WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.000 Okay, so reading from Romans 11, 33 to 36, and if you do have a Bible at the back, it's on page 947. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:22.320 O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:31.120 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor, who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:38.460 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:39.299 Amen. 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:45.719 Okay, we're beginning a new sermon series this week. 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:58.079 We're actually looking at theology, looking at particular words that are actually significant in terms of our theology, understanding life, the universe and everything through God's eyes. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:00.799 And so today we're actually looking at God himself. 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:04.960 I didn't know how to summarise this for Matt. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:09.280 Once you start opening up the subject of God, it gets really big on you very quickly. 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:12.119 So this talk will be about God. 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:22.960 And that passage that we've just heard is a doxology that is like an exclamation, a mini psalm or something like, maybe is suitable for your thinking. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.219 Mini psalm or a poem, exclamation of who God is. 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:42.319 And to get us kind of into the mode of where Paul was at in his own mindset when he actually wrote this and published it for the Romans initially, let's try a little exercise. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:54.579 What I want you to do in a moment, not just yet, but is turn to your neighbour and share with them an event in your life where you were just blown away by something. 00:01:55.059 --> 00:01:56.319 It could be an experience. 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:57.780 It could be something you saw. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:00.859 It could be like climbing to a mountaintop in the view. 00:02:01.119 --> 00:02:05.619 It could be holding your first child after it was born. 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:17.500 It could be a, well, there's no right answer to this, but just one of those moments where you just were full of awe and amazement at all that life has to offer. 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:28.240 And perhaps even one of those moments where you were so full of awe and amazement of what life has to offer that you felt really small within it and yet at the same time full. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:35.520 So if you could just turn to your friends now and just share, just for a few moments, just share one of those experiences that you've had. 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:40.980 I don't know what you've actually shared with each other at this particular point. 00:02:41.040 --> 00:02:42.480 Like I said, there's no wrong answer here. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:52.340 What we're wanting to do, though, is just enter into that space that Paul was in his head where he was thinking about a particularly amazing revelation and experience. 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:54.580 And this is where he was at. 00:02:54.659 --> 00:03:01.180 So for me, for example, I would have shared perhaps the time I held my first child just after it was born. 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:05.560 The first one, because as you know, if you've had more than one, the second and third aren't as eventful. 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:07.840 So the first child. 00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:15.219 And I remember holding that baby, actually holding the baby before Joe because, no, no, I won't go into the details. 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:21.520 Anyway, holding the baby and just kind of thinking, wow, look what we've done. 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:29.200 I know that we was the wrong word very quickly because when I looked at Joe's face, I think she was kind of thinking, yeah, it wasn't 50-50. 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:31.980 It wasn't even 60-40 what's just happened here. 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:35.080 Okay, so look what you've done. 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:37.580 You've produced this beautiful baby. 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:42.039 And you just think, wow, how could you do this, Joe? 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:46.520 You can't even bake a cake and yet you've made this beautiful baby. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:49.140 Was that too harsh? 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:55.240 I do the desserts in our family. 00:03:55.340 --> 00:04:00.640 Joe does the main courses and that's the only reason we've actually survived without descending into diabetes. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:09.099 But, yeah, but, you know, there's these moments in life where you just are overawed by the experience that you've had. 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:20.100 And so overawed that, like I said at the beginning, at the same time you feel big, full of the experience, and yet so small in the context of everything that's going on in the world. 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:30.740 What I want to suggest to you here is that those four short verses that were just read out are Paul's response from being in that mode. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:37.040 And the reason that he is so full of awe at this particular point is because he's had the gospel. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.680 He's laid the gospel out in all its fullness before the Romans. 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.120 He's written it all down. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:52.300 And as he's written it down, he's just gotten to the end point of it and been overwhelmed by the scope of it all. 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:58.780 The fact that the Father who superintended over this plan from before the beginning of time. 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:06.739 The Son, our Creator and our Judge, who set aside his glory to contribute his very life to this plan. 00:05:07.359 --> 00:05:13.339 The Spirit dwelling within us even now, awakening us to the inexhaustible love of God. 00:05:14.119 --> 00:05:17.379 Growing us in an appreciation of God's love. 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:24.139 And keeping us safe and secure until that Son returns to claim us as his own. 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:29.699 Paul is bursting with the joy of knowing this love. 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:33.159 Of being caught up in this plan. 00:05:34.339 --> 00:05:38.979 And at the same time, as you can see from these four verses that spring from this joy, 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:44.819 he feels dwarfed by the God whose plan it is. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:47.919 He is overwhelmed by it. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:50.899 He feels so small within the vastness of the gospel. 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:54.879 Specifically, he's overwhelmed by the God who orchestrated it. 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:59.039 A plan that spans the rise and fall and rise again of the universe. 00:05:59.659 --> 00:06:03.120 The plan that spans nations and cultures and generations and languages. 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:08.279 The plan that spans insurmountable obstacles and broken relationships. 00:06:09.739 --> 00:06:10.779 Who is this God? 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:13.579 What kind of God is this? 00:06:15.299 --> 00:06:18.120 He goes on and says this in verse 33. 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:22.579 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:28.319 How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:32.139 See where he starts there. 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:34.959 The riches of God. 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:38.639 Now, riches we know can be used of wealth. 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:43.879 But in Greek thought, it can also be used of more the concept of who you are as a person. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.199 The fullness or completeness of character. 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.439 And that's what we're seeing here. 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:51.019 That God is a God who doesn't need anything. 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:52.979 Everything flows from him. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.159 And it's a deep, unfathomable richness. 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.279 Consider who God is in his completeness. 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:01.819 He is the great I am. 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:04.219 He knows who he is. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.459 He is secure in who he is. 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:13.279 He doesn't worry about the fact that the likes tally has been taken off his Instagram account. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:19.379 God isn't trying to work out what his identity is like we are. 00:07:20.179 --> 00:07:22.219 He doesn't wonder about his place in the world. 00:07:22.739 --> 00:07:27.279 He doesn't struggle with insecurity or anxiety or any other form of existential angst. 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.939 Consider who he is and the richness of his being. 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:35.039 Consider the Trinity. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:38.580 Now, this isn't all the talk is going to be about. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:43.280 And I'm already scratching on a subject that makes our brains ache when we think about it, doesn't it? 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.040 But think about it just for a moment. 00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:50.379 Three persons, one God. 00:07:51.700 --> 00:07:57.000 God is eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:02.800 I've talked about our sense of identity within ourselves. 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:06.839 But what about that identity as it's expressed within the context of community? 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:09.079 You know what it feels like to be lonely, don't you? 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:15.879 You know what it feels like to be surrounded by people and yet feel like there's no one there who you connect with. 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:19.379 Who you can share your life with, the joys and the sorrows. 00:08:21.779 --> 00:08:24.480 You know that sense of longing for companionship. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.660 God doesn't struggle for a sense of belonging. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.879 Just like he doesn't struggle for a sense of identity. 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:36.220 Because God is never lonely. 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:43.080 He is always experiencing and always expressing that deep sense of connection that we long for. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:49.080 Endless, deep and perfect devotion exists within him. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.120 He doesn't need to connect. 00:08:52.120 --> 00:09:02.679 He is so full of the richness of perfect relationship that he overflows with a desire to reach out and love us. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:09.060 We can't know the fullness of God without knowing the truth of the Trinity. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:19.960 We can't comprehend the richness of God without seeing how the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit engage in perfect, loving, unbroken community. 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:49.940 We can't know the Trinity. 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:50.840 We can't know the Trinity. 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:51.300 We can't know the Trinity. 00:09:51.300 --> 00:09:53.240 Effortless, self-giving community. 00:09:54.680 --> 00:09:58.620 And this rich God is wise beyond measure, we discover in these verses. 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:03.420 Paul goes on to use the descriptors of knowledge and wisdom. 00:10:03.780 --> 00:10:09.700 Now, knowledge is what there is to be known about ourselves, each other, the world around us, everything. 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:16.200 And what we find here is that God is rich, deep. 00:10:16.540 --> 00:10:19.480 The depth of his knowledge is unfathomable. 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:22.460 He has all the information. 00:10:22.860 --> 00:10:28.160 There is nothing missing in his calculations, nothing deficient in his plans because he knows everything. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.459 That's what knowledge is about. 00:10:31.459 --> 00:10:35.399 But wisdom, now wisdom is related to knowledge and we know it's not the same as knowledge, don't we? 00:10:35.939 --> 00:10:41.259 Wisdom is the application of all of that knowledge to life or achieving an outcome. 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:43.740 And you know the difference. 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:50.759 You see, we all know somebody who actually has a brain like the size of a planet. 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:54.919 They know so much and yet they can't seem to change a light bulb. 00:10:56.659 --> 00:11:00.500 Some people know so much but it's practically useless knowledge. 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:07.940 There's a vast trove of knowledge but there's very little sense in that person of how to apply it to everyday life. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:13.899 Well, what we're finding here is that God is not deficient in either knowledge or wisdom. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:16.639 He is rich in both. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:21.440 And these are truths that we teach our children. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.399 There's a song, Our God is a Big, Big God. 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:27.720 Our God is a Big, Big God. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:29.360 I've got to keep going, sorry. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.320 Our God is a Big, Big God and he holds us in his hands. 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:36.139 You know one of the verses to this? 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.680 And he's known me and he's loved me since before the world began. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.440 How wonderful to be a part of God's amazing plan. 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.300 That's songs we get our children to sing. 00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:51.680 But do we truly digest it ourselves? 00:11:51.679 --> 00:12:00.959 The same sentiment that's behind that song is behind Paul's exclamation here. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:15.840 What kind of God is this? 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:22.480 Those rebels you can read about in chapter 1, the people who turn their back will flee on God. 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:23.680 That's us. 00:12:24.460 --> 00:12:29.060 The lawbreakers described in chapters 2 and 3, which is everyone, that's us. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:31.840 Everyone includes us. 00:12:32.800 --> 00:12:36.259 The judgment described at the end of chapter 3 is right. 00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:40.580 The punishment we could not survive is coming our way. 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:44.279 And then God the Father sent the Son to rescue us. 00:12:45.439 --> 00:12:49.879 God the Son became a man and rescued us by taking our punishment for us. 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:55.319 God the Holy Spirit awakened us to the truth of this good news and even now holds us safe within it. 00:12:55.320 --> 00:13:25.300 God the God who made us. 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:32.520 Like I'm here on merit or is like, as opposed to you, is like saying that I'm actually closer to being in outer space at the moment than you are. 00:13:32.820 --> 00:13:35.860 I've climbed those few steps and, you know, I'm an astral now. 00:13:36.780 --> 00:13:37.820 It's ridiculous, isn't it? 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:39.600 We're not here on merit. 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.860 And in fact, as Paul points out in another letter, which he sent to the Corinthians, 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.640 God tends to choose people and the people who least deserve it. 00:13:49.180 --> 00:13:51.820 It's almost like he goes around and makes a point of picking losers. 00:13:54.020 --> 00:13:54.760 That's us. 00:13:55.320 --> 00:14:00.900 Just to teach us how wrong-headed we are in our thinking. 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:03.340 To turn the glory back to him. 00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:07.680 We would never have come up with this gospel. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:09.600 Grace? 00:14:11.920 --> 00:14:13.900 God was loving while we were hating? 00:14:15.980 --> 00:14:17.040 Not a chance. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:38.439 God chose people like us. 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:39.620 God chose God. 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:40.520 Just in mal это. 00:14:40.520 --> 00:15:02.340 希望 하고 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:05.200 We actually rail against God because of his ways. 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:09.220 This God, this perfect God, this God beyond questioning. 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:16.340 We wrestle with him day and night, kind of like Jacob did, 00:15:16.420 --> 00:15:19.639 for a blessing that we've already been freely given by God. 00:15:21.740 --> 00:15:24.519 So Paul issues us with a couple of challenges in the next verses. 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.139 It's a challenge drawn from Old Testament scripture. 00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:30.340 So you see the two verses with question marks in the middle here, 00:15:30.400 --> 00:15:32.120 verses 34 and 35 we're going to turn to. 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:39.800 And each of these points can be traced back to the story of Job. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:41.200 And you can look up the book of Job later. 00:15:41.280 --> 00:15:46.259 It's a fairly long book, but these verses actually come from it. 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:47.700 You see, Job was a good man. 00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:49.500 And I'll give you, so this is a brief summary. 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:53.100 The best of men, in fact, so good that God even boasted about him in heaven. 00:15:54.040 --> 00:15:57.759 And yet God allowed him to suffer unspeakable pain and loss. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:09.059 And when Job dared to ask God why, God answered him with a battery of questions of his own. 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:17.379 Questions that reveal the difference between God and humanity, between who is answerable to who. 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:26.679 And so these two verses kind of almost reflect that interplay, putting us in our place and demonstrating how far greater God is. 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:28.839 In verse 34. 00:16:28.839 --> 00:16:31.319 For who has known the mind of the Lord? 00:16:31.479 --> 00:16:33.359 Or who has been his counsellor? 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:37.439 Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.240 Do you think you know something? 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:45.140 We all do this. 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:49.960 We think we, in our arrogance, we think we know something that we could actually improve on God. 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:53.420 Do we think we know what God knows? 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.900 Do we think we have a perspective that could improve his approach to life? 00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:02.020 I think this sentiment comes out in a number of ways. 00:17:02.060 --> 00:17:02.940 Let me try and open them up. 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.460 For example, our perception of God's character. 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:09.360 I look at God and I think about him like I do about everyone else I know. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.340 I think, well, I like this, this and this about this person. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.360 Then there's his other stuff that's kind of irritating, annoying or embarrassing. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:29.120 In fact, in relation to God, he would really be helpful toward my evangelistic efforts 00:17:29.120 --> 00:17:33.680 and my willingness to own my relationship with him in discussions that kind of get prickly 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:39.420 in the workplace if he just kind of downplayed some of this stuff. 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:44.060 You know, let's just kind of, why does anger have to appear so much in the Bible? 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:46.880 Why does judgment have to be there all the time? 00:17:48.700 --> 00:17:51.660 Play those things down and just leave us with the lovey bits. 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:55.620 Give us a little less of the sin and judgment. 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.660 Give us a little more of the love and grace, we think. 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:03.900 God, be a little less picky and you won't even get so angry. 00:18:06.360 --> 00:18:11.240 So we have this perception of God's character where we're always subconsciously wanting to correct it. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:14.480 And then we have our perception of God's ways. 00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:17.680 Why does he have to discipline me? 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:27.180 Why did he decide what possessed him to think that hardship would be a good teaching tool? 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:37.259 So often in my life, all that loss, all that ridicule, pain and loneliness that I experienced, 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:39.279 surely there's a better way of teaching me. 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:44.400 God, why did you deny me what would make me truly happy? 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:50.040 Why do you give me what's so obviously making me miserable? 00:18:51.280 --> 00:18:53.519 Your way really isn't working out too well for me. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.460 Well, let me tell you what God's way is. 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:00.420 And this is what Paul has just laid out in Romans. 00:19:00.820 --> 00:19:06.300 God's way is to know us and to love us since before we were even created. 00:19:08.340 --> 00:19:09.920 Remember that kid's song? 00:19:10.340 --> 00:19:11.580 That was taken from the Bible. 00:19:11.579 --> 00:19:17.460 His way is the only way we can be saved from ourselves. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.480 And it's at his own expense. 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:23.220 How can we improve on that? 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.659 Where else would you experience love like this or such unwavering devotion? 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:32.919 Who else is speaking such truth into your lives as this? 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:43.039 Well, we think we know something. 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.080 We think we know something better than God at times. 00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:47.519 And we try and correct God in our minds at least. 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:50.080 And our frustrations with him that well up. 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:51.820 They're sourced in that kind of thinking. 00:19:53.340 --> 00:19:55.820 But there's another area too that surfaces in these verses. 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:58.420 Who has given to the Lord? 00:19:59.560 --> 00:20:00.620 And he might repay him. 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:04.839 You may feel you know something about God. 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:07.259 The perfect God that you can improve on him. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:15.839 Quite often, we feel that we are owed something from God because of the devotion we've shown toward him in the past. 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:23.539 When we're not trying to improve God's way, we're trying to relate to God our way. 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:26.519 We do reciprocal relationship. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.539 God does self-giving. 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:34.319 And this mutual self-giving way of relating scares us more than I think we even realize. 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:37.559 To think that God is self-sufficient. 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:40.759 That he's complete without me. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.680 That he doesn't need anything that I have to offer. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.639 What's to hold him to me? 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:51.160 What leverage do I have? 00:20:54.220 --> 00:20:58.520 Now, theoretically, I'll tell you that I like to relate to my family and friends by self-giving. 00:20:59.020 --> 00:21:01.020 But I expect to receive. 00:21:02.620 --> 00:21:04.440 Joe and I have been married for 24 years. 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:05.820 Going on 25 next year. 00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:07.200 Just so you know. 00:21:08.120 --> 00:21:09.520 Because that's the silver one. 00:21:09.600 --> 00:21:10.580 So I want everyone to know that one. 00:21:10.579 --> 00:21:11.019 Yeah. 00:21:13.639 --> 00:21:16.299 And I know that in my relationship, I count. 00:21:16.399 --> 00:21:17.819 And in such petty ways. 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:19.399 They have to be petty. 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.720 Because Joe is so much better at self-giving than I am. 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:23.199 But I can tell you one thing. 00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:24.960 And I'll show you how petty these things are. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.539 I know what kind of cup of... 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:30.579 I know how to make a cup of tea for Joe the way she likes it. 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.299 She knows how to make a cup of tea for me the way she likes it. 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:38.220 And every time, it rattles me. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:40.740 Why does it rattle me so much? 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:47.079 I notice when Joe actually makes a cup of tea for herself and doesn't offer me one. 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:55.019 And I really try hard, just so I have one up, at least in one area of our lives, 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.880 to make sure that I offer her a cup of tea when I'm making one. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:02.759 I missed it yesterday. 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.400 Joe saw me making a cup of tea for myself and said, 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:06.420 Oh, could I have one too? 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:08.120 And I went, Oh, no. 00:22:08.220 --> 00:22:10.539 Oh, I missed a chance to just get that one up on her. 00:22:12.140 --> 00:22:13.360 That's the stupid little areas. 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:15.799 And you can just imagine, if that's the small areas that I'm counting, 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:18.960 there are much bigger and much more significant areas that I'm counting. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.140 And I can tell you that you guys are doing it too. 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:25.440 Theoretically, we relate to each other. 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:31.079 At least what we say is that we relate to each other by mutual self-giving. 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:33.639 But we expect to receive. 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.899 And we know that because we feel it when people let us down. 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:45.039 When I give and they don't, I can swallow it for a while. 00:22:45.179 --> 00:22:46.720 I can persevere for a while. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.680 But then I start to think of boundaries. 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:53.640 Limits that preserve my ability to continue to give. 00:22:53.860 --> 00:22:56.200 And I'm not talking about the real limits on our finite existence, 00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:59.600 like time and energy and balancing multiple demands in our lives. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.720 I'm talking about the attitude of heart that dries up 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:05.120 and I don't get back what I give. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:10.879 The attitude of heart that doesn't even count what I get. 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:18.759 God has the attitude of heart that gives without counting. 00:23:21.159 --> 00:23:23.399 There is nothing we can give a God like this, 00:23:23.479 --> 00:23:24.919 a God who is complete in himself. 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:29.539 But to know that this God gives everything of himself to us 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:33.139 without any signs of exhaustion or giving up, 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:38.920 oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of that God. 00:23:42.740 --> 00:23:44.240 This is a worthy God. 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:47.759 God worthy of our worship. 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:52.500 If you haven't picked up what Paul's doing yet, 00:23:52.560 --> 00:23:53.800 then this last verse nails it. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.080 You see, Paul is introducing you to the center of the universe 00:23:56.080 --> 00:23:57.120 and it's not you. 00:23:57.960 --> 00:23:59.340 He says in verse 36, 00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:07.299 For from him and through him and to him are all things. 00:24:08.939 --> 00:24:11.279 To him be glory forever. 00:24:11.919 --> 00:24:12.399 Amen. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:16.279 God is active in our universe. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.179 Everything came from him. 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:20.879 But he didn't just create the universe and wind it up 00:24:20.879 --> 00:24:22.819 and set it going in that kind of deist mindset. 00:24:22.819 --> 00:24:26.839 He sustains the universe in an ongoing way, you can see here. 00:24:27.159 --> 00:24:30.139 Everything still owes its existence back to him. 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:32.039 It's all because of him. 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:37.159 I think this has two main practical implications for us. 00:24:37.419 --> 00:24:40.639 And the first is that God is knowable on his terms. 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.960 Now we've spent a bit of time talking about how unsearchable 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:49.100 and inscrutable God is. 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:52.940 But that's not the same as saying that God is unknowable. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.079 I need to say at this point that God is knowable. 00:24:57.559 --> 00:24:59.360 There is so much that's mysterious about him, 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:01.480 so much depth to him that we'll never be able to plumb. 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:06.960 And yet God is knowable because he has made himself known. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.279 We can know him to a limited extent through the universe that he's made. 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.200 We can know him to a limited extent through the fact 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:14.360 that we're made in his image. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.420 But ultimately, if we want to get to know who God is, 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:20.180 we have to look at him and how he has chosen 00:25:20.180 --> 00:25:21.920 to reveal himself throughout history. 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:26.420 And the ultimate experience, ultimate revelation of himself 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:30.900 is actually in the culmination of God's gospel plan to rescue us. 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:35.380 The plan that we read about in his word. 00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:39.779 But I won't go any further on that because that's something 00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:41.759 that I don't want to steal David's thunder for next week 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.340 when he speaks about scripture. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:50.100 It's only by looking at God and who he's revealed himself to be 00:25:50.100 --> 00:25:53.200 throughout history and what he's doing throughout history 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.299 that we can begin to understand anything about God. 00:25:56.299 --> 00:25:59.759 This is where Paul's coming from in his passage. 00:26:00.639 --> 00:26:02.799 He's not just had a transcendental moment, you know, 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.339 sitting on a mountaintop and starving himself for 40 days or whatever 00:26:05.339 --> 00:26:06.839 and suddenly hallucinating. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:12.599 He's looking at the concrete ways that God has revealed himself to the world. 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:16.680 He's studied what God has been doing throughout history. 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:20.960 He's seeing its fulfillment in the gospel and he's in awe of this God. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:27.840 So if we want to encounter God, we actually need to come to him on his terms, 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:29.980 through his inspired work. 00:26:30.340 --> 00:26:31.620 And as I said, more on that next week. 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:34.579 His inspired word, did I say? 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:35.240 Word. 00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:35.720 Yep. 00:26:36.360 --> 00:26:36.700 Okay. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:39.600 So that's the first one, that God is noble on his terms. 00:26:39.660 --> 00:26:42.039 And the second thing is that worship is his due. 00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:43.420 God is worthy. 00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:45.940 So worship is his due. 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:53.779 Paul makes his statement, from him and through him and to him are all things. 00:26:56.080 --> 00:26:58.060 And Paul points out the obvious here. 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:05.060 If everything is from and through and to him, then he is owed everything. 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:09.000 I and you owe him everything. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:14.200 In Paul's words, to him be the glory forever. 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:15.000 Amen. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:22.019 I think Paul takes it in a difficult direction here by using these absolutes. 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:23.839 I think it's logical, isn't it? 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:27.339 If everything is from him, then it belongs to him. 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:28.579 It's owed back to him. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:33.380 It's logical, but I think it's really hard to go there. 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:36.599 Because it actually demands something of me personally. 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:37.619 It demands a response. 00:27:37.619 --> 00:27:42.459 This truth, and not just a response, this truth demands everything of me. 00:27:43.779 --> 00:27:46.859 Everything of me channeled in God's direction. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.479 The world turns because of God. 00:27:52.019 --> 00:27:55.519 And now Paul is saying it revolves around him too. 00:27:58.159 --> 00:27:59.239 Now we have that saying, don't we? 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:00.859 You think the world revolves around you? 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:04.199 Well, you've met someone who it does. 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:05.000 That's true of. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.279 Someone I know once said that God is the ultimate egotist. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:12.240 And when I heard it, I can remember I cringed. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:13.720 God is the ultimate egotist? 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:17.119 I don't like people who are full of themselves. 00:28:18.119 --> 00:28:25.859 Mainly because basically their self-importance generally robs me of my own, you know, of areas of my own self-importance. 00:28:25.859 --> 00:28:29.779 It impinges on my life and encroaches on my areas of self-importance. 00:28:30.219 --> 00:28:36.339 Or their sense of self-importance imposes on me in a way that kind of is unpleasant. 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:40.799 Like it can be, you know, turns us into bullies toward each other, doesn't it? 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:41.399 Insensitive. 00:28:41.979 --> 00:28:42.379 Uncaring. 00:28:42.380 --> 00:28:48.920 I don't like people who are full of themselves. 00:28:50.840 --> 00:28:53.300 My response is, who do you think you are? 00:28:56.260 --> 00:28:57.720 Try saying that to God. 00:28:58.520 --> 00:29:00.260 Because he has an answer for you. 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:03.000 God is the ultimate egotist. 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:05.080 The sun doesn't shine out of him. 00:29:05.160 --> 00:29:06.540 It shines because of him. 00:29:07.320 --> 00:29:09.400 The world doesn't revolve around him. 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.160 The whole universe exists because of him. 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:16.740 Because of an effortless exercise of his will. 00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:27.080 And the amazing thing is that God's expression of his ego in this way doesn't rob me of a thing. 00:29:28.860 --> 00:29:36.800 As he expresses himself in all his fullness, he fills the universe. 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:40.960 And he fills me. 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.500 The gospel is the expression of God's ego. 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:49.380 I'm not the source. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:54.280 I'm not searching inside myself anymore for this sense of significance. 00:29:54.740 --> 00:29:56.280 God is pouring it into me. 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:58.620 Because that's what his glory does. 00:30:00.340 --> 00:30:04.420 God is infinite and complex and powerful. 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:07.420 He's unsearchable. 00:30:08.060 --> 00:30:09.360 And yet he's knowable. 00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:13.960 Because he's revealed himself to us throughout history. 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.480 As is recorded in the Bible. 00:30:16.840 --> 00:30:20.140 And God's greatest revelation of himself is found in the gospel. 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:24.700 And as we contemplate it, we too should respond in the way that Paul has done here. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:25.299 Wow. 00:30:26.620 --> 00:30:27.059 Wow. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:35.940 Well, maybe wow in a little bit more sense of eloquence than that. 00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:41.220 Wow in the sense of, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:30:42.360 --> 00:30:44.240 How unsearchable are his judgments. 00:30:45.080 --> 00:30:46.799 And how inscrutable his ways. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:50.639 For who has known the mind of the Lord? 00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:51.819 Or who has been his counselor? 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:54.539 Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 00:30:56.419 --> 00:31:01.259 For from him and through him and to him are all things. 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.399 To him be the glory forever. 00:31:05.399 --> 00:31:05.759 Amen.