The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"More Pleasure"
Part 2 - "Creator and Creature"
"The Lord taketh pleasure in His people."
(Psalm 149:4)
In Part 1, we proposed that God will forever find more pleasure in us than we find in Him, suggesting that His infinite emotions, sensibilities, and perceptions toward us far transcend our own toward Him. This aligns with a corollary confirmation of our proposal, namely, the vast gulf between God as Creator, and ourselves as His creatures.
"Know ye that the Lord, He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture" (Psalm 100:3).
In the Lord Jesus Christ, God has drawn us far closer to Himself than we can presently imagine. He literally dwells within us through the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 3:16). Our Heavenly Father made us to serve as His spiritual dwelling place, a reason for being that transcends the purpose for all other created entities and things. Indeed, in His prayer just before the cross, the Lord Jesus asked for perhaps the most wondrous of all blessings:
"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me, for Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:24-26).
Breathtaking. Heart stilling. Overwhelming. Closer than seems possible, as God has literally given Himself to dwell within us through the grace of the Lord Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our Creator dwells nearer to us than our next breath. However, we never forget that He remains our Creator and we remain His creatures, a gulf of being and existence that cannot never be crossed. As a dear friend often says, "God is God. And we ain't!" Nothing could be truer, and nothing more bears witness to how much more He finds pleasure in us than we find in Him. "God is greater than man" declared Elihu to Job in the absolute champion of all understatements (Job 33:12). He is, and as Creator, the Lord must always be viewed in His transcendent superiority - including His experience of relationship.
God knows us infinitely more than we will ever know Him. He sees into the very depths of our being. Thus, the simplest response of our hearts to Him in faith and faithfulness through Christ glimmers as a bright and shining light that blesses Him in immeasurable measure. Think of the Lord's term of endearment regarding Daniel, who responded to Him so beautifully through the leading and enabling of the Holy Spirit… "O Daniel, a man greatly beloved" (Daniel 10:11). Daniel greatly loved God. But God's "greatly" love of His servant surpassed all devotion and pleasure in the relationship than Daniel ever knew, or ever will know.
As it does for all of God's sons and daughters in Christ…
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Let us settle it within our hearts, even as it may boggle our minds. Our Father will never please us as we can please Him. The greatness of His heart, mind, and capacity to experience relationship assures us of this wonder. We do not have to completely understand the truth. Believing it, however, will lead us in our fellowship with the Lord to new and glorious responses to Him. Yes, if we can so please the Heart we have all so grieved, and if that pleasure cannot be measured… well, nothing more need be said, except that this moment offers the opportunity…
"I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy name for evermore."
(Psalm 86:12)
Tomorrow: The Price and the Pleasure
Weekly Memory Verse
I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy name for evermore.
(Psalm 86:12)
7734
No comments:
Post a Comment