God is madly and passionately in love with…Himself. Sit with that thought for a while. Eat it. Savor its flavor. Digest it. Allow the nutrients contained within that simple phrase to nourish your body.
I remember the first time that I encountered this theological notion. Upon completing my senior year of high school, I began reading one of the books I received for graduation: Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. In this magnificent work, Piper proclaims God’s Self-love. God is wholly consumed with a passion for His own glory.
Viewing Christianity from the lens of American culture, in which I often heard messages of God’s unconditional love for me, I found this Self-love to be rather conceited. It grated against me and began peeling back parts of my soul. It was painful—a slow, steady pain that is experienced through the stripping away of the layers of self. And as a follower of Jesus Christ, I could not tell which was more painful: the actual stripping away of self or the idea that God’s Self-love ever disturbed me in the first place.
But He is God. There is nothing that supersedes or surpasses Him. There is no notion that existed prior to Him. There is no person who holds more power than Him. There is no perfection that exists above Him. There is no control that exists outside of His choosing. He is God.
I remember the first time that I encountered this theological notion. Upon completing my senior year of high school, I began reading one of the books I received for graduation: Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. In this magnificent work, Piper proclaims God’s Self-love. God is wholly consumed with a passion for His own glory.
Viewing Christianity from the lens of American culture, in which I often heard messages of God’s unconditional love for me, I found this Self-love to be rather conceited. It grated against me and began peeling back parts of my soul. It was painful—a slow, steady pain that is experienced through the stripping away of the layers of self. And as a follower of Jesus Christ, I could not tell which was more painful: the actual stripping away of self or the idea that God’s Self-love ever disturbed me in the first place.
The very definition of God suggests Supremacy. In other words, God would not be God if anything or anyone superseded or surpassed Him in any way. Any notion that existed before Him could claim Intellectual Supremacy. Any person who held more power could claim Kingship. Any perfection that existed above Him could claim Deity. Any control that existed outside of His choosing could claim Sovereignty. In all of these cases, God would not be God.
But He is God. There is nothing that supersedes or surpasses Him. There is no notion that existed prior to Him. There is no person who holds more power than Him. There is no perfection that exists above Him. There is no control that exists outside of His choosing. He is God.
For man to worship anything other than God would be idolatry of the gravest nature. In worshipping God, we declare that there is none other who is worthy “to receive glory and honor and power.” Why? For He “created all things and by [His] will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11).
The notion that God demands my exclusive worship no longer disturbs me; in fact, it delights me! It is the greatest proof that the God who has called me to Himself is the One, True, Living, All-Sufficient, Supreme Being who breathes Life into my soul.
If God stirs within your heart a deep desire to know, love, cherish, and trust the God of gods, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, to Whom we all will one day give an account, then at this very moment, respond to His voice and commit your life to eternally worshipping Him!
2 comments:
Interestingly enough, this post made sense =). I don't fully grasp it but i fully agree with what you said.
I'm not sure I fully grasp this either. I suppose understand it to some extent intellectually, but practically speaking, I still live like God exists for me. I think it will not be until we stand in His presence that we will fully realize what it means that God demands every last ounce of our worship. And in that moment, all of our senses will engage in the reality of that He is worthy to be worship above all things, and in all unadulterated purity, we will gladly bow before Him!
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