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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Life Practical Ramifications of God's Greatness for the Christian life


Romans 12:1-2  "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Introduction:
Over the past couple of weeks we have been exploring the central Biblical theme of "The Greatness of God". In our process of discovery we have been utilizing Romans 11:33-36 as our chief text. Romans 11:33-36 not only is a doxology or explosion of praise unto God for His greatness in salvation but also summmarizes the first 11 chapters of Romans which detail God's greatness and power in the Gospel.  In the first post of this theme (http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2015/04/why-we-need-gods-greatness.html ), we saw four reasons why the church and Christians need the Greatness of God as a central focus:

1. Evangelism's motive is the greatness of God

2. Worship is based upon the greatness of God

3. Service to God centers on God's greatness

4. Everyday life needs God's greatness

Yesterday we finished up a four part series featuring the Ambassador of God's Greatness - the Holy Spirit. If it were not for the Holy Spirit, God's greatness would not be accessible to the Christian. God is so Great and Awesome that apart from the Holy Spirit's work, His greatness is observed and known about in the heavens and in the conscience by way of general revelation. (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20; Romans 2:15). Such revelation of God's greatness renders all human beings without excuse and liable to judgment. What is needed is saving revelation, which is specifically revealed in the Bible and most fully through Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 1:1-2) 

Hence has been our discoveries thus far in our study of this great theme of God's greatness. Today begins taking what we have gleaned from Romans 11:33-36 and exploring what life looks like practically when lived out such truths. 

We could deem our previous studies as focusing more upon what I call "worship application", meaning seeing God and relating to Him vertically. If we are ever to live for God effectively, we must see how awesome He is in His full-orbed revelation through the Son. Unless I am in awe of God, I'll never delight in God. Worship application gives us the proper perspective - albeit a vertical and eternal one - for considering life application. To reverse this order is like trying to convey excitement over the Grand Canyon from a postcard. The postcard's point means nothing unless one has been swallowed up by the grandeur of its immensity. Much moreso with God! If we do not proceed in this order from the vertical (God to me), we will never be effective in our life application (me to others).

When we consider Romans 11:33-12:21, we discover the following life-application ramifications for God's greatness in the Christian life:

1. God's greatness in its worship application. Romans 11:33-36

2. Serving with God's Greatness. Romans 12:1-13

3. Living life focused on God's greatness. Romans 12:14-21

God's greatness is as practical as it is worshipful. In reality, our doxology (how we worship) leads to how we live for God. May others who see us serving and living for God conclude that we have been those who have been captured by His Greatness. By the Holy Spirit's working, would it be that others would be converted by grace through faith and experience this wonderful reality for themselves.