{"id":681,"date":"2008-08-06T20:38:42","date_gmt":"2008-08-07T02:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/2008\/08\/06\/gods-purpose-in-creation\/"},"modified":"2008-08-06T20:38:42","modified_gmt":"2008-08-07T02:38:42","slug":"gods-purpose-in-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/06\/gods-purpose-in-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"God's Purpose in Creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I heard that there were some good messages at the Resolved<\/a> conference this year, and since for a time they are not charging for those messages, I downloaded and listened to the final sermon, that by John Piper.  It was an excellent message, and probably would have been better if I had heard some of those preceding it, and I would commend the series and this message to you.<\/p>\n

At the end of the sermon, Piper gave a one-minute survey of God’s purpose in creation that I thought was worthy of further attention.  I think it is very good:<\/p>\n

\n

When God conceived of a universe of material things, he conceived of everything.  It will be created perfectly.  It will, by my decree, fall.  I will labor patiently for thousands of years with a people recalcitrant, showing the depth of human sin, and I will, at the center and apex of my purpose, send my Son to bear my wrath on my people. And then I will gather a people who believe in him for myself.  And then I will return and I will cast all of the unbelievers into hell which will demonstrate the infinite worth of my glory and the infinite value of my Son’s sacrifice which they have rejected.  And I will renew the earth and I will make my people so beautiful and then tailor this universe for them with this purpose that when my Son is lifted up with his wounds they will sing the song of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world in the mind of God who planned it all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is, however, something missing.  (You can read it again if you didn’t see anything missing.)  That which he left out is probably not due to a lack of time.  I think it is missing because he does not believe it to be true.  This something receives great attestation in the Bible and will result in unspeakable praise and glory to God the Father for his magnificent plan and perfect promise-keeping character.  It is something so central to God’s plan that nearly half of his revelation would be unnecessary if this were not true.  That something is this: God will save Israel.<\/p>\n

I want to focus attention on this section of the summary:<\/p>\n

\n

I will labor patiently for thousands of years with a people recalcitrant, showing the depth of human sin, and I will, at the center and apex of my purpose, send my Son to bear my wrath on my people. And then I will gather a people who believe in him… <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Piper recognizes that God worked with Israel.  But he has them ultimately damned, not saved.  They never turn to him.  The purpose of Israel, apparently, was solely to show the depth of human sin.  God tried for thousands of years, even sending his Son.  But it didn’t work (Israel didn’t repent) and God moved on.  There is no place for a redeemed Israel in this summary.  They have been replaced.  Note the transition from “my people” to “a people.”  He means by that, of course, a different<\/em> people.  This naturally enough raises the question: has God’s word failed?  Will God’s promises (to Israel in the OT) be left unfulfilled?  Did God reject his people?  Paul answers that question: By no means! (Rom 11:1).  Paul anticipated this very question (that Piper’s summary provokes) and he answers in an extended treatment in Romans 11: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved….God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.  <\/p>\n

What is the culmination of this great event of the future salvation of Israel?  It is great glory and praise to God, as Paul, even in thinking about it in a distant future, cannot contain himself from uttering one of the most profound doxologies in Scripture: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (and it continues).  <\/p>\n

I am not saying that God does not receive great glory in the way that Piper described it, but I am saying that many of the Reformed persuasion miss one of the most glorious events when they assume that the church eternally assumes Israel’s place in God’s plan.  I am saying that when you look at the people of Israel today, whether in Jerusalem or in Dallas, and you see hearts that are apathetic to their Messiah and other hearts that are strongly antagonistic toward their Savior, and when you read what Zechariah (12:10) wrote…<\/p>\n

\n

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…you can only marvel.  There are a few things that are predicted in the Bible that are simply unfathomable to me, apart from the miraculous power of God, and this is chief among them.  IF GOD CAN DO THIS, if God can turn the hearts of his people to himself, if he can make a New Covenant with them, and give them hearts of flesh, then there will be no words to describe our amazement or the glory of God.  But it will happen.  As Zechariah (13:1) later said:<\/p>\n

\n

<\/i>On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This has never occurred in history, but it will (and if you think it has, be sure to read the verse in context).  And God will be praised by the Jews and by the Gentiles. <\/p>\n

So if I could alter the paragraph quoted above, I would do so like this (my additions in bold): <\/p>\n

\n

When God conceived of a universe of material things, he conceived of everything.  It will be created perfectly.  It will, by my decree, fall.  I will labor patiently for thousands of years with a people recalcitrant, showing the depth of human sin, and I will, at the center and apex of my purpose, send my Son to bear my wrath on my people. And then I will gather a people who believe in him for myself, and Israel will embrace their Messiah<\/strong>.  And then I will return and I will cast all of the unbelievers into hell which will demonstrate the infinite worth of my glory and the infinite value of my Son’s sacrifice which they have rejected.  And I will renew the earth and I will fulfill all of my promises to my people and <\/strong>make my people so beautiful and then tailor this universe for them with this purpose that when my Son is lifted up with his wounds they will sing the song of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world in the mind of God who planned it all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Small changes, but important in understanding the great glory that God has designed for himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I heard that there were some good messages at the Resolved conference this year, and since for a time they are not charging for those messages, I downloaded and listened to the final sermon, that by John Piper.  It was an excellent message, and probably would have been better if I had heard some of\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}