great things He has done...

artwork by Tamara Peterson

TamaraPeterson’s amazingly creative artwork always inspires me. I noticed in this beautiful piece she incorporated two small pieces of the pages from a hymnal with the lyrics of one of my favorite hymns, radiating the glory of God with her stunning upward brush strokes.

To God be the glory, great things He hath done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.  As I worshipped with To God Be The Glory, performed by the Royal Albert Hall audience and stage choirs, I was inspired to do a word study of Titus 3:5:

NASB: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

Amplified: He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

NLT: He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.

Phillips: he saved us - not by virtue of any moral achievements of ours, but by the cleansing power of a new birth and the moral renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Wuest: not by deeds of uprightness which we performed [in our unsaved state], but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Young's Literal: (not by works that are in righteousness that we did but according to His kindness,) He did save us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit.


Saved (sozo) has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. Sozo means that He delivered us, rescuing us from danger, loss and ultimately from eternal destruction. He daily preserves us, making us whole by the renewing by the Holy Spirit. He saved us is aorist tense which records the saving act as a past fact. The us here is all who have accepted salvation in Christ. We now possess salvation "past tense," each of us having been saved at a certain point in time when we confessed "with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believed in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9) He delivered us that we might be "made complete" in Christ (Colossians 2:10) "for of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." (John 1:16).

Righteousness (dikaiosune from dikaios = being in accordance with what God requires, being in accordance with God's compelling standards) when referring to God's righteousness is all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves, all that He provides in and through Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21). The -súne ending makes this an abstraction. Righteousness fulfills the claims of díke, which, in the case of the believer, are God’s claims. Since God Himself is the standard of the believers, the righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God. Anything done in our own righteousness (John 15:5) is filthy rags and an abomination before the Lord. Dikaiosúne is conformity to the claims of higher authority. It is a gift (Romans 5:17). God’s righteousness is imputed and imparted as a gift to believers and not earned.

Mercy (eleos) is “the self-moved, spontaneous loving kindness of God which causes Him to deal in compassion and tender affection with the miserable and distressed.” Eleos is the outward manifestation of pity which assumes need (which is all children of Adam) on the part of him who receives it and resources adequate to meet need on part of him who shows the mercy. Eleos is kindness or concern shown for someone in serious need. Mercy implies compassion that forbears punishing even when justice demands compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power. God’s mercy, His loving and benevolent pity for the misery brought about by our sin, precedes His saving grace and continues to be actively demonstrated after the work of that grace. God’s mercy is extended for the alleviation of the consequences of sin. Grace identifies the free nature of salvation, that which is unmerited and without obligation. Eleos is the application of grace and reminds us that redemptive freedom rescued us from the pathetic condition of our sinfulness. In John 3:16, God loved in mercy and gave in grace.

Pastor Matthew Henry comments on eleos demonstrated in the parable of the prodigal son: "His father saw him—there were eyes of mercy; He ran to meet him—there were legs of mercy; He put his arms round his neck—there were arms of mercy; He kissed him—there were kisses of mercy; He said to him—there were words of mercy; Bring here the best robe—there were deeds of mercy; Wonders of mercy—all mercy! Oh, what a God of mercy He is! Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners!"

Regeneration (paliggenesia from the adverb palin = back, again, back again + noun genesis = origin, race and birth in turn derived from ginomai = cause to be ["gen"-erate], to become, to begin to be or to come into existence) means literally a birth again and so to be born again. In every day speech paliggenesia denoted various kinds of renewal—the return or restoration of something, return to former circumstances, termination of captivity, restoration to health following a birth or illness.

Greek scholar Kenneth S. Wuest commenting on the use of paliggenesia in Titus 3:5 writes: “Regeneration is described as a washing here. The Word of God is conceived of as a water-bath cleansing the life by putting out of it things that are sinful, and introducing into it, things that are right. In our present text, regeneration is spoken of as a bath in that the impartation of the divine nature results in the cleansing of the life by the fact that the new life from God provides the believer with both the desire and power to do the will of God and to refuse to fulfill the evil nature whose power has been broken by the identification of the believer with the Lord Jesus in His death on the Cross."

Renewing (anakainosis from anakainóo = renew qualitatively in turn from aná = again + kainóo = make new in turn from kainos = qualitatively new) means to cause something to become new and different with the implication of becoming superior - a renewal, a complete change for the better, a renovation.

Greek scholar Kenneth S. Wuest writes: "Anakainosis  is a renewal, renovation, complete change for the better. This is accomplished through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who when definitely, and intelligently, and habitually yielded to puts sin out of the believer’s life and produces His own fruit. He does that by controlling the mental processes of the believer.”

To God be the glory, great things He has done. The greatest thing in all our lives is to worship God. That’s what we were created to do. When we give honor to God, He blesses us and lights our path. When we look at His glory and holiness, He gives us His perspective, and everything else pales in comparison. But when our busyness pushes worship aside and our focus gets off the finished work of Jesus Christ and onto the things of this world or ourselves, we lose our way. He delights in those who reverently honor Him and put their hope and trust in His unfailing love and mercy, not in their own ability. Today, if you’ve put your hope in anyone or anything else, ask the Lord to forgive you. But don’t stop there. Ask His Spirit to so work in your life that your primary goal becomes honoring and pleasing God.

Precious Savior, forgive me for getting wrapped up in myself and my tasks and forgetting to give You the glory for all the great things You have done in my life and in the world around me. Create in me a heart of worship. This day I give honor to You and worship You for the glory of Your name, for the splendor of Your holiness! Thank You for the free gift of salvation, that I am justified on the basis of Your finished work on the Cross. Thank You that, right now, I am under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ. Because I have placed my trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, I am redeemed by Your precious blood. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. Knowing that God’s love for me and approval of me will never be determined by my performance is the most encouraging promise to which I cling—To God be the glory, what great things You have done! In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Look Up—meditate on Titus 3:5

Look In—as you meditate on Titus 3:5 pray to see how you might apply it to your life.

Look Out—as you meditate on Titus 3:5 pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others.

* If you liked this post you’ll love this book – Name Above All Names Devotional: Focusing on 26 Alphabetical Names of Christ

Weekly LinkUps…

the glory and wonder of Jesus Christ

artwork by Tamara Peterson

As I pondered Tamara Peterson’s beautiful artwork Glory and Wonder while listening to the anointed new hymn by Mosaic MSC Glory and Wonder, All the glory and wonder overcome my deepest fears, Oh God our Loving Father You have come to meet me here…I was drawn to two of my favorite Scriptures…

Psalm 37:4

Amplified Bible: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.

Expanded Bible: Enjoy serving the Lord, and he will give you ·what you want [L the requests of your heart].

Good News Translation: Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire.

Living Bible: Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart’s desires.

and

Philippians 3:10a

Amplified Bible: For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly.

I discovered a great acrostic memory tool for the word, “delight,” which describes how I have come to apply this verse to my life...

Daily

Everything
Laid
Into
God’s
Hands
Totally

During my study of these Scriptures, I came to a place in my life where I wanted, more than anything else, to love God more. I began to pray, Lord, I want to delight in you! God is so inconceivably good. He’s not looking for perfection. He already saw it in Christ. He’s looking for affection. That’s why every lasting change will invariably be a change of heart. He’ll even supply the heart, if we’ll ask Him.

Lord Jesus, give me a heart which yearns for Your Presence, a yearning for You that draws me over and over into Your Presence, a yearning that makes only a few days without time in prayer and Your Word seem like an eternity. Give me a heart which is motivated first and foremost by a desire for You, not for what You can do for me, but a yearning for Your Presence. Give me a heart that wants You more than anything else You could give, to love You and know You more than anything in life. Give me a heart that takes what You have made known to me and makes You re-known to everyone else, a heart that makes Your name and renown the desire of my heart. Give me a heart to feel Your Holy Spirit woo me once again to the place where I meet You. In the simplicity of my prayer time, give me a heart to be suddenly confronted by the majesty of my Redeemer—the One Who is responsible for any good in me. Lord, each morning, give me a heart that seeks Your forgiveness for past sins, and welcomes Your fresh mercies which fall like manna from Heaven, and once again move my heart. I surrender all. Morning after morning.

Look up – Meditate on Psalm 37:4 and Philippians 3:10a. Pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

Look in – Meditate on Psalm 37:4 and Philippians 3:10a. Pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: “Because God is ______________, I will ______________.”

Look out – Meditate on Psalm 37:4 and Philippians 3:10a. Pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.  

 * If you liked this post you’ll love this book – Name Above All Names Devotional: Focusing on 26 Alphabetical Names of Christ

Weekly LinkUps…

Jesus, the love song of God...

artwork by Krista Hamrick

This beautiful work of art by Krista Hamrick inspired me as we worshipped with Chris Tomlin’s new Midnight Clear (Love Song) “…and man at war with man hears not, the love song which they bring. O hush the noise and cease the strife, and hear the angels sing. Glory to God in the highest, Glory to God evermore, Good news, great joy for all Melody breaks through the silence, Christ, the Savior is born! Jesus, the love song of God!” …This drew my heart to a word study of the word, glory, from John 1:14 …

NASB: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Amplified:  And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. [Isa. 40:5.].

TLB: And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth. And some of us have seen his glory—the glory of the only Son of the heavenly Father!

Phillips: So the word of God became a human being and lived among us. We saw his splendor (the splendor as of a father's only son), full of grace and truth.

Wuest:  And the Word, entering a new mode of existence, became flesh, and lived in a tent [His physical body] among us. And we gazed with attentive and careful regard and spiritual perception at His glory, a glory such as that of a uniquely-begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Young's Literal: And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

The Message: The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

The word, glory, comes from the Greek word dóxa which means “to think” or “to give a proper opinion or estimate of something.” The glory of God expresses all that He is in His Being and in His nature, character, power and acts.

Theologian Charles Ryrie writes, “Dóxa is the manifestation of any or all of His attributes. In other words, it is the displaying of God to the world. Thus, things which glorify God are things which show the characteristics of His being to the world.”

Puritan writer Thomas Watson has said, “Dóxa is the sparkling of the Deity... We may see God's glory blazing in the sun and twinkling in the stars (Psalm 19:1)...A sight of God's glory humbles. The stars vanish when the sun appears.”

Theologian Gerhard Kittel writes that...”While dóxa can denote “reputation” or “power,” while individual nuances may embrace divine honor, splendor, power, or radiance, what is always expressed is the divine mode of being, although with varying stress on the element of visible manifestation. Dóxa speaks of a manifestation of God's true nature, presence, or likeness. The glory of God is the manifestation of His Being, His character and His acts. The glory of God is what He is essentially. Glory, therefore, is the true apprehension of God or things. The glory of God must mean His unchanging essence.”

Pastor Charles Swindoll has said: “Jesus traveled through the country as a common, unglazed earthenware bottle, corked until those special occasions when His glory was manifested and the fragrant beauty of deity filled the air with its aromatic presence.”

Theologian Ken Boa comments that John 1:14 is, "One of the most important verses in the entire bible...It’s radical. It would stun the Greek mind, for who the separation of the divine spirit and the mundane world would be the idea of the complete separation. It would also stun the Jews to claim that this Word actually came among us and became flesh. It’s an incredible and awesome idea that He became flesh....He pitched His tent (skenoo is the word and it means to tabernacle). In other words, it speaks of the Old Testament tabernacle....God manifested Himself there—the glory, the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire and the Most Holy Place. He pitched His tent in our midst and manifested Himself in a very personal way. This is localized divine presence."

Pastor J. J. S. Bird writes in The Preacher's Analyst on Christ's Glory: “Amid all His humiliation, His dóxa burst forth and manifested itself. Clad as our Savior was in the garments of a man, it was impossible entirely to veil His higher nature. Neither was it advisable. It was necessary that the world should know that He was God. His Divine glory was constantly manifesting itself—when the star led the wise men—when He taught the doctors in the Temple—when He healed the sick and raised the dead.”

There is a beautiful fresco on the ceiling of a Roman palace, painted by Guido Reni in 1614, it was one of the most impressive works of its day. But visitors couldn't fully appreciate the masterpiece because they had to crane their necks to see it. To solve the problem, palace officials placed a large mirror on the floor beneath the painting, enabling viewers to study its reflection and more fully appreciate its beauty. Jesus Christ does precisely that for us…He interprets God to our hearts. In Him, God becomes visible and intelligible to us. He is God stooping down to our level. Jesus is God in human form. In coming into our world, He revealed the Heavenly Father to us. He explained God to us.. That's what John 1:14 means when it says that "the Word became flesh."

If we base our view of God on the media’s opinions or on what liberal professors say about Him, we will have an incorrect picture. If our opinions about God are the result of pain left over from childhood or from our experience with an unloving or absent earthly father, we may see Him through a dark filter and not accept His love for us. But God revealed himself in His Son. His Word is His love letter to us, calling us to come home to His heart. Jesus declared who God is and showed God’s heart to humankind so that we would be drawn to Him and could know him. His life, miracles, teaching, death, and resurrection have given a glorious revelation of the Father. Through His Word we can see the Father accurately in his dóxa, splendor, love, grace, and light.

Heavenly Father, I praise you for revealing yourself in your Son, Jesus--your love song to us.. Wipe off the lens of my heart that I might see you accurately and love you more each day. Thank you for your Word, which reveals your love and your purpose for my life. Thank you for Jesus, who has made it possible for me to have clear vision with which to see you, my Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Look Up—meditate on John 1:14

Look In—as you meditate on John 1:14 pray to see how you might apply it to your life.

Look Out—as you meditate on John 1:14 pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others.

Weekly LinkUps…