"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement." Romans 5v11
The word used for atonement is actually reconciliation, the same as in the previous references. Atonement is an Old testament concept and means literally to cover up sins, the first mention being in Genesis chapter 6 when Noah used pitch (bitumen) to cover the ark. The New testament truth is not so much of sins being covered, but being completely removed and hence we can talk of complete reconciliation to God. Paul wants us now to climb still higher in our thinking. Until now, he has been speaking of what God has done for us, of the great gifts He has given us; now he wants us to joy (the same word as in verse 2 and verse 3, which we saw meant to exalt, to rejoice, to boast) in God. In fact not now merely rejoicing in the gifts, but rejoicing in the Giver. This is the mountain top, the zenith of Christian experience; this brings us to the fountain head of all blessing where we are not only concerned with the great things He has done or can do, we are glorying in His Person, in the personal knowledge of Him. There is no higher experience for a human being than this, to exult and glory in God. For this blessing Paul said he was prepared to give up everything in life when he said writing to the Philippians "for whom I have suffered the loss of all things....... that I may know Him." Philippians 3 v 8-10
Paul has spoken of many blessings for the believer; peace with God; access to grace; future glory guaranteed; present help administered; Divine love infused within us by the Holy Spirit; delivered from future wrath; fully reconciled to God. He has presented these things and then says "much more" and again "much more" and now he adds "not only so". Literally speaking there is no end to the blessings that God has for a believer and so he ends with the ultimate - God Himself. This is a dimension that we Christians often miss. In the rush and business of daily life it is quite easy to get caught up in the round of things, and to consider these glorious things purely mechanically. Paul is saying here we should be rejoicing not only in our salvation, but in the God of our salvation.
This theme pervades the entire Bible. One of the great instances of this is in the prophecy of Habakkuk, the very prophecy which gives rise to the letter to the Romans, and no doubt Paul was thinking of Habakkuk's closing words, as the prophet pondered the glory of God's justification by faith "although the fig tree will not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labours of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the field, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION." Habakkuk 3 v 17-18 This is the high point of faith in God when our faith is not only on the individual acts of blessing from God, but in the God from whom it all comes.
In the shorter catechism of the Westminster Assembly it is written "man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Although this is not scripture, it very much summarises the whole point of scripture, and the whole point of our existence. To boast in God is to reverently fear Him, is to honour Him, is to thank Him, but also to enjoy him, to glory in Him, to boast in Him. This would take away all fear in evangelism. As much as people at a secular level can boast in things that impress them, Christians can really boast in knowing God, and if we do not it is because we have not fully grasped the glory of all that He is, and the remedy for that is simple; to immerse ourselves not merely in the Bible, but in the God of the Bible.
Psalm 33v1 "Rejoice in the Lord o ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright."
Psalm 34v1 "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Psalm 34v3 "O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together."
Luke 1v46-47 "And Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
Paul writes to the Philippians in the form of a command, and he repeats it because he knows this is so vital to the enjoyment of the Christian life "rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice." Philippians 4v4
"Not only so, but we glory in God through our lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation."
This, for Paul is the normal Christian life. We have seen the exposition, but now we must bring it to application. Are we rejoicing in our Christian life? If not we need to make adjustments. There are any number of reasons why this is so. It could be we have failed to grasp just what God has done for us in justification. It could be we are still relying partly on our works; we accept that God has done great things for us but we feel the need to add our own effort and inevitable failure leads to lack of joy. God loves us today with all our failure the same as He did when He sent His Son to Calvary. Our weakness and failure changes nothing of that. We need to cease looking at our own efforts and fix our gaze on the God who never fails and who never changes His word.
Yes, read more, meditate more, pray more, do more but only as we allow the holy Spirit to infuse the love of God within our hearts will we truly rejoice. God fully knows the problems of this world in which we live, the trials that we face, the opposition we experience, the weakness to which we are all subject. He knows, remember that His Son has been here, and has gone through every experience that we will go through. The answer is to stop limiting our lives by our own weakness and circumstances, and start to define our lives in terms of the God of glory, who is leading us to glory.
Tomorrow d.v. In Adam or in Christ.
Paul has spoken of many blessings for the believer; peace with God; access to grace; future glory guaranteed; present help administered; Divine love infused within us by the Holy Spirit; delivered from future wrath; fully reconciled to God. He has presented these things and then says "much more" and again "much more" and now he adds "not only so". Literally speaking there is no end to the blessings that God has for a believer and so he ends with the ultimate - God Himself. This is a dimension that we Christians often miss. In the rush and business of daily life it is quite easy to get caught up in the round of things, and to consider these glorious things purely mechanically. Paul is saying here we should be rejoicing not only in our salvation, but in the God of our salvation.
This theme pervades the entire Bible. One of the great instances of this is in the prophecy of Habakkuk, the very prophecy which gives rise to the letter to the Romans, and no doubt Paul was thinking of Habakkuk's closing words, as the prophet pondered the glory of God's justification by faith "although the fig tree will not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labours of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the field, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION." Habakkuk 3 v 17-18 This is the high point of faith in God when our faith is not only on the individual acts of blessing from God, but in the God from whom it all comes.
In the shorter catechism of the Westminster Assembly it is written "man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Although this is not scripture, it very much summarises the whole point of scripture, and the whole point of our existence. To boast in God is to reverently fear Him, is to honour Him, is to thank Him, but also to enjoy him, to glory in Him, to boast in Him. This would take away all fear in evangelism. As much as people at a secular level can boast in things that impress them, Christians can really boast in knowing God, and if we do not it is because we have not fully grasped the glory of all that He is, and the remedy for that is simple; to immerse ourselves not merely in the Bible, but in the God of the Bible.
Psalm 33v1 "Rejoice in the Lord o ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright."
Psalm 34v1 "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Psalm 34v3 "O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together."
Luke 1v46-47 "And Mary said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
Paul writes to the Philippians in the form of a command, and he repeats it because he knows this is so vital to the enjoyment of the Christian life "rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice." Philippians 4v4
"Not only so, but we glory in God through our lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation."
This, for Paul is the normal Christian life. We have seen the exposition, but now we must bring it to application. Are we rejoicing in our Christian life? If not we need to make adjustments. There are any number of reasons why this is so. It could be we have failed to grasp just what God has done for us in justification. It could be we are still relying partly on our works; we accept that God has done great things for us but we feel the need to add our own effort and inevitable failure leads to lack of joy. God loves us today with all our failure the same as He did when He sent His Son to Calvary. Our weakness and failure changes nothing of that. We need to cease looking at our own efforts and fix our gaze on the God who never fails and who never changes His word.
Yes, read more, meditate more, pray more, do more but only as we allow the holy Spirit to infuse the love of God within our hearts will we truly rejoice. God fully knows the problems of this world in which we live, the trials that we face, the opposition we experience, the weakness to which we are all subject. He knows, remember that His Son has been here, and has gone through every experience that we will go through. The answer is to stop limiting our lives by our own weakness and circumstances, and start to define our lives in terms of the God of glory, who is leading us to glory.
Tomorrow d.v. In Adam or in Christ.
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