Theology / God

  • The Drama of Redemption

    Psalm 85:10

    Today’s passage contains the beautiful imagery of justice and peace (or mercy, as other translations put it) kissing each other. Our Father graciously restores peace between Himself and us in Christ Jesus. This peace is permanent, for it is ...Read More

  • The Primacy of God’s Glory

    Isaiah 48:1–11

    Dr. John Piper writes: “God’s own glory is uppermost in his own affections. In everything he does, his purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say his glory is uppermost in his own affections means that he ...Read More

  • Cyrus, the Lord’s Anointed

    Isaiah 45:1–13

    It might be a clichè to say that we should “expect the unexpected.” Yet because God is fully sovereign, there is a real sense in which we should expect Him to act in ways we have not anticipated because His ...Read More

  • Waiting for the Lord to Save

    Isaiah 40:12–31

    As we will see in the weeks ahead, the delay in God’s redemption that the exiles felt was due in part to their continued sin. The Lord would have to intervene in a powerful way to make His people ...Read More

  • The Weakness of Men

    Isaiah 40:6–11

    One commentator describes the enduring message of today’s passage thusly: If I insist that I am permanent, I will fail. But if I confess God’s permanence—if I trust in His Word and believe it is sure—then ...Read More

  • The Lord of Grace, Mercy, and Justice

    Isaiah 30:18

    God must give us new hearts if we are to repent (Eph. 2:8–10). But once these hearts are ours, we must turn to Him for salvation both from His wrath and our enemies. He will deliver us if ...Read More

  • The Call of Isaiah

    Isaiah 6:1-7

    Dr. James R. White comments: “If we ask Isaiah, ‘Whose glory did you see in your vision of the temple?’ he would reply, ‘Yahweh’s.’ But if we ask the same question of John, ‘Whose glory did Isaiah see?’ he ...Read More

  • Holiness and Justice

    Leviticus 10:1–3

    Many people complain that the doctrine of election is unfair and deny it because they think fairness demands that we all have the ability to believe the gospel. But if we are sinners, the one thing God would be fair ...Read More

  • The Holiness of God

    Isaiah 6:1-7

    Alone among the religions of the world, Christianity teaches that God does not grade on a curve. If we think that He will let us into heaven if our good deeds outweigh our bad, we are sadly mistaken. One sin ...Read More

  • The Lord’s Tender Compassion

    Hosea 11:8–12

    We must be profoundly grateful for the grace of God, for it means He does not give up on those whom He loves even though we do much every day that should prompt Him to abandon us. This is a ...Read More

  • The Lord Spares Nineveh

    Jonah 3

    God’s Word always achieves the purpose for which it is ultimately intended (Isa. 55:10–11). Sometimes His promise of judgment prompts people to repent, as it did when Jonah preached it to Nineveh. Sometimes it makes people harden ...Read More

  • Amos Prays and God Relents

    Amos 7:1–9

    The Lord has ordained all of history and “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11), so He knew that Amos would pray and that He would relent when He gave the visions of the ...Read More

  • Glorifying God in Heaven

    Hebrews 12:18–29

    At issue in the worship wars is not old versus new but God-honoring worship versus irreverence. There are contemporary forms of worship that strive to keep God at the center, and there are traditional forms of worship that fail to ...Read More

  • The Glory of God

    Isaiah 60:1–3

    Augustine often spoke of the gravitas of worship, the seriousness of mind that we must have when we enter into God’s presence. We worship a weighty Lord, so we must always consider whether the worship we offer is light ...Read More

  • Glory to the Name of the Lord

    Psalm 115:1

    Prayer changes us. We cannot hope to love and serve God properly merely by reading His Word and fellowshiping with others, although these exercises do benefit us and our relationship to the Lord. In addition to such things, we must ...Read More