David Westerfield

If we perceive heaven as simply that which brings about the greatest satisfaction through perfected creation, we’ve missed the point. Christ Himself is what makes heaven great, not all the gifts. Yes, the gifts should be gloried and reveled in, but is this the final end of what Christ has purchased for us on the cross by His blood? no, rather the best gift of what we’ve been given in the cross is that we get God Himself for all eternity. The blessings that come along with heaven are only meant to serve and increase our desire and love for Christ forever. A quote from John Piper should be deeply pondered and considered, knowing that through faith alone in Christ alone, we have been justified by His blood:

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

– John Piper, Introduction, God is the Gospel

If you answer Yes to this question, you have totally missed the point of heaven as revealed in God’s Word. And for many of you, I would have to say that if you answered Yes to this question (though I can’t know), you may not not be truly converted, because to be converted is to have Christ as your ultimate treasure and you want to go to heaven because that is where Christ resides. If you could have heaven with all of its perfected majesties; but if Christ is why heaven is great, why would you want to go? There’s nothing there for your enjoyment if you do not have a love and desire for Jesus. Saving faith knows nothing of who God is apart from the merits and work of Christ in His life, death, and resurrection to bring us to Himself. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

All the gifts of the Gospel are to be treasured. Piper is not minimizing this in the least. He is pointing us to the greatest treasure and gift of the Gospel, Christ Himself. In America, where materialism runs rampant, especially, to its demise, within the church, this is a truth that must be proclaimed loud and clear, because I’m afraid many are being deceived into thinking of heaven and being saved as being made much of and being satisfied by things other than God, which amounts to idolatry. As believers, we have been predestined, called, justified, sanctified, glorified, propitiated, rescued from hell, adopted into His Kingdom, will obtain resurrected bodies on the last day, will be guests at the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and so many more gifts. These are just a few of the many gifts of the Gospel. But if we simply love what God has done for us so that we get these gifts (the gifts being the final and greatest satisfaction we aim for) without enjoying the ultimate gift, namely the great Giver Himself, how offensive must that be to His honor and glory? They are only amazing gifts precisely because they are employed in the service of pointing our hearts to the final good, and greatest gift of the Gospel: namely, God Himself, revealed in the face of Christ. There is no satisfaction greater than to have Christ Himself forever. “May those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’” (Ps. 70:4). ‘Not mainly, “Salvation is great,” but “God is great!'” (Piper, Intro, God is the Gospel)

God is the Gospel, in my opinion, is one of Piper’s greatest, most important books and should be read by every believer. Not at all a hard book to read. It refocuses our hearts back on the supreme gift of God in the Gospel: the satisfaction of seeing and savoring the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, knowing and loving Him personally. This is in fact what Christ Himself said in His great High Priestly prayer to the Father before His crucifixion, concerning what eternal life actually is: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). And this knowing of God is not merely knowing facts about Him, but loving Him, being enthralled with His glory and beauty, forever captivated by His love and power and being, demonstrated in the work of the cross. Heaven is where we get to know the one true God and Jesus Christ who was sent so that we could know and love Him for all eternity. There is no greater gift than to have the Creator forever.

Book Review by Sam Storms

As I’ve been reading through and studying Hebrews (and other books in the New Testament) the past couple of months, something I’ve thought about for quite some time is how much the New Testament (as well as all of scripture) interprets the things that occurred in the Old Testament for us. Many believers go back and look at what occurred in the Old Testament and say that what happened simply applied to Israel and Israel alone, that Israel is a separate people from us believers in Christ. I do not hold this view and believe that all believers in the OT and NT are one people, redeemed through the one work of Christ on the cross. And though many of the things that occurred did apply in a temporal sense, the New Testament speaks of the things that happened as also applying to us, the Gentiles. Here’s what I mean. In 1 Peter 1:10-12 it says

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

In other words, the prophets who prophesied about the coming salvation through Christ were not serving themselves but us who believe in Christ for salvation. There is a singular prupose and unfolding plan of God in history to bring about redemption through faith alone in the work of Christ alone. This is remarkable. In addition to this, the book of Hebrews in particular has statements in it that point to this singular truth. Hebrews 11:24 says

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

Listen to that, the author of Hebrews says “[Moses] considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.” The unity of the revelation of redemption throughout Scripture is unmistakable. Believers in the Old Testament were justified not by their works, but by faith in the promise of God to bring about salvation “so that they might rise again to a better life” (Hebrews 11:35). In Hebrews 12 it continues on and says this:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Because we have so many witnesses in the OT attesting to this faith in the promise of God to bring about salvation through the work of Christ (there’s the singular purpose I was talking about), let us run with endurance toward God and His glory, the ultimate gift and final end of the Gospel. This glory and blessing in the Gospel, that is, the reconciliation of fallen sinners to the living God, was shown and revealed to those in the OT (who did not obtain it at the time), but it has been realized in us who believe in the merits of Jesus Christ on our behalf. OT believers didn’t necessarily know how everything would come about, but this is the one thing they did know: “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9) and “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long” (Psalm 25:5). We all have this one singular hope: the reconciliation of our dead, sinful lives through the work of God, realized in the person and work of Jesus Christ, in order that we all may have God for all eternity! What a hope!

A Defense of Calvinism – C.H. Spurgeon

A very important, foundational introduction as to why any of us are believers in Christ. This is Spurgeon’s classic writing of why he was a Calvinist and his defense of the doctrines of grace. All of the Bible’s revelations concerning redemption can be summed up in the one verse in Jonah 2:9 where Jonah states in the belly of the fish, “Salvation is of the Lord.” Calvinism simply expounds upon this one central truth: salvation is started from and finished by God and it is all for His glory. Salvation is about God, not man, though we get to be involved in and caught up to and satisfied by His glory forever! There is no greater gift! “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) From the first inkling of faith in sinners’ hearts created there by God, to the final glorification of the saints when we who have believed shall receive redeemed bodies and be forever joyful in the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Salvation is of the Lord. If He is the Alpha and Omega over all things for all time, that is the Beginning and the End, how can we not say He is Alpha and Omega in our salvation? Salvation is of the Lord, made known in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the story of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Excellent read, not long either.

Something that has come to my attention recently is that unfortunately within our culture, the name Jesus has been cheapened and made so common that the name almost doesn’t convey that which is true about Him, namely that He is the Son of God, fully God and fully man, God Himself having intervened in history to redeem whoever would believe in Him through His perfect work, death and resurrection from the dead. I have taken this list of names from this site http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/jesustitles.htm. So look these up and reacquaint yourself with Jesus and all of His descriptions as spoken in the Scriptures.

Advocate (1 John 2:1)
Almighty (Rev. 1:8; Mt. 28:18)
Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:13)
Amen (Rev. 3:14)
Apostle of our Profession (Heb. 3:1)
Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins (1 John 2:2)
Author of Life (Acts 3:15)
Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:2)
Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10)
Beginning and End (Rev. 22:13)
Blessed and only Ruler (1 Tim. 6:15)
Bread of God (John 6:33)
Bread of Life (John 6:35; 6:48)
Bridegroom (Mt. 9:15)
Capstone (Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7)
Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20)
Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4)
Christ (1 John 2:22)
Creator (John 1:3)
Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)
Eternal Life (1 John 1:2; 5:20)
Gate (John 10:9)
Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11)
Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5)
Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 3:14)
First and Last (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13)
Firstborn From the Dead (Rev. 1:5)
Firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15)
Gate (John 10:9)
God (John 1:1; 20:28; Heb. 1:8; Rom. 9:5; 2 Pet. 1:1;1 John 5:20; etc.)
Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20)
Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14)
Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23)
Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2)
High Priest (Heb. 2:17)
Holy and True (Rev. 3:7)
Holy One (Acts 3:14)
Hope (1 Tim. 1:1)
Hope of Glory (Col. 1:27)
Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69)
I Am (John 8:58)
Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)
Immanuel (Mt. 1:23)
Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42)
King Eternal (1 Tim. 1:17)
King of Israel (John 1:49)
King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11)
King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16)
King of the Ages (Rev. 15:3)
Lamb (Rev. 13:8)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
Lamb Without Blemish (1 Pet. 1:19)
Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45)
Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)
Living One (Rev. 1:18)
Living Stone (1 Pet. 2:4)
Lord (2 Pet. 2:20)
Lord of All (Acts 10:36)
Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8)
Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)
Man from Heaven (1 Cor. 15:48)
Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15)
Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)
Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)
Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16)
Only Begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:9)
Our Great God and Savior (Titus 2:13)
Our Holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2)
Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Sacrificed Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)
Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Precious Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6)
Prophet (Acts 3:22)
Rabbi (Mt. 26:25)
Resurrection and Life (John 11:25)
Righteous Branch (Jer. 23:5)
Righteous One (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1)
Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Root of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16)
Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev. 3:14)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5)
Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Son of David (Lk. 18:39)
Son of God (John 1:49; Heb. 4:14)
Son of Man (Mt. 8:20)
Son of the Most High God (Lk. 1:32)
Source of Eternal Salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9)
The One Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
The Stone the builders rejected (Acts 4:11)
True Bread (John 6:32)
True Light (John 1:9)
True Vine (John 15:1)
Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)
Way (John 14:6)
Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Word (John 1:1)
Word of God (Rev. 19:13)

“There were thus two things which the Savior did for us by becoming Man. He banished death from us and made us anew; and, invisible and imperceptible as in Himself He is, He became visible through His works and revealed Himself as the Word of the Father, the Ruler and King of the whole creation.

There is a paradox in this last statement which we must now examine. The Word was not hedged in by His body, nor did His presence in the body prevent His being present elsewhere as well. When He moved His body He did not cease also to direct the universe by His Mind and might. No. The marvelous truth is, that being the Word, so far from being Himself contained by anything, He actually contained all things Himself. In creation He is present everywhere, yet is distinct in being from it; ordering, directing, giving life to all, containing all, yet is He Himself the Uncontained, existing solely in His Father. As with the whole, so also is it with the part. Existing in a human body, to which He Himself gives life, He is still Source of life to all the universe, present in every part of it, yet outside the whole; and He is revealed both through the works of His body and through His activity in the world. It is, indeed, the function of soul to behold things that are outside the body, but it cannot energize or move them. A man cannot transport things from one place to another, for instance, merely by thinking about them; nor can you or I move the sun and the stars just by sitting at home and looking at them. With the Word of God in His human nature, however, it was otherwise. His body was for Him not a limitation, but an instrument, so that He was both in it and in all things, and outside all things, resting in the Father alone. At one and the same time—this is the wonder— as Man He was living a human life, and as Word He was sustaining the life of the universe, and as Son He was in constant union with the Father. Not even His birth from a virgin, therefore, changed Him in any way, nor was He defiled by being in the body. Rather, He sanctified the body by being in it. For His being in everything does not mean that He shares the nature of everything, only that He gives all things their being and sustains them in it. Just as the sun is not defiled by the contact of its rays with earthly objects, but rather enlightens and purifies them, so He Who made the sun is not defiled by being made known in a body, but rather the body is cleansed and quickened by His indwelling, ‘Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.'”