Skip to main content

A prodigal God



Can God be prodigal?

Definition:
- spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant
- having or giving something on a lavish scale

Richard Sibbes again: "In Christ there is not only abundance, but redundance, a diffusive and spreading goodness... as in the sun to send forth beams. As Christ is full of grace and truth... so there is an overflowing of all that is good for our good. He that could multiply bread for the body, he can multiply grace for our soul. If he gives life, he gives it in abundance (John 10:10). If he gives the water of life he gives rivers, not small streams. If he gives peace and joy... his scope is to fill up our joy to the full. As he is able to do for us far more abundantly than we are able to think or speak (Eph. 3:20)." (Third Sermon on the Song of Songs)

What exactly is this abundance? Sibbes describes it, as the Bible describes it, as a feast (Isa. 25:6; 55:1-2; Prov. 9:1-5; Matt. 8:11; 22:4; 25:10: Rev. 19:9). And what exactly is that feast? Jesus himself. "All the several graces and comforts we have, and the several promises whereby they are made over and conveyed unto us, are but Christ dished out in several manner" (Sibbes, Third Sermon) And how exactly do we partake of this feast? "The vessels wherein Christ conveys his dainties are the ministry of the Word and sacraments. By the Word and sacraments we come to enjoy Christ and his comforts and graces" (Third Sermon).

So what is our response to be? To go to church and happily dig into the feast and enjoy Him together. "We see then that we cannot please Christ better than... by cheerfully taking part of his rich provision. It is an honour to his bounty to fall to" (Third Sermon).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holding together restlessness and optimism

Piper has a great section in his Marks of a Spiritual Leader  where he holds together two vital biblical leadership virtues: 1. RESTLESS Spiritual leaders have a holy discontentment with the status quo. Non-leaders have inertia that causes them to settle in and makes them very hard to move off of dead center. Leaders have a hankering to change, to move, to reach out, to grow, and to take a group or an institution to new dimensions of ministry. They have the spirit of Paul, who said in Philippians 3:13, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Leaders are always very goal-oriented people. God’s history of redemption is not finished. The church is shot through with imperfections, lost sheep are still not in the fold, needs of every sort in the world are unmet, sin infects the saints. It is un...
Post a Comment
Read more

Matt Perman on Management and Leadership

These are quotes from the What's Best Next Toolkit ( mobi file ) - a free resource of online extra chapters and articles that accompanies Matt Perman's must read book “Leadership is not about you. It is about serving others, building them up, and making them more effective. “if you keep trying to do the sorts of things you did as an individual contributor, you simply won’t have time to lead at all.” “Now, the leaders should sometimes, frequently even, pitch in directly by working along side the people on his or her team. But this shouldn’t be the main thing the leader does. He needs to be setting direction, looking out ahead, and aligning people.” “Leadership in the pastoral role is practiced primarily  through  the ministry of the word and prayer.” “every week or so, review the org chart and reflect what actions you can proactively take to keep things going in the right direction, or to help make someone more effective, and so forth.” “There is a significa...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's Next? Consider Christ

We've been going through a series thinking about the question What Next? Consider yourself in gospel ministry Consider the range of gospel work roles Consider the range of places and needs Consider the range of training possibilities Consider others But ultimately there can only be one answer to the question What’s next?  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21) Paul didn’t know what was next for him as he wrote the letter to the Philippians. He had resolved that continuing on this earth to work for people’s progress and joy in the faith was most necessary (Phil. 1:24-25 - notice there that he's considering others and considering need ) but he knew that there were two alternatives – life and death (Phil. 1:20-23). Whatever was next for Paul, it was consumed, defined, filled by knowing Christ, having Christ, being found in Christ.  What’s next? CHRIST! Christ the radiance of the glory of God Christ crowned with glory and honour Christ our rescuer who has sm...
Post a Comment
Read more