with our sin (as if it was a priority to take a balanced approach). He didn’t send Jesus to collaborate with us (as if our ideas were even on the same plane of wisdom as God’s). Jesus didn’t come to achieve consensus among a million brothers all of whom miss the mark of His perfection. (He stands alone).
The reason why God gives us a peace that the world can’t give is because it is a superior peace bought with the blood of Jesus. It is a peace of reconciliation based upon His characteristics of righteousness, holiness, love, sovereignty, wisdom, mercy, truth, and forgiveness. It is His character that defines His peace and it explains why we do not need to be troubled no matter what the world brings and also why we do not need to be afraid in any circumstance. Our peace is with God when we are Living the Risen Life.
