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Fixing Our Eyes on “The Man of Heaven”

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Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

Psalm 119:5-6

In this fallen world, there is the continuation of “and there was evening and there was morning” (Gen. 1:5), which is the continuation of darkness and light. In glory, there will only be light; in condemnation, there will only be darkness.

The same is true in relation to the believer in this fallen world. On the one hand, there will be the “delight in the law of God, in my inner being” (through the Spirit of Christ), while there is also “another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Rom. 7:22-23).

We see that same struggle in the psalms. One the one hand, we have the (imperfect) delight in God’s law, while on their other hand, there is a definite discrepancy between what ought to be (a perfect delight in God’s law) and what is (the struggle with man’s fallen nature, with inward corruptions).

As such, the psalmist cries out: Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! This is more so a prayer (and desire) than a determination of the will. It is the acknowledgement of falling short, while asking God to make him more steadfast in keeping your statutes. The word steadfast means “to make firm, to establish” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament). Only God can do so. In glory, our ways will be perfectly steadfast, bearing the image of the man of heaven.

The Bible makes it plain that all sin causes shame, including for the one who has no “shame” for their sins, which they will have in the final judgment and throughout eternity. Thus, the only way to be saved from the shame of sin is to have a flawless righteousness (Isa. 45:23-25), which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In saving us, God not only deals conclusively with our sins; He also does so with any and all shame, covering us with “the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).

We can read the Bible in relation to the righteousness “that comes from the law” and the one which “comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9). As such, we are to see Jesus and His steadfast ways in keeping your statutes. We are to fix our eyes on the one who has kept all your commandments. In doing so, we will go “from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

If you’ve been blessed by this small excerpt from the upcoming The Man of Heaven: A Christ-Centered Commentary Series (Reading the Scriptures in Light of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ), you can join for more encouraging samples…

For more information, you can read the Introduction to the series.

The Smallness of Grace and the Father’s Infinite Delight

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Thoughts are mostly triggered by what we’ve heard or read. The twentieth floor of a building can never boast against the first nineteen floors because it solely exists because of them. The following article has been triggered by things I’ve heard and read. As such, there’s no originality, but, perhaps, a larger view of the surroundings of God’s grace.

The last view months have been very difficult for me, including a small reality of the goodness, greatness, and glory of God. When the dark clouds cover the sun, we have no problem believing that the sun still exists in all its glory; yet, the actual experience of the sun with its light and warmth is far better.

One of the thoughts that was an enormous encouragement to me is the fact that the smallness of God’s grace in our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father than the greatness of His grace in our lives.

God didn’t create the universe in one split second; He did so over six days. Yet, almost each part was met with: “And God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Each part was good and the whole of it “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

The same is true with His work of grace in our lives. While that work may be small and seemingly insignificant, each particle of grace has the name Jesus engraved on it. Just like a small seed can grow into a large, strong, beautiful tree, even so the smallest work of God’s grace in our lives has the inevitable reality of eternal ages of matchless glory within itself.

As such, the Father has the same infinite delight in the smallness of His grace as He does in the greatness of His grace. Ultimately, the greatness of His grace sprung forth from any “smallness” of His grace. The slightest measure of grace within our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father as if we were already glorified.

The slightest measure of grace within our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father as if we were already glorified. Click To Tweet

Why? Because any measure of grace, no matter how small, comes entirely from Jesus. It is, so to speak, a small reflection of who He is and what He will do. Since He began a “small” work of grace within you, you are as loved by the Father as He loves His Son, for He sees His trace within you.

What may seem small to us, just like the stars in the sky, is actually infinitely great. The smallest particle of grace contains the absolute certainty that He will grow what He has planted.

Through Jesus

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Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1:21

What does it mean that Jesus is our mediator? The biblical definition means a complete reconciliation between God and a sinner. That indicates that there must be perfect harmony between a holy God and a sinful human being. Such harmony can only be based on the complete forgiveness of sin and a perfect righteous life. Anything less than that is unacceptable to God.

As such, we also need a perfect trust in God in order to be justified. Any trust that falls short of such perfection is unacceptable to God. Therefore, Jesus’ perfect trust in the Father as the Son of Man is also an essential part in our justification.

Not only is His flawless faith accounted to us, in today’s verse we read that all our believing is also through Him. When Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), He also meant being a believer in God.

Faith is never self-induced; it always comes through Jesus Christ. That applies to everyone at all times. Luke expressed this truth with these words: “When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed” (Acts 18:27). “Through grace” and “through him” are synonymous.

When we don’t ascribe our believing in God to Jesus as an essential part of His saving work, we attribute to man what must be wholly attributed to Jesus. Whenever you see any authentic believing throughout the Bible or history, you can be sure that it’s always “through him.”

God’s grace is the cause

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Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:5

Paul started this chapter with the truth that, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (v. 1-2). That applies to every Christian. What did Paul mean by dead? He gave a clear answer in Romans: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8).

Spiritual deadness is a complete inability to please God. This also includes our faith because faith is most pleasing to God: “And without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6). By nature, we’re not able to please God with saving faith. Something must happen prior to that.

That’s why Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [born from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God,” which includes not being able to believe and enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5).

God has to give us spiritual life before we can believe. He does that through His life-giving word: “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). God’s call creates life and believing.

The essence of salvation by grace alone is the fact that God “made us alive together with Christ.” His finished work and resurrection is the sole cause of all spiritual life, whereby God has united us to Jesus from “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). His resurrection to life is our resurrection to new life. There is no self-induced spiritual life. Thus, we can only boast in His grace. 

God Abhors Pride

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The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

Amos 6:8

God has strong emotions. He is, however, not controlled by them. His emotions are always based on that which is good and pleasing or that which is evil and displeasing to Him. Today’s verse states that He abhors “the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds.”      

What is pride? At the core, pride is reliance on anyone or anything but God. That also includes not taking His word to heart and wholly trusting in what He has said. He had pronounced a coming judgment on Israel; yet, they didn’t take that to heart. Instead, they wanted Amos to stop prophesying and preaching against them (see Amos 7:16).

There are two statements in this chapter that expressed their pride. First of all, we read: “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria” (v. 1). Their security wasn’t in God, but in their own physical geography and circumstances.

Secondly, we read God’s rhetorical question: “Are you better than these kingdoms?” (v. 2). They believed that other nations deserved God’s righteous judgment, but not their nation. How does that relate to you and me?

God Himself must be our security, whether our circumstances are favorable or failing. Also, we must never think that we’re better than others. Paul wrote that we were “by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:3). We can only boast in God’s. Any other boast is prideful.