No Greater Love Than His
  • In The Son of His Love--a blog
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  • Relational Theology 101
  • Mystery of Godliness I Tim. 3:16
  • Galatians- Learning to Rest
  • The Body of Christ
  • Romans 1:16-17 The Gospel
  • Ephesians, the Father's adopted family
  • Prevailing Intercession-Henry Law
    • Psalm 2 Henry Law
  • A Practical Study of Hebrews
  • Satan's Hatred of Women
  • Quotes from old authors
  • John Welch on Romans 8:1
  • Topical Analysis of the Bible
  • LEARNING TO LIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
  • The Kingdom of God in Christ
    • The Kingdom Foretold
    • The King and His Kingdom Come
    • The Kingdom in its Biblical Context
    • The Kings introduction-the wild man and the real man
    • The Ultimate Test of the Father's Word-The Temptation
    • The Goal of the Kingdom Conquest
    • The Blessed of the Kingdom
    • Blessed are they that mourn
    • Blessed are the meek
    • Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
    • Blessed are the Merciful
    • Blessed are the Pure in Heart
    • The Blessed of the Kingdom are the Salt & Light of the World
    • Kingdom Righteousness
    • Sermon on the mount-Getting the Law Right
    • Restoring God's Most Reflective Relationship
    • Being Sons and Daughters of the Heavenly Father
    • Understanding our Lord's Father Context
    • Breathing Pure Air in a Polluted World
    • Living in the Presence of the Secret Benefactor
    • What Serving God Looks Like
    • Self Righteous need not apply, but beggars can't be losers
    • Final Warnings From Our King
  • Audio Studies
    • Audio & Outline--On Spiritual Gifts
    • From the Futility of the Human Mind-to the Mind of Christ
    • Audio Study: I Corinthians 6:1-11
    • AUDIO-Waiting On God
    • Audio-Gospel of John
    • AUDIO-A Relational Discussion of the Holy Spirit
    • Audio-Studies on the Sermon on the mount
  • From Death to Life
  • All Creation Groans
  • Traveling down the ladder of self knowledge
  • Zions' hymn
  • Power in Weakness
  • What's In A Name?
  • The Heavenly Father's Pity/Spurgeon
  • On Affliction
  • Christ Our Intercessor
  • Spurgeon's Dream
  • Sitting at the Feet of Jesus
  • Stomping Among Lillies
  • The More Excellent Way
  • All Creation Sings Praise to the God of Heaven and Earth
  • The Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Ruler of the Nations
  • From Captivity to God's plan for peace, a future, and an eternal hope
  • Man Looks on the Outward Appearance, but the Lord of Hosts Looks upon the Heart
  • The Earth is the Lord's
  • The earth is the Lords
  • A Wedding Meditation-The Gospel Mystery
  • Be Strong in the Lord
  • The Girdle of Truth
  • Having feet shod with Gospel of Peace
  • Shield of Faith
  • Helmet of Salvation
  • Praying with all prayer & supplication
  • Sword of the Spirit
  • A Wedding Meditation
  • The Power of the Gospel is the Resurrection
  • What is this Mystery
  • A letter of encouragement to faith
  • Great is Mystery Part 3
  • The Mystery of Godliness part 4
  • Mystery of Godliness part 5
  • Seen of angels part 2
  • Preached among the nations
  • Great is Mystery of Godliness Part 8
  • Mystery of Godliness part 9
  • Great is mystery of Godliness part 10
  • A Father's Hand--on Affliction
  • Great is mystery of Godliness part 11
  • Mystery of Godliness part 12
  • Great is mystery of Godliness part 13
  • Great is mystery of Godliness part 14
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 1
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 2
  • It is the Power of God
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 4
  • Christ, the Glorious Hybrid of God
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 5
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 6
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 7
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 8
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part
  • Romans 1:16-17 Part 9
  • Romans 1:16-17 Pt 11
  • The Necessity of the Body of Christ
  • The Perfection of the Body of Chhrist
  • The Role of the Holy Spirit
  • The Application of Body II Pet 1:1-4
  • application of body of Christ #3
  • Practical application body #4
  • Part 5 The application of the body
  • Application of body of Christ #6
  • The Application of the Body #7
  • application of body of christ #8
  • Application of body of Christ #9
  • application of body of Christ #10
  • The Kingdom of God
  • Galatians 1:1-6
  • Galatians 1:6-9
  • Abraham's Gospel-Melchizedek
  • cutting the covenant
  • The Mark of the Covenant
  • Gospel to Abraham-resurrection
  • Galatians 1:10-17
  • Galatians 1:18-2:10
  • Galatians 2:11-21
  • Galatians 3:1-9
  • Beholding the Glory of God
  • Intro to Gospel of Abraham
  • Melchizedek Gen. 14:18-20
  • Melchizedek #2
  • God's cutting the Covenant
  • Mark of the Covenant
                                         The Holy Hug of the Triune God
Introduction
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      Theology is the study of God. Systematic Theology is the study of God in His “parts.” This is well and good as far as it goes. However, there is a danger in this systematized study of God. We often make Him a Holy cadaver! We dissect His attributes, analyze all of the “Omnis,” and given our bent, think we know Who He is and What He is like. But we end up like the blind man trying to describe an elephant by feeling its trunk - our blindness leads us to distorted conclusions. One “theologian” will emphasize God’s Love while another will emphasize His Holiness. Many years ago, I was teaching on the Love of God. A dear elderly lady in the congregation came up to me afterward. She had been married to a respected minister for 50 years. Her words chill me to the bone to this day. “For 50 years I have been taught the Holiness of God. I have no problem with that. But I cannot grasp the Love of God. It seems beyond my reach.” I believe she meant that she knew the Love of God theoretically, systematically, but she could not grasp it relationally! For 50 years, she had the elephant by the trunk!!
     I believe that God never intended to be merely “studied.” I believe He intends to be known! John 17:3 sets the tone for all of God’s revelation to man. “And this is life eternal, that they might know You, The Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” In other words, eternity is to be spent knowing God, intimately relating to Him. And eternity for us begins at salvation. In some mysterious way, we creatures of time and space are ushered into eternity, which is timeless and has no boundaries of “space.” Eternity has “only” God!!
     To put it another way, eternity is the love bond of the Father and the Son that has always been. The Spirit of God is that Love Bond. This is the implication of John 17:20-26. This is the Son’s prayer to the Father that His people will become one “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You: that they also may be one in Us.” He declares that the same Glory that the Father gave Him, He has given to His people “that they may be one just as We are one.” And that Glory is the Eternal Spirit who is the Love Bond that proceeds out of the Father to the Son and proceeds out of the Son to the Father. This Divine oneness only exists in the Spirit’s presence. This Union, this Divine oneness, this fellowship is eternity. Before time, this is all there “is.” And that is not a negative statement. That is a beautiful declaration that God is self-existent and that His existence is Love. He needs nothing else.
     So where do we come into the picture. Let me fearfully propose a theory. I say fearfully, for whenever we talk about eternity apart from the clear revelation of the Word, it must be with great caution. But let me theorize that the love of God, that love bond between Father and Son, that love which is the Spirit, expanded in its eternal expression into an explosion of expression. And that is the creation, Divinely ordered to Glorify the God Who is Love. Creation was to be the expression of the Father’s love for the Son, that is why in Colossians 1:16 “All things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things and by Him all things exist.” I think we can understand Hebrews 1:3,4 to say that the Father has declared His incredible Glory through His Son Who is His Word. And this Son is the “brightness of His glory, the express image of His Person.” Those are all words of expression, declaration, manifestation. All of creation is for the declaration of the Triune Godhead. That is what Paul states in Romans 1:19-20. “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shown it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
     And we were created to behold that incredible glory, the incredible Love bond that is God in Triunity. And more than just behold it, that glorious Godhead is the design standard of our existence. By that I mean, we were created to function only in union and communion with that Divine Glory. Everything about us required that union with this Glorious God Who is Eternal Life. But when Adam chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life, the severance of that union with the Most Holy God meant death. And with the severance from the design pattern, the way we were made to live, the disintegration of all things began to rule creation. Man is now defined by death. And with dying man, all creation groans, subjected to futility (Romans 8:19-23) because God created man to be the “grounds keeper” of creation. And with the “grounds keeper” defined by death, the earth too suffers by that death definition.