{"id":2557,"date":"2011-11-22T16:54:20","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T22:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/?p=2557"},"modified":"2011-11-22T21:54:17","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T03:54:17","slug":"sermon-follow-up-a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/sermon-follow-up-a-picture-worth-a-thousand-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon Follow-up: “A Picture Worth a Thousand Words”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Sunday’s sermon, “A Picture Worth a Thousand Words<\/a>,” Ryan unpacked the first six verses of Psalm 19 for us. As Ryan said, Psalm 19 as a whole reflects on God’s communication through both “stars and Scripture,” or, “world and Word.” In verses 1-6,\u00c2\u00a0David reflects on that first way that God talks: through what He has made. The opening line is a nice summary for the section: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” In other words, “everything God made declares the glory of God.”<\/p>\n

To be sure, creation isn’t all we need. As we will find out next week, God has also spoken specially and\u00c2\u00a0specifically with words, and we need those words to know Him, and not because His speech in creation is deficient, but because we’re deficient to receive it as we ought.<\/p>\n

As those who have received the Word, who have traded the glory of creation back for the glory of the Creator, we can actually glory in God more fully for a right enjoyment of what He has made. And so we should.<\/p>\n

Two resources can help us to this end. First, Old Testament scholar, Mark Futato, has written a helpful reflection on and exposition of the\u00c2\u00a0significance\u00c2\u00a0of creation, in, Creation: A Witness to the Wonder of God<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Second, in his book, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy<\/a><\/em>, John Piper writes a chapter on, “How to\u00c2\u00a0Wield\u00c2\u00a0the World in the Fight for Joy.” Considering Psalm 19:1-6<\/a>, Piper writes,<\/p>\n

Clearly this poet wants us to see and to feel that when the sun pours\u00c2\u00a0forth speech about the glory of God, the message is that the glory of God\u00c2\u00a0is an overwhelmingly happy thing. Why else would he say it is like a\u00c2\u00a0bridegroom coming out of his chamber? The point here is not merely\u00c2\u00a0that the bridegroom is decked out in the \u00ef\u00ac\u0081nest clothes and surrounded\u00c2\u00a0by his noble groomsmen. The point is that this is the happiest day of his\u00c2\u00a0life. This is the ful\u00ef\u00ac\u0081llment of dreams. This is the beginning of a whole\u00c2\u00a0new kind of joy. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the glory of God is like. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the message\u00c2\u00a0we should hear when we see the sun rise with lavish red and gold and\u00c2\u00a0lavender in the eastern sky. God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glory is a happy thing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike the happiness of a bridegroom on his wedding day. (190)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The joy poured forth by the sun is the same joy\u00c2\u00a0emitted\u00c2\u00a0by every good physical thing in this world.\u00c2\u00a0Piper\u00c2\u00a0sums\u00c2\u00a0this up well in his conclusion: “Joy in God is not the same as joy in sex or a sizzling steak or deep ravines\u00c2\u00a0or powerful music. But God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will is that all these\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand every part of his\u00c2\u00a0good creation\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddeclare the glory of God. All the world, and even the\u00c2\u00a0imperfect representations of it in human art, is a witness to the glory of\u00c2\u00a0God. That glory is the ultimate ground of all human gladness. Therefore,\u00c2\u00a0the created world is a holy weapon in the \u00ef\u00ac\u0081ght for joy” (206).<\/p>\n

This chapter and Piper’s whole book is available for free<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from Desiring God.\u00c2\u00a0This book is also available on Amazon<\/a> and at the Resource Center on Sundays.<\/p>\n

As Christians, we have a high view of the goodness of the physical world, because we believe that it was made to reflect and direct us to the One who made it. And as Ryan reminded us on Sunday, where things are not right in this present order, we are reminded that the world itself is “groaning” with us for the day when Christ will make all things new (Romans 8:18-8:23; Revelation 21-22).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Sunday’s sermon, “A Picture Worth a Thousand Words,” Ryan unpacked the first six verses of Psalm 19… Continue Reading ›<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2557"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2557"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2557\/revisions\/2564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertspringschurch.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}