“…the gospel of the glory of the blessed God…”
1 Timothy 1:11
So who is God?
For 2,000 years, Christians have said God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God in three persons, blessed Trinity.
I’d like to zero in on the adjective Paul and that great hymn place in front of God; that word “blessed.”
God is the big picture. Before we can think big thoughts about salvation we need to think big thoughts about God; by Himself, even if you had never been born. God has been, is, and always will be blessed.
So after zooming as far as out as we go by looking at God, let’s zoom back in as far as we can and look at you. Why would a perfect, infinite, happy, blessed, God, come to save you, an imperfect, finite, miserable, sinner?
What is the reason for that?
Exodus 33:19, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
You could restate the Exodus text and say this, “I will love because I will love. I will bless because I am blessed.” This is the picture of salvation; the blessed God blessing. I think the best place in scripture to park the car for the blessed God blessing is Psalm 119:68, which simply says, “You are good and you do good.”
The Psalmist points out God’s being; goodness/blessedness and then shows the logical outworking of that being; action, being good/blessing. When the blessed God does great and mighty things, zeroing in here on saving sinners, it’s just in accordance with His character. God’s behavior flows from God’s character. God’s behavior is “good” because God is good. What I’m trying to communicate is that while what He does is good, WHO He is, is better. God, by Himself, with no actions or movement is blessed. We praise Him for what He has done, but more than that, we *should* praise for who He is, the perfect, blessed, God.
Now, if you’re paying attention and connecting the dots, you might be asking, “How are we to praise God for who He is, if all we understood about Him is what He has done?”
We’ll attempt to answer that question next week!
Until He Comes,
Josh Reese, Christian Life Church
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