Encounter the Truth

Here is the foundational promise of God, fulfilled in Jesus and the gospel. It all comes from God and his initiative. Abraham is the recipient, as we are recipients in Christ. This blessing is meant to go to the world—and so our missionary mandate is found here. The folly of Abraham here reminds us that the blessing rests on grace and not merit.

Patience is vital to our understanding of who God is and what he is like. Were it not for God’s patience, you and I would not be here at all. Each one of us is the beneficiary of the extraordinary patience of God.

Patience is vital to our understanding of who God is and what he is like. Were it not for God’s patience, you and I would not be here at all. Each one of us is the beneficiary of the extraordinary patience of God.

Our God is fundamentally and in his character a generous God. His inclination is not in the direction of miserliness—but in the direction of bounty. That’s an outworking of both his goodness and his love. I hope that we will learn to trust God in his generosity—and then delight in him more as we see his abundant goodness in his lavish generosity.

Our God is fundamentally and in his character a generous God. His inclination is not in the direction of miserliness—but in the direction of bounty. That’s an outworking of both his goodness and his love. I hope that we will learn to trust God in his generosity—and then delight in him more as we see his abundant goodness in his lavish generosity.

Whereas the world’s megalomaniacs grab hold of power and glory out of an ugly selfish ambition—whereas they grasp for something that is not theirs—the Bible would remind us that the God of heaven is supremely glorious in and of himself and perfectly worthy of all honour. And so, when the Bible tells us that God is a jealous God—it is simply telling us that he has an appropriate concern—a rightful zeal—for his own glory.

Whereas the world’s megalomaniacs grab hold of power and glory out of an ugly selfish ambition—whereas they grasp for something that is not theirs—the Bible would remind us that the God of heaven is supremely glorious in and of himself and perfectly worthy of all honour. And so, when the Bible tells us that God is a jealous God—it is simply telling us that he has an appropriate concern—a rightful zeal—for his own glory.

If there is a distinction between grace and mercy—it is that God’s mercy speaks of his goodness to us in our misery and distress when we cannot save ourselves, while his grace speaks of his goodness to us in our guilt when we deserve only his punishment. In mercy God spares us destruction—and in grace he forgives us and makes his children, lavishing his kindness upon us.

If there is a distinction between grace and mercy—it is that God’s mercy speaks of his goodness to us in our misery and distress when we cannot save ourselves, while his grace speaks of his goodness to us in our guilt when we deserve only his punishment. In mercy God spares us destruction—and in grace he forgives us and makes his children, lavishing his kindness upon us.

God’s “righteousness” is his character of total rightness, integrity, goodness and truth—and his “justice” is his expression of that character in his governance of the universe. And the two ideas, although distinct, belong together in the Bible’s portrait of God.