Below is an excerpt from my new book “Know,” releasing on Amazon on September 16, 2024
Stuck
Recently I was stumped by a technology problem. Our church does not have a building or office space, and so I work from the office in my apartment. Our church also relies on volunteers for bookkeeping, and I oversee the process of our monthly financial records. That means each month I transfer computer files back and forth to our volunteers.
For many years we have transferred files using the cloud (through the internet). Well, recently when I began training a new volunteer, I could not get that to work. It was evening, we were wasting time, and I was frustrated. I decided to end our training session and solve things the next day. Before going to bed, I prayed for wisdom.
The next day I prayed again for wisdom and then began to ponder how to solve the problem. Quickly the answer came to me. It was so simple I am embarrassed to say it. We needed to stop transferring files via the cloud and just use a flash drive, which we could hand back and forth when we transfer the bank statement and other financial documents. For a long time we had been using a system that was unnecessarily complicated. Mentally I had been accustomed to it, so I needed God to open my mind to other options. When I prayed for wisdom, that is what he did.
More Answers
Would I have found that solution without asking for wisdom? All I know is, I regularly get stuck and stay stuck and frustrated with problems large and small—until I pray for wisdom. Then, in God’s timing, the answer suddenly comes to me, in ways that seem normal and natural—rarely dramatic. Usually the answers seem so unsurprising that I wonder why I had not thought of them earlier. Everything works better for me when I ask God for wisdom.
Knowing God
Learning to pray for wisdom for everything that matters to you is an important way to know God practically, in daily experience, as someone you can rely on to help you. Knowing God and his ways is not just an intellectual experience; it is also a lived experience of prayer, trust, and dependence. If we know how to explain God doctrinally but do not know how to depend on him for what we need, we are missing something important and wonderful.
My new book on inquiring of God releases in two weeks!
On Monday, September 16, 2024, my new book titled Know: A Workbook for Gaining Wisdom from God about Everything That Matters to You releases on Amazon, in hardback, for $14.
I believe it can build your faith to pray for wisdom and thereby change your life. Most importantly, as I wrote above, it will help you know and walk better with God.
A few years ago I went to a men’s clothing store to buy a sport coat. The salesman asked my size, went to the racks, and pulled five coats of various colors and prices. Several looked good before I put them on. Once I had them on, however, they did not feel or look right. They were too big, too small, an unflattering color or style, or priced higher than I wanted to pay. I would put them on, look in the mirror, and know instantly that this jacket was wrong.
After trying a few that failed, I picked up a simple navy coat. I slipped it on, and instantly it felt great. I looked in the mirror, and it fit perfectly. The color was flattering. I knew immediately this was for me. This must be an expensive coat, I thought. I found the price tag and discovered a mid-range figure on sale for lower than I walked in expecting to pay.
I was sold and have never regretted that purchase. When I wear that coat, I am comfortable and confident.
Soulmate
Just as some clothing does or does not fit your body, some people and situations do or do not fit your soul. About this, Jesus said something that may surprise you. As he neared the end of his life, he lifted his eyes to heaven and spoke what is called the high priestly prayer. In it he said to his Father about his disciples,
“This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
—John 17:3 (ESV)
When we finally come to be with God after life in this fallen world, our soul will feel just right. We were created by God to live in a love relationship in his presence. Life in this fallen world is worse than wearing a bizarrely-colored coat that is several sizes too small. But when we finally come into his presence, we will immediately know this is what we were created for. Our soul will feel something that before then we have only enjoyed small foretastes. We will immediately know that being with God is eternal life, that knowing God is eternal life, that he is our soulmate.
When Jesus said, “This is eternal life,” he was not talking about the duration of our lives, that is, merely staying alive. Jesus was talking about the kind of life people have in heaven, in the eternal kingdom of God, the highest quality of life possible, with maximum happiness.
Eternal life is found in knowing a person
“This is eternal life, that they know you.” Eternal life is found in a relationship with a person. God designed us for the ultimate purpose of relationship. While he designed us with many abilities, such as legs for the purpose of walking; arms, hands and fingers for the purpose of working and creating and so on; he most importantly designed us with a body, soul, and spirit perfectly suited for communication, togetherness, interaction, love.
Unless painful experiences, human brokenness, or sin have twisted our souls in some way, what most interests people is other persons. We most enjoy knowing other persons, that is, interacting, being close, having trust, feeling affection, communicating, cooperating. The kind of knowledge one gets from a book, from thinking, from physical experiences, adventures, and pleasures is wonderful, but it cannot compare with the happiness that comes from knowing a good person with godly love.
Eternal life is found in knowing the ultimate person
While knowing a good human person is a joyful thing, what surpasses it by far is knowing the only true God. God is the ultimate person, the ultimate soulmate. He is the most joyful, gracious, interesting, creative, intelligent, wise, loving, gentle, caring, compassionate, powerful, important, delightful, good, and pleasurable person there is. And infinitely more. He can do more for you than any other person. He will be more faithful to you than any other person.
Jesus refers to God as “the only true God.” That means we cannot find eternal life in a false god. Jesus knows well that the world is filled with countless supposed deities, idols, religions, and created things that people treat as though they had ultimate importance and power. But Jesus says there is only one true God. Trying to find eternal life through any false God will end in utter disappointment.
Eternal life is found only through a relationship with both God and the Messiah he sent
Jesus did not stop with knowing God, however. He said, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Without the latter you cannot have the former (1 John 5:12). That is confirmed in the identity Jesus ascribed to himself in John 17:3:
Jesus: When the angel announced the conception of the Son of God in Mary’s womb, he also revealed the name given him by God himself: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The name Jesus means he saves. We can only know God if Jesus saves us from our sins. Jesus’ death on the cross fixes the problem that makes life in this age a bad fit.
Christ: That is the Greek term for the Hebrew word Messiah. He is the leader who comes to rescue his people. The Son of God not only saves each of us individually from our sins, but he saves the people of God from their evil. He rescues us from corporate, collective brokenness. We feel the brokenness of humanity, but knowing the Son of God enables us to feel salvation.
Sent from God: Jesus referred to himself as the one “whom you [God] have sent.” Jesus was not doing his own thing. God sent him to earth, and everything he did was at God’s direction. At the Transfiguration of Jesus, God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Salvation through faith in Jesus was God’s idea, and we know God through the mediator he sent (John 3:16-18).
This is eternal life in perfect happiness and satisfaction: knowing God and his chosen savior for mankind. A foretaste of that quality of life begins now, with much more to come when we see him face to face. You have much to look forward to. If you believe in Jesus, your soul will someday find its perfect fit in the presence of God. God is your soulmate. Knowing him is eternal life.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
Isaiah 11:9 tells where we can find a peaceful ocean of understanding.
“They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
—Isaiah 11:9 (ESV)
In what ways can the knowledge of God change you and those with whom you live and work? The knowledge of the Lord can bring peace.
Supernatural peace
Isaiah 11:9 begins with a great promise of peace. A day is coming when people will not hurt others nor destroy others nor destroy the earth.
The preceding verses describe a peace that extends even to the animal world:
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.” (Isaiah 11:6–8)
God’s mountain
The place of perfect peace will be God’s holy mountain. This is the New Jerusalem that in the New Creation will come down out of heaven and forevermore be the capital city of the newly recreated earth. (See Revelation 21 and 22, Isaiah 65:17–25.)
2 Peter 3:13 says, “According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Peaceful holiness
The mountain is “holy.” Holiness is good and desirable for every reason, including that it is the precondition of peace. Unholiness is what makes our world a painful, frightening, dangerous place to live. Unholiness ruins friendships, marriages, families, workforces.
Galatians 5:22–23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit [that is, the Holy Spirit!]is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
The hinge
The conjunction “for” is the hinge of Isaiah 11:9. Something will happen that will transform our world from a place of much evil and suffering to a place of perfect peace: “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
What transforms the world is the knowledge of the LORD. The world is broken because people do not know God, the Holy One. They have false conceptions of God, idolatrous understandings of God, or worldviews that deny God and make man the touchstone of reality. The result is divisions, endless confusion about right and wrong, and continual struggles for control and selfish gain.
A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
An ocean of knowledge
What will someday turn the world into a paradise of peace is an exponential increase in the knowledge of the LORD. Someday the knowledge of the LORD will cover the earth as water fills oceans. How much water is in the Pacific Ocean? How well does that ocean of water cover the ground beneath it? That analogy quantifies how much knowledge people will have of God in the New Creation.
Two other translations help us with the analogy. The NLT says: “Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD.” The CSB says: “They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is filled with water.”
So the earth will be filled with people who are filled with the knowledge of God. No one will be ignorant of or have fragmentary knowledge of God. The entire earth will be covered with an ocean of the true knowledge of God, and the result will be perfect peace, blessed shalom.
A peaceful you
Do you need peace? Pray for the knowledge of God that is lacking, for you, and if needed for others.
For example, Lord, I ask you to give Edward the knowledge of God that will bring him peace in his relationship with Mark, and do the same with Mark.
Or, Lord, cause me to know you in a way that will bring peace to my worried mind.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one.
As we saw last week, God wants us to know how much he delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. Last week we talked about his steadfast love; we continue now with his justice.
“I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
God’s delight in justice is perfectly seen in his commands to Israel about how they were to treat one another. Notice in the following commands in Leviticus God’s concern for the needy, for fair business dealings, truth telling, how the powerful treat the powerless, justice in court, neighbors treating each other well:
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:9–18)
All this is summed up in one word: justice. God hates unfairness, hurtful relationships, and falsehood. He delights in justice. To please him, you will likewise love justice in all your dealings.
Two of the most powerful words and ideas in any language are those for right and wrong. That is because we care dearly about right and wrong. We tell others to do the right thing. In any situation, if we feel we have been wronged, we feel it acutely. Tales of right and wrong compel us to read and watch the daily news. We talk about who we think is in the right and who in the wrong. And we applaud those who do right and shame those who do wrong because we know intuitively that right and wrong truly matter.
We want teachers to do the right thing for children, politicians to do the right thing for the country, employers to do right for employees, citizens to do right for their country, drivers to do right for other drivers, doctors to do right for patients, insurance companies for customers, neighbors for neighbors, workers for the company. Heaven on earth would be if every person in every situation in every role did what is right.
The welcome testimony of Jeremiah 9:24, and the Bible from beginning to end, is that God is infinitely more concerned than we are about right and wrong. Scripture exalts God for his righteousness: “Your righteousness is like the mountains” (Psalm 36:6). About one thing you can be certain, that God will always do what is right, never, ever what is wrong. People and organizations may wrong you and others, but God never will.
The reason God gives his commands to us is that we might know and do what is right. Those who keep his commandments walk in righteousness and are counted righteous.
Referring to the commandments he received from God for Israel on Mount Sinai, Moses said, “It will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.” (Deuteronomy 6:25)
Isaiah 48:18 says, “Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”
God loves doing right and takes delight in people who want to do right, who want to be righteous in his sight be keeping his righteous commandments.
To please God, we need the cross of Jesus
God’s uncompromising commitment to steadfast love, justice, and righteousness are what led Jesus to the cross.
In our minds, the cross was unnecessary. God can punish the most outrageous evildoers and simply forgive the rest of mankind for their sins.
But in his persistent love for sinners, God wanted a way to forgive even the worst sinner. And in his perfect justice and righteousness, he could not just overlook human wrongs.
The solution was the death of the holy Son of God as a substitute for sinners, so that God’s justice could be satisfied, and he could do what is right when he forgave our sins. (See Romans 3:10–26)
Therefore the greatest revelation of God’s delight in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness is the cross of Jesus. And the only way to be saved from final condemnation for your sin is through faith in Jesus.
“Thus says the Lord…Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me” Jeremiah 9:23-24
Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells three things that please God.
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” —Jeremiah 9:23-24
Did you notice how many times God uses his covenant name LORD (Hebrew, Yahweh) in these verses?
Imagine eating lunch with a friend named Mark, and after finishing his hamburger he states: “Here is what Mark says, ‘Let’s do something fun this weekend, maybe go golfing or play tennis, because I am Mark, who likes golfing,’ declares Mark.”
As you munched your french fries, you would probably ask yourself, Why does he keep repeating his name? Did I call him the wrong name without realizing it?
God’s name
Clearly God’s name is extremely important. He repeats it here for a holy reason. It is important to him because it is his identity, and if we know him well it is important to us.
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, God defines himself. This is my name, this is who I am, this is what I stand for, this is what I delight in.
Anyone who wants to know God well, as he truly is, pays extra close attention when God talks like this. If you are distracted, if your mind is wandering, you perk up and realize, This is an all-important moment, because God is making it as plain as one can make it.
When a guy who has romantic interest in a girl named Lisa overhears her gush to her friend, “I like yellow roses. Lisa can’t get enough yellow roses. Lisa loves it when people give her yellow roses,” he pays attention. You can be sure what he is going to give her the next time he takes her on a date.
The LORD defines himself by saying there are three things he “delights” in. God has delights. He is not a computer. He is not Spock. God is not an impersonal force. He is a person who feels infinite pleasure, enjoyment, and satisfaction in certain things. According to Jeremiah 9:23-24, what God delights infinitely in are steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.
God delights in steadfast love, in the loyal kindness and faithfulness that lifelong friends, longtime business partners, and persevering spouses show one another. The opposite is betrayal and abandonment. God delights in showing steadfast love to his people, and he delights when people show steadfast love to each other.
Two of the great examples of God’s steadfast love to people are the covenants he keeps with Abraham and David.
Great examples of steadfast love between people are the relationships of David and Jonathan, Sarah toward Abraham, and Ruth toward Naomi.
David and Jonathan remained loyal to one another despite the murderous hatred that Jonathan’s father Saul held toward David and despite Jonathan and David each having a claim on being king after Saul.
Sarah showed steadfast love to Abraham by remaining true to him despite Abraham twice letting her be taken by covetous kings. Scripture never records that Sarah had any negative words or attitude toward Abraham as a result.
Ruth showed steadfast love to her mother-in-law Naomi when she clung to Naomi as she returned to Israel, speaking the words that perfectly express the virtue of steadfast love: “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
God delights in such love. If we want to please God, we will show steadfast love to people.
This is the end of part one. Read part two next week.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
The value of knowing God is infinite. To seek daily to know God better provides the best return on investment of anything you can do.
“Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (ESV) —Jeremiah 9:24
This verse describes an unlimited opportunity. God says if you want, you can understand and know him.
Unfortunately for most people in the world, that is the last thing they want to know. In fact, they deliberately push out of their minds thoughts about God. Even many believers do not make knowing God better a priority, thinking they have more valuable things to do.
To be someone who sees the rewards of knowing God you must be someone who recognizes value, who knows a good investment when you see it. Those who choose to prioritize knowing and understanding God recognize the infinite value of God.
The value of knowing God
They are like the people who in the earliest days of the big tech companies saw their value and bought their stock. For example, investors who bought a share of Microsoft stock at the start of 1987 paid about 16 cents (adjusted for inflation). If they sold that share at the start of 2021, they received about 217 dollars. That is an increase of 135,525 percent. That means someone who invested just 1,000 dollars in that stock in 1987 would have $1,356,000 in 2021. That company has had value.
God has value. His value makes Microsoft look like wasted money. His value is literally infinite. He has more value than anything and everything, even than everything else put together, more value than the whole world. You cannot measure the value of what you invest in knowing and understanding him.
God can teach you about himself
Some writers say God is so different from us we cannot understand anything about him. They are wrong. In this verse God plainly says the door is open to understand and know him. Yes, God is different from us, both in degree and in kind, but that does not mean we cannot know him, because he has chosen to reveal himself to us. What he has revealed is reliable, understandable knowledge.
God is a good communicator. He has skills. He is the Word. And he created our ears and brains. He creates each human spirit. He made us in his image. And he has the ability to enable us to understand him. He sent his Son Jesus as the exact display of himself (Hebrews 1:3). He inspired the writing of Scripture as his inerrant words, his very words. In the Scriptures we have a wealth of riches for knowing God, enough to challenge the finest minds not just for one lifetime, but for many.
Deep, genuine knowledge
In Jeremiah 9:24 God says we can know and understand him. Notice the doubling—know, understand—which serves to emphasize the point. The two words largely overlap in meaning, but understand (Hebrew, sakal) emphasizes knowing truly and with the mind, while know (Hebrew, yada) is used for a broader range of knowing, such as knowing experientially, with the heart, even sexually. But the point is, we can have genuine, deep, reliable knowledge of God, which is the foundation for a rich relationship with God.
That is what a good relationship is. You know someone more and more and relate to them based on what you know. Trying to relate to people you do not know is like walking through an unfamiliar room in the middle of the night in the dark. You discover things the hard way. You unintentionally offend or hurt them. Or you talk about things they are not interested in. You try to do things with them that they do not enjoy.
But the more you know God’s ways, what he likes and dislikes, what he approves and disapproves, you can walk intimately with him, experiencing his presence continually. You can know and understand God. You can walk with him every day, all day, pleasing him, doing what he approves, talking to him, receiving his peace, joy, and love, fulfilling his perfect purpose for your life.
Scripture says of Noah that “he walked with God” (Genesis 9:6). You can do that too. It begins with determining that you want above all things to know and understand God better every day.
Practical and relevant
I cannot overstate how valuable this knowledge is. First, because God is the most valuable thing there is, which alone makes this knowledge worth everything. And that must be our primary motivation for seeking to know him better.
Second, because no one affects everything about your life both now and forever as he does. That is because he is sovereign over all. He controls literally everything about your life: your health, lifespan, job, finances, friendships, romantic/marriage relationship, emotions, salvation and sanctification from sin, victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, and on and on. Scripture says he gives and he takes away (Job 1:21). He opens doors and closes doors (Revelation 3:7). From him, through him, and to him are all things (Romans 11:36). Every good and every perfect gift comes from him (James 1:17). It follows, then, that no knowledge is more practical and relevant than the knowledge of God.
To view the knowledge of God as irrelevant or low priority would be like a 5-year-old saying that about his mother, or an investor saying that about the economy.
The time you invest every day in knowing God better is the wisest, most rewarding investment you make in your overall happiness, health, and well-being. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,” (John 17:3).
I recommend this prayer: Lord, I want to know you much better. I confess that I have been content with far too little understanding of you and your ways. And I confess that I often have preferred to think and learn about other things of lesser value. Forgive me. Thank you for giving your Scriptures to us precisely so that we may know you. Stir me up daily to read and study your Word. As I do, please reveal yourself and your ways to me. Amen
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
There is a powerful relationship between self-respect and knowing God, between emotional health and knowing God deeply.
If you have been reading this blog for long, you know the theme verse:
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’”
(Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)
Boasting has a prominent place in this important verse.
The word boast can be used in two senses, one positive, one negative. The negative sense is the familiar one that comes first to mind, but the positive sense of the noun boast is simply “a cause for pride” (Merriam-Webster). That is, a cause for feeling good about yourself, a cause for feeling you have value, a reason to respect yourself.
All people need this kind of pride, and it is not wrong in God’s sight if a person does not take credit for it. He wants us to have a legitimate boast because he created us with value—and to have a sense of value—and he wants us to know what that value is and where it comes from.
People who do not have a legitimate boast become unhealthy in every way, feeling they have no worth, loathing or disrespecting themselves, feeling that others including God disdain them, and as a result relating to others and God with difficulty, wishing they did not exist, performing poorly in work, and on and on.
So in this verse God teaches us what sort of human boast he approves of. More than any other quality in your life, what should you feel good about? What gives you ultimate value? What accomplishments merit enduring honor?
Common ways people seek self-respect
Before giving his answer, the Lord dismisses the usual suspects. What does the wise man or woman—the expert, the business consultant who is so successful she can charge $10,000 for her advice, or the best-selling how-to author who can charge the same to give one speech—typically regard as her boast? Of course, her boast is her wisdom, her “secret sauce,” her understanding of how things work and how people can get what they want. She has done it, and she can help you do it. She feels good about knowing that.
But the Lord says, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.”
What does “the mighty man” boast in? Naturally the man with muscles, the man with height and weight who towers over others in a crowd and could manhandle anyone, who could be the dominant pass-rusher on the finest football team—he feels good about his might. When he, not wearing a shirt, looks in the mirror, he takes pride in what he sees.
But the Lord says, “let not the mighty man boast in his might.”
We could add, let not the beautiful woman boast in her beauty, cosmetic skills, and wardrobe.
And what does the rich man boast in? The size of his investment account. A man who values money, who opens his Fidelity account and sees the number $10,000,000, feels good about himself. He knows the skillful things he did to earn that money, the hard work he poured into it, and the shrewd ways he invested to make it grow. He knows most people do not have numbers that size in their investment accounts.
Yet God says, “Let not the rich man boast in his riches.”
Whether we are talking about a wise, mighty, or rich person who is ungodly or godly, in any case, what God says applies to them. Do not make your human strength and ability your primary boast, your ultimate reason for self-respect.
Self-respect and knowing God
And then God makes clear what should be our source of legitimate pride: “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.” Expertise is nice to have; muscles, fitness, and beauty are nice; money and possessions are nice, but none can begin to compare to the value and benefit of knowing God.
For starters, expertise, muscles, beauty, and wealth are temporary. They all pass away. Sooner or later we lose them all. They are like soap bubbles.
My wife and I were visiting our son and his family on a fall day a few months ago, and they had a toy for the kids with a long, narrow wand that you dipped in a tall soap bottle and waved in the air to create amazing, huge, colorful bubbles. I guess the soap solution was also special in some way, producing bigger, longer-lasting bubbles. The bubbles floated away in the fall breeze with the sunlight sparkling on them in rainbow colors. I was impressed with their size and beauty, and the kids were squealing with pleasure. But eventually they burst in the air or hit the ground. Imagine spending your life savings to buy one of those bubbles.
That truly is what you are doing if you base your worth on wisdom, might, beauty, or wealth. Sooner or later that pretty bubble that you and others admire is going to pop.
On the other hand, if you put your boast in knowing God, you are investing in what you can never lose. God is the only sure thing. He is not going anywhere or going away. He is permanent. Whatever you invest in knowing him lasts forever, and whatever self-respect you gain from knowing God endures. This is one relationship that will not come and go.
Knowing God and moving up in the world
Moreover, self-respect that comes from knowing God is not like settling for an inferior job until you can find something better. Most people choose between living—really living, doing the thing that brings them true joy and fulfillment—and doing what pays well enough to keep the lights and water on. And so they reluctantly decide to take a job that may feel pointless but at least pays the bills and gives a few hours of free time each week for what really brings happiness.
Knowing God is not like that. He is not the necessary, inferior choice. He is the superior choice. For he is the ultimate person. He is the only good person. He is the most creative, knowledgeable, and interesting person. And he is the most loving person. He is the most beautiful and inspiring person. He is infinitely superior to us in every imaginable way—the most excellent person. And he is literally perfect and without limitation. Absolutely pure—clean, morally sanitary—and thus eternally healthful to one’s body, soul, and spirit. He is kind, gracious, generous, compassionate, patient, benevolent.
When you choose to boast in knowing God over all other boasts and make it your goal to know him better every day, it is as though you were the poorest person in the world marrying the richest person in the world, or the most disfigured guy in the world marrying the world’s most beautiful super-model, or the lowest IQ in the world marrying the greatest genius in the world. When you choose to boast in knowing God, you are “marrying” way up—infinitely up.
Knowing God is the most rewarding, delightful, and inexhaustible knowledge you can have, and it gives you true worth, not a soap bubble.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
The New Creation teaches us that someday God will be nearer to us than he is today, but he will still be as holy as ever. God does not want to be separated from us. Rather, God’s holiness in the New Creation will require that we draw near with worship, reverence, love, obedience, surrender, and devotion, as he requires today.
In my two recent posts we have been exploring the meaning of God’s holiness with regard to his being set apart and separate from us. Here are the questions I’ve wrestled with. If God’s holiness always necessarily requires separation, as at Mt. Sinai and in the temple, why is the story line of the Bible about God’s efforts to bring us near? How could Jesus come near and touchable? How could the Holy Spirit live in us if God must be separate? How could Jesus promise, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23)?
We saw in the last post that God does not always require separation, but he does always require to be set apart in our hearts. He is holy because he is worthy of continuous reverence, worship, obedience, surrender, love, and devotion. That is the response Jesus calls for in John 14:23, quoted above.
We have seen how the incarnation of Jesus, and his atoning death, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Pentecost revolutionized God’s separation from humans. In this post we look at one final revolution, for God intends to come closer still. In the New Creation he plans to end the separation of heaven and earth.
The climax of the story: God’s holiness in the New Creation
Revelation 21:1–5 says:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new….”
Revelation 22:3–4 says,
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
In the Old Covenant era, God had told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). But in the New Creation “they will see his face.” What a change from Mount Sinai! God’s holiness hasn’t changed, but we are changed.
Because of the perfect redemption brought about through Jesus Christ and completed in the New Creation, God’s holiness will not require distance from his holy people. The holy Father will be with his holy children before his throne.
God will be set apart on his throne of glory for worship, reverence, love, devotion, obedience, and surrender, but he will be with us forever. And all his people will see his face.
Our way versus God’s way
Our way: Fallen people do not want to set God apart for the unique worship, reverence, love, obedience, devotion, and surrender that he alone deserves. Fallen people want other gods. They want to treat God as little different than his creation. They want to approach God on their terms. Fallen people want to bring God down to their level. They do not want to treat God as unique and special.
God’s way: God wants to be with us, but he always requires a respectful distance, as a king on his throne. He is always set apart over anyone or anything in his creation, though he is near and dear. This is part of what we mean when we say God is holy.
God wants to be near to us, but we must always set apart God in our hearts as the Lord we must obey, as the God we must worship and reverence, and as the beloved whom we adore above all. God deserves this, and it is part of the meaning of his holiness.
In part one of this post, we saw last week that one meaning of God’s holiness is he is set apart from fallen humans.
God resembles a king set apart from his subjects on his throne. Although God is not utterly separate, humans must treat his holy presence with great reverence. In thoughts and actions, we must set God apart for highest respect.
But this does not mean God wants to be distant. The story line of the Bible begins with intimacy in the Garden between the holy God and humanity, which is ruptured by the disobedience of Adam and Eve and their rejection from the Garden of Eden. As a result, God was not only set apart but separated. Those are not necessarily the same thing. God’s holiness means he must always be set apart, but it does not mean he must be separated.
Under the Old Covenant with Israel, the stress was on God’s holy separation from fallen humans. God drew near to his people in the temple, but he almost always had to be separate.
But with the coming of Jesus the story shifts dramatically. Last week we saw that when God’s Son became a man, the holy God came nearer still to fallen humans. Second, when Jesus died on the cross and atoned for our sins, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Torn with it was the separation it symbolized.
The third revolutionary event
The third revolutionary event in the story of God’s holy separation in relation to fallen humans was Pentecost, which occurred 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4)
This signified not simply a temporary experience but rather that the Holy Spirit was coming into his church collectively and his people individually to make them a temple for God’s abode. God would not be separated far away, or nearby but curtained away; rather, he would be in his people. They themselves would be his temple. They would be one with God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you [referring to the whole church collectively] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body [referring to each individual Christian’s body] is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”
It was not as though the Holy Spirit had never come upon fallen humans before. During the Old Covenant he came upon priests, leaders, and prophets for special purposes. But he did not come on everyone.
Under the New Covenant, God’s visible glory is separate in heaven, but he is one with us and present within and among us by his Holy Spirit.
What God’s holiness must require
Notice that the very name of the third person of the Trinity includes the word Holy. That is so even though he is as near and intimate with us as he could be! What that means is that God’s holiness does not fundamentally mean separation but rather being set apart. God is set apart in three crucial ways that never become obsolete.
1. God is set apart as Lord.
1 Peter 3:15 says, “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord” (ESV). The NIV translation of that verse says it this way: “In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy.”
God is sovereign, controlling all, ruling over all. He is a king on a royal throne who must be obeyed above all. We set him apart to obey him as we obey no one else.
2. God is set apart for worship and ultimate reverence.
Although we honor others, we worship only God. Although we reverence others, we give ultimate and wholehearted reverence only to God.
Quoting the Old Testament, Jesus said, “You shall worship the lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10).
3. God is set apart for ultimate love and devotion.
God has a place in our hearts that no one else can have. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
Jesus also said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37–39).
These three attitudes of the heart are fundamental to what it means for God to be set apart as holy.
Next week we will continue with part 3 on the subject of God being set apart in holiness, looking at what we learn from the New Creation.
God’s holiness means that in both the old and new covenants and in the new creation to come our holy God is always in some way set apart from humanity even though he draws near in loving intimacy. We can always draw near but must keep a respectful distance.
The holy God is set apart
One of the most prominent meanings of God’s holiness is separation. God is set apart from the profane and common.
The idea of separation fills the Old Covenant. The Holy Tabernacle, for example, had three sections. A curtain separated the Holy of Holies, where God’s glory dwelled and where only the High Priest could enter once a year, from the Holy Place, where other priests could enter. Another curtain separated the Holy Place from the courtyard, where the people could enter to make sacrifices. Another curtain separated the courtyard from the rest of the camp.
Priests and Levites became holy to God by being set apart from the common and profane through elaborate rituals of sacrifice, donning priestly uniforms, and being anointed with unique, holy oil.
When God prepared to come down on Mt. Sinai, he commanded Moses, “You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’” (Exodus 19:12–13)
But even in the Old Covenant, God in his holiness wanted to be near to us. He wanted to bring himself and his holiness near, as near as possible to people who were not holy. That is why he provided the tabernacle/temple and the priesthood and sacrificial system.
The holy God set apart in a different way
When Christ comes, there is a dramatic change in how God wants to be set apart. Although the Father is set apart completely in heaven, invisible and unapproachable by us, he sends his unique Son to be God with us, Immanuel. In Jesus, God came arm’s length from fallen humans. Humans could actually touch the holy God.
This is one of the greatest wonders of the incarnation. That God could somehow become a human and remain God is one of the greatest of all mysteries. But as any Jew of Jesus’ time would understand, the idea of the holy, set-apart God coming among men without any separation, without dark clouds and lightning surrounding him as though he were a walking Mount Sinai, without being kept away and shielded from view by a curtain and approachable only by one very holy high priest, was unthinkable. How was that possible?
I think it was this: Somehow the pure human body of Jesus enabled him to maintain the holy separation that God requires from fallen humans. Jesus was fully God and fully man, and the body of his manhood served as a temple for God in which he maintained the measure of separation that he requires. Jesus called his body God’s temple. He said the Father dwelled in him. Jesus became the new temple of God on earth, absolutely holy, set apart but tabernacling among mankind.
The holy God makes holy people
The second revolutionary event was his death on the cross and shedding of holy blood for sinners. This is the turning point, the hinge, of human history. And it is a turning point in how God is separate in holiness. For at his death, “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matt. 25:50–51). God tore the curtain separating the holy of holies. God signified by this that the shed blood of Jesus enabled God to be set apart as holy but with his people in a new way.
What happened was that God atoned for our sins by Jesus’ blood and made us holy, blameless, and acceptable to him through faith in Jesus (see Colossians 1:19–22). Thus, the holy God could be with holy people, which is what God wanted all along. The fact that God is separate does not mean he wants to be far from us. Definitely not. Rather it means we had a problem, and that problem was sin. And that problem Jesus solved.
Is the holy God intimate or separate?
Let’s continue this crucial subject next week. How is God now set apart as holy? And how will he be set apart as holy in the New Creation?
This post and next week’s address one of the big points of uneasiness that we may have with God’s holiness. The New Testament encourages us with the idea that God wants to come near in intimacy with us, yet the idea of God’s holiness and separation seems to undermine intimacy. God’s holiness does not feel loving, at least his holiness as seen in the Old Covenant with Israel. His holiness does not feel like a dear Father. His holiness does not feel approachable. Which is it? Is God someone to whom we can draw near, or is he the God atop Mt. Sinai?
