The Glory of God in Salvation

The Glory of God in Salvation - Rediscovering the Reformation, Oct 30-31, 2020

When my Brothers and I:

· Began planning for this year’s conference we quickly became aware - OF:

· The challenges we would encounter in addressing the infinite magnitude of God’s glory

· In Scrip we’re told God’s name is glorious - He is described as the glorious Father - He is the King of Glory - and His glory is over all His creation - He is the God of glory and will not share His glory with another!

In light of this:

· How can mere men adequately describe the magnificence of the glory of Almighty God? The radiance of His being, His majesty, and splendor?

· How can we do justice to the fact that God is eternal - perfectly righteous and just?

· How do we define His being all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and unchanging?

· How can we adequately express, in human terms God’s love and mercy and grace

(We all readily confess) in our preparation:

· We found ourselves humbled like Moses and Isaiah and Ezekiel in the O.T. when they were brought face to face with the glory of God

· And like Peter, James, and John in the N.T. when they saw the glory of God the Son revealed on the Mt. of Transfiguration!

Our exposure - TO:

· And the contemplation of God’s glory forced us to bow our heads in humble adoration and ask God to enable us to do our best and use our meager efforts as a spark to revive the hearts of His people - WITH:

· A fresh vision of God in all His glory and stir us to greater heights of praise and adoration and thanksgiving and worship shouting unashamedly and enthusiastically - for all Vermont to hear:

· “To God alone be the glory”!

(So far) we have heard - HOW:

· God’s glory is unmistakably evident in and revealed through the intricacies and variety of creation as the prophet Isaiah wrote, “The whole earth is full of His glory”)

· So much so, that Roms 1:20 says no man has any excuse to deny His existence!

We have also learned:

· God has revealed Himself and His glory through His Wd!

· We have in our hands God’s perfectly inspired - infallible and inerrant revelation of Himself in words we can understand!

· And it is in His Wd (Roms 11:36) that we find and rejoice in these words about God, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever, Amen”!

Everything that exists

· Everything that happens has been - is - and always will be to the glory of God!

(This morning we find) another way:

· God manifests His glory is seen is in the salvation of sinners!

· And when we consider the length and breadth and height and depth of our salvation, we see why it is important to give all the glory to God alone!

If you have your Bible:

· Please turn with me to the Bk of Eph where, in Ch 1:17 Paul prayed “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give (the saints in Ephesus and now, you and me) a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him…and then in V-18 he gave the reason for his prayer…so that you will know the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

· Then in Ch 2: Paul highlights the glory and riches of God in salvation

· He begins with a somber and sobering description of our spiritual state before God saved us!

· Eph 2:1-3 (RD)

Reading this:

· Dark description of the true spiritual condition we were born in doesn’t do much to pamper our egos

· The truth is before God saved us we had a much higher opinion of ourselves than this passage allows

· As a result, some people think Paul does not mean we were spiritually dead in a literal sense - BUT - almost dead or spiritually weak - anything but dead!

However:

· The language does not permit such an interpretation

· Being “…dead in…trespasses and sin…” means we were born:

· Spiritually lifeless our hearts were stone-cold and just as hard

· Being dead we had no perception of the perilous and hopeless spiritual condition we were in

Sin had:

· So captivated and corrupted and permeated us that we were perfectly comfortable:

· “…walking…according to the course of this world…”

· We willingly followed and submitted to Satan, the god of this world described here as “…the prince of the power of the air…the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience…”

Having no:

· Spiritual life - we had no knowledge of sin and its consequences

· No fear of God and His just judgment and condemnation that overshadowed us

· We pampered our lusts - indulged the desires of the flesh and mind

· Never realizing we “…were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…” (V-13 says we were without hope and without God, in the world and Ch 4:18 says because of the hardness of our hearts, we were excluded from the life of God and Roms 5 says we were ungodly sinners - the enemies of God)

There was nothing - IN:

· Us worthy of salvation - we were sinners who by our very nature, loved our sin

· You may be wondering why paint such an awful picture of mankind in a conference focusing on the glory of God?

· It is important because knowing how bad our spiritual condition was that makes our salvation so glorious!

· Many Christians have lost the joy of their salvation because they have forgotten what God saved them from!

They have forgotten - HOW:

· God could have justly left us dead in our sins - He could have turned us over to our depraved minds and left us wallowing in our lusts - and running headlong on the wide road that leads to hell! (as Jonathan Edwards said, He could have left us dangling over the pit of hell by a spider’s thread)

· BUT: if you are sitting here today as a Christian - it is because God saved you from the perilous state you were born in! (You have personally experienced the glory of God in salvation)

The gospel:

· Is not only about the salvation of sinners

· It’s about God and His glory seen in His saving those who cannot save themselves

· And in the following Vs, we see this wonderfully expressed

Vs 4-5 (RD):

· V-4 begins with 2 attention-grabbing and captivating wds:

· “But God…” (let these 2 incredibly significant wds resonate in your ears - penetrate your minds - and make their way to your heart)

· In light of what precedes them, the words, - “But God…” ARE:

· Like a signpost pointing us to look heavenward and gaze upon the glory and majesty and power and beauty and wonder of Almighty God and apply it to your salvation!

IN: the 1st 3 Vs:

· Paul takes us, as it were, to a cemetery and shows us the grave where our dead souls lay (there he reminds us dead men have no power to rise from the dead)

· Now, in Vs 4-5, he shows us that God did something absolutely glorious! (Beloved, listen again to these words - Paul’s heart is bursting with exuberant praise to God)“But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”

Do these words fill you with utter amazement over how God miraculously and wondrously and for His glory takes sinners deserving of His just punishment from spiritual death to alive in Christ? If that does not touch the very root of your soul, there is something seriously wrong with you! I am convinced a fresh realization of what these words mean is sorely needed among Christians today. If we ever hope to see genuine revival in our day, it will begin with a fresh vision of God’s glory in our salvation!

[Let us take a closer look - at these Vs] 3 phrases capture our attention:

· Rich mercy - great love and saving grace - let us look at each of them:

· 1st of all, the glory of God in salvation is vividly revealed - IN:

· The richness of His mercy towards those who are dead in sin!

· Mercy as used in this context is having compassion that leads to action!

· God’s rich mercy is seen in His loving and saving us!

What makes God’s mercy - SO:

· Rich is it is inexhaustible - vast and deep as the ocean- eternal and unchanging

· His mercy is of infinite and inestimable value - a mine of wealth - there is no end to the extent of His mercy! (In his hymn, “And can it be” - Charles Wesley wrote, in regards to salvation, “Tis mercy all immense and free” And then, as he reflected on God’s immense and free and rich mercy he went on to describe what happened when God, according to His rich mercy made alive in Christ: “Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed Thee”)

Later Paul will write - IN:

· I Tim 1:15-17 (RD)

· Knowing “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (no matter how great they are) …”

· And having found mercy - Paul again cannot restrain himself but bursts into praise, “Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen!”

A few pages over - IN:

· Titus 3:4-7 he writes this (RD) [Peter joins the chorus of praise for God’s mercy in I Pet 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” - and in Ch 2:10, “…you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God, you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy”]

In Roms Ch 9:23:

· Paul wrote how God “…makes…known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also among Gentiles”

Pull it together:

· “But God, being rich in mercy…” and according to His great mercy - sent His Son into the world to save sinners - in response, the sinners who have found and received His mercy and been saved shout. Great sinners need the riches of God’s great mercy to be saved! “To God be the glory, forever and ever, AMEN!”

Paul is just starting: (he is just warming up - he adds another log to the fire burning in his heart)

· “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…”

· The glory of God is seen in “…His great love with which He loved us…” (and it is because of God’s great love that He bestowed the riches of His mercy upon us)

· What makes God’s love so glorious and great?

· It is the objects of His love - it is us!

Look at the wds:

· “…because of His great love with which He loved us (the beauty of God’s unconditional love is at the very heart of the Gosp - note the double emphasis) His great love with which He loved us (and when did God love us?)…even when we were dead in our transgressions…”

· Any love that could embrace dead sinners like us - has to be great! (God loved us despite our unloveliness - I Jn 4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin” This is why we sing, “Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all”)

When it comes - TO:

· Our salvation, God’s “…great love with which He loved us…” is seen in many other ways (look across the page to Ch 1)

· V-3 shows us the glory of God in salvation is seen in the fact He, “…has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus…”

What are these spiritual blessings?

· V-4, for reasons known only to Himself and for His Glory alone (and according to His free sovereign grace), “…He chose us in…Christ…before the foundation of the world…”

Put this in perspective:

· God knew the people of His choosing - will be born sinful - rebellious - disobedient - children of wrath - helpless and ungodly worthy of judgment and condemnation (“…dead in trespasses and sins…”) - YET:

· He poured out His great love upon them just the same! (this adds new meaning to the phrase, “great love”, doesn’t it?)

Another of the “…spiritual blessings…” - IS:

· V-5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself (HOW) according to the kind intention of His will (WHY) to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (His Beloved Son)”

· The glory of God shines brightly in His adopting as His children through faith in Christ those who were formerly His enemies!

· It was for His glory that God provided our redemption through the blood of His Son (You may have heard it said this way, “God didn’t look down upon mankind and say there’s a good person - I think I’ll save them - he did not wait until we improved our condition or got better - His choosing, redeeming and adopting us has nothing to do with us - we just saw that in Ch 2 - God’s rich mercy and great love - magnifies and amplifies the glory of God in salvation!)

Before we move - ON (let me ask you a few questions)

· Can you think of any greater joy and assurance than knowing God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world?

· Can you think of any greater privilege than calling God your Father, because He predestined you for adoption as His child through redemption in Christ?

· Do you rejoice in the knowledge that God who is infinitely Holy sets His love upon us who are so unlovely and unworthy?

· Does it thrill your heart to know we are so precious to God that we were purchased out of slavery to sin by the blood of Jesus Christ - His only begotten Son?

· And does it fill you with humble adoration that God did this all for His glory!

(We are not done yet back in Ch 2) There is more to this doctrinal feast:

· It was while we were spiritually dead - living in and loving our sins

· Driving in the fast lane on the wide road leading to destruction along with all the other sons of disobedience and children of wrath - THAT:

· God performed what can only be described as a miracle

Before we ever loved Him - (when we still dead in our trespasses and sin)

· What did God do? HE: “…made us alive together with Christ…”

· He gave us life - where no life existed!

· We were born again - created anew - given a new mind - a new heart - a new understanding (God took our sin-blackened - cold - stony heart, cleansed it with the blood of Christ and made it a heart of flesh pumping new spiritual life into our whole being)

Driving:

· Paul’s thought is the glorious fact that the impossible has happened! (After Jesus told His disciples it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” His disciple’s asked, “…who then can be saved…”, Jesus replied, “…with people this is impossible but all things are possible with God…” - our salvation is the glorious declaration of God doing the impossible for us who could do nothing on our own!)

The Gosp is about:

· How God by His grace and for His glory brought about a radical and miraculous transformation

· “…even when we were dead in our transgressions, (God) made us alive together with Christ…” (NOTE: there is not even a hint of any human involvement here)

· There is only one hope for sinful men and women - boys and girls - and it’s not found in us! (it’s not found in church membership or baptism or in partaking the Lord’s Table - it’s not found in good works - it’s found through faith alone in Christ alone crucified and raised from dead alone for the glory of God alone)

After this - Paul:

· Makes a grand announcement that has been a thread woven through all he has written thus far:

· How did God make “...us alive together with Christ…by grace you have been saved…” - by His grace alone!

· Rich mercy - great love and God’s saving grace …”[we may add here from Ch 1, being saved by God’s grace is ALL: “…according to the kind intention of His will…and… freely bestowed on us in (Christ)…and… lavished on us…” and all “…to the praise of His glory”) (to God be the glory)!

God’s grace:

· Is theologically defined as “His unmerited favor” with particular emphasis on the fact that the recipient is undeserving!

· Salvation is an amazing work of God’s grace in response to those who are “…the sons of disobedience…and…children of wrath…”

· Grace is not grace unless it is freely given to those who do not deserve it and have no means to help themselves!

· Roms 3:24, says we are “…justified as a gift by God’s grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…”

· Roms 5:17 “ For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” [the abounding abundance of God’s grace is His gift to all whose faith rests solely on the finished work of Christ on the cross]

Not only has:

· God, “…because of His rich mercy and great love with which He loved us…” saved us by His grace:

· He has V-6 “…raised us up with Him (with Christ) and seated us with Him (with Christ) in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

Note the past tenses:

· “…raised us up with Him and seated us with Him…”

· Once again, Paul is grabbing our attention and pointing to the fact this is what God did for you the moment He saved you by His grace!

· You were dead - but He made you alive together with Christ

· AND: raised you up with Him - and seated you with Him (God didn’t leave us in the graveyard - He took us out of the pitch darkness of the grave to the brightness and glory of heaven!)

Oh Beloved (think on this)

· The position of the Christian is the exact opposite of the non-Christian!

· The unsaved are dead in trespasses and sins - the Christian is alive in Christ

· The unsaved are - living and walking according to the course of this world

· The Christian is raised up and seated in the heavenlies (and, backing up for a moment, the “But God” which began V-4 brings out every aspect of this contrast - we cannot understand our position as Christians until we see what we were compared to what we are because of what God, by His rich mercy and great grace has done)

Let’s also not overlook:

· The little phrase, “…in Christ Jesus…” (though we are not “with Christ” in heaven right now - we are “in Christ” who is in heaven right now)

· Being “in Christ” is the summation of all we are and all we have as Christians

· Our redemption - our justification - our hope of eternal life and much more are all because we are “…in Christ Jesus…”

The final wds - IN:

· This great statement that began in V-4 answers the question:

· Why has God done all this?

· Why does He show rich mercy and great love to such sinful people?

· Why does He take those who are dead in sin and make them alive in Christ?

· Why does He raise them up with Christ and set them in the heavenly places with Him? Why such grace?

The answer:

· V-7, “…so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”

· The chief end - the grand purpose of salvation is the glory of God! (the very fact that God looks upon us with favor is a tribute to the “…surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus…” and a testimony to the world of the power of the Gosp!)

What is:

· So marvelously glorious about this is how God did it all!

· Vs 8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” [Grace is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions - other religions tell you what you must do to see God - the Bible tells us what God by His grace and for His glory has done that we may see Him]

· “Salvation is the work of God, by His grace through which He shows His glory, that’s why we can be assured our salvation is secure!”

Beloved:

· Do you see the links in the chain?

· Salvation is from sin to salvation - from spiritually dead to alive in Christ

· According to God’s rich mercy, great love, and saving grace

· And it is all: for the glory of God who loved us and sent His Son to die for us!

· In Rev 19:1, the Apostle John described this scene in heaven, “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”! (We do not have to wait until eternity to unite our voices and say, “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God - Sola Deo Gloria”)

Hugh R. Diggins Sr.

October 31, 2020

Vermont - Rediscovering the Reformation Conference

Preached at Brandon Baptist Church, Brandon, VT.