Category: Shorter Catechism

Question: What is the work of creation?

Answer: The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Scripture memory: Acts 17:24; Psa. 104:24: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth…” and “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”

An explanation: Creation is a work of God’s power and wisdom whereby He makes all things out of nothing. God did not create using any preexistent matter to bring about His creation, but spoke into nothing by His divine and powerful word and created all things such as the heavens, the earth, the waters, the souls of men–all things were made out of nothing; as Hebrews 11:3 teaches: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Acts 14:15). God spoke, saying “Let there be…” and there was. “And it was all very good!” (Gen. 1:31).

Man can form matter, but he cannot create matter; man can put matter into another form, but only God can make matter when there is none (G. Swinnock). After God created all things in the space of six days, He rested from His work, and enjoyed His created things in Sabbath rest, setting a pattern for His people to follow of working six days and resting on one of them (Exo. 20:8-11).

The biblical teaching of creation should remind us that God alone is the Creator, and all other things are His creatures. God is not completely separated from His creatures (utterly transcendent), nor is He confused with and identified in His creatures (utterly immanent). God is distinct from His creatures, but never separated from them; He is both transcendent and immanent: “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God afar off?” (Jer. 23:23; also Isa. 57:15).

Acts 17:28 teaches us that God’s creatures utterly depend upon Him for life and breath and being: “In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring’.” All power to live comes from God. All creatures rely upon God’s power.

God created all things through and for the Lord Jesus Christ, and He in His Sovereign power and majesty upholds all creatures: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 2:16-17) and “[Christ Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…” (Heb. 1:3).

God created all things for His own glory, for the manifestation of His wonderful character and His power (Psa. 19; Rom. 1:19ff): “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11) and “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).

God made all creation and man good and upright. But sin has come into the world. “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecc. 7:29). Nevertheless, this is God’s good world though tainted by sin (1 Tim. 4:4-5), and we look forward to the renewal of all creation, a New Heavens and a New Earth: “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

A prayer: Thank you, Creator Lord, and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, Transcendent and Holy God, yet Immanent and close to those contrite and lowly in heart; we worship you! You are the Glorious Creator we confess: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth…” who reveals your mercy to sinners through your promises and grace revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving us life and all that we need in Jesus Christ. Let us live our lives enjoying you and your good world!

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Biggs

Question: How doth God execute his decrees?

Answer: God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

Scripture memory: ^ESV Ephesians 1:9-10: “…Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

An explanation: Last week, we learned that the Eternal, Blessed, Bountiful and Boundless God, without the counsel or aid of anyone else, has appointed and determined all of history “according to the counsel of His will” or for His mere good pleasure (Eph. 1:9-10).

God’s decrees are executed, or performed, or come to pass, or are realized in the works of creation and providence (Heb. 11:3; 1:3). The Eternally Blessed God, who had decreed according to His infallible foreknowledge from eternity past, decided to create space and time for His own glory, and to uphold and govern this creation wisely and powerfully with the goal of bringing all things together in Christ at the end of history (Eph. 1:9-10; cf. Isa. 46:10). The important distinction between God’s works of creation and providence in the outworking of God’s decree is that in creation God worked according to the Word of His power without the use of means, whereas in providence, He ordinarily uses secondary causes as tools or means in His sovereign hands to bring about His good plan (Acts 4:27-28).

God has not decreed anything because He saw it in the future; all of God’s plans are “known from of old” (Acts 15:16-18) and are decreed “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). All of history unfolds the way it does from beginning to end “from Him and through Him and to Him…to Him be the glory,” (Rom. 11:36), and “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue” (Rom. 9:11), and absolutely nothing He has decreed can fail (Isa. 46:10; Dan. 4:35; Rom. 9:19). All things have been created by God and for God ultimately (Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11). The Lord has made all things for Himself… (Prov. 16:4a), and “in Him we live and move and have our very being” (Acts 17:28).

Yet even though God is all sovereign and is executing His purposes in history, He is in no way the author of sin (James 1:13, 17; 1 John 1:5), nor does His decree take away the will of the creature (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28; Prov. 16:33). When men choose to act evil, they do so freely according to their own free will, and they will be judged for it. Mysteriously, (and wonderfully!) God uses even bad things for His glory and our good! (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28; Job 42:5; Psa. 119:67, 71).

Nothing that God has decreed shall fail. All things will glorify God and be for our good! Let us say joyfully with Jesus:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” – : ^ESV Mark 13:31

A prayer: Thank you, dear Sovereign Lord, for ordaining all things, of creating all things, and upholding and governing all things by the Word of your power. Thank you, Merciful Lord of History, that I can trust you that all things that happen in my life are according to your will, and will be for the praise of your glorious grace…and my good!

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Biggs

Question: What are the decrees of God?

Answer: The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

Scripture memory: ^ESV Ephesians 1:4 “…Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…”; Romans 9:22-23: “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…”

An explanation: God has an eternal and unchangeable decree or purpose for Himself, for His people, and all creation. This goal or purpose is for the “praise of His Glory” in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:6,12,14). The Eternal, Blessed, Bountiful and Boundless God, without the counsel or aid of anyone else, according to His perfect counsel and will, has appointed and determined all of history “according to the counsel of His will” or for His mere good pleasure (Eph. 1:9-10).

Whatever we read has happened in history, whatever happens in the outworking of history in our lives, and whatever comes to pass in the future, has been planned and appointed by God (not merely allowed!), who is infinitely, eternally, unchangeably, wise, holy, just, good, and true. Let us think on these things, and adjust our thoughts and reflections accordingly (Phil. 4:8; Rom. 11:34, 12:2), especially when we read about the “messiness” of history, see the sinfulness of sin, and watch and read the daily news! We will not necessarily understand everything about God, and He has certainly not revealed everything about Himself and His purposes (Job 42), but what God has revealed is sufficient and clear enough to instruct us, and should be humbly received by faith (Deut. 29:29).

One of the most horrifying, yet graciously satisfying, and God-glorifying events in history was the rejection, betrayal, suffering, and crucifixion of the Blessed and Perfect Lord Jesus Christ, who was the only man who ever lived perfectly before God, and therefore deserved a perfect and blessed life (Psa. 1). Yet all manner of evil, humiliation, and affliction was laid on Him by His God and Heavenly Father, our God and Heavenly Father. It was the will of the LORD, according to His predetermined counsel and will to crush the Lord Jesus for us, and to appoint (not merely allow) the Gentiles and the Jews to gather together and humiliate Him for us, to spit upon Him for us, to mock Him for us, to torture Him for us, and to crucify Him for us (Acts 4:27-28; Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21). God predestined this for the “praise of God’s glorious grace” so that His right judgment, justice and punishment against sin might be gloriously upheld, and His mercy and grace to sinners might be made available to all who repent and believe (Rom. 3:23-26).

A prayer: I thank you dear God, and acknowledge that you have chosen some to everlasting life and happy bliss in Christ, not because of any good, or faith you foresaw in them, but granting them faith, righteous standing and real holiness according to your good pleasure (Matt. 11:25-26 ; 2 Thes. 2:13; Eph. 1:4). Although I don’t fully understand, I also acknowledge that you have been pleased to pass by, or pass over some who are not your elect, leaving them to perish in their sins to the praise of your glorious wrath and infinite justice (Rom. 9:21-22). I acknowledge you as the Blessed Potter, and I am mere clay, but thank you for giving your Son, so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life, and call you “Father”. Help me to give heed to making my calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10-11).

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Biggs

Question: How many persons are there in the Godhead?

Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Scripture memory: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19); Jesus says: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” – ^ESV 2 Corinthians 13:14

An explanation: There are three persons in the Godhead (Godhead = the divine essence or being). Christians are monotheists; there is but one God (1 Cor. 8:6; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 44:8), yet at the same time we must affirm that there are three persons in the one Godhead (there are not three divine essences, but three “persons”). Theologians emphasize that the three persons have the same nature as God, with three ways of subsisting, each person of Godhead having His distinct personal properties: Eph. 1:3-14; The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; the Spirit is not the Father or the Son, but the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God).

The Bible clearly teaches that the Father is God: Exo. 3:14, Rom. 7:25, 8:32, 1 Tim. 1:17, and His personal property is to beget the Son from all eternity (Heb. 1:5, 8); The Son is God: John 1:1, 8:58, Rom. 9:5, Acts 20:28, Titus 2:13, Heb. 1:3, and His personal property is begotten of the Father (John 1:14); The Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-4, Psa. 95:3,7-9, 139:7, John 14:17, and His personal property is to proceed from the Father and the Son (John 15:26). All three persons of the one Godhead possess the same divine attributes such as eternity, omnipotence, immutability, and immensity; They are “same in substance” (One Godhead), “equal in power and glory” (although distinct from each other, nevertheless possessing the qualities of Deity).

It is true that the finite cannot comprehend the infinite, yet we receive this teaching about our Triune God from Holy Scripture in humble submission. This doctrine is not unreasonable, or illogical, but rather supra-reasonable. It is beyond our ability to fully fathom our Great and Holy God as He has clearly revealed Himself in Scripture, but we can apprehend the truth, and by His grace commune with Him, and glory in Him. This should not puzzle us, but rather humble us before Him, and cause us to worship and adore. Let us take off our shoes in reverence and awe, for the ground on which we stand is HOLY! Let us draw near to the Throne of Grace (Heb. 4:16), and seek to commune with each person of the Godhead, desiring Him, delighting in, and enjoying the relationship of happiness and glory that the three persons of God have graciously included us in through the Covenant of Grace (Psa. 27:4; cf. Luke 10:42). “One thing I have asked of the LORD…”

A prayer: Our Father, thank you that you are God, and have chosen me in Christ to be your child. Beloved Son, thank you that you are my Heavenly Bridegroom who has taken upon yourself my nature permanently, and lived in it perfectly for me, and died in it for me, and been raised and exalted in it for me. You have betrothed me to yourself in love, and I am yours. Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for applying the work of Jesus to me, and regenerating me spiritually, uniting me to Jesus, the Lover of my soul, and bringing the truth of God to my mind through Holy Scripture, and the love of God to my heart. Let me serve you, worshipping and adoring you as the one God in three persons.

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Biggs

Question: Are there more Gods than one?

Answer: There is but one only, the living and true God.

Scripture memory: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” – Deut. 6:4; “But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.” – Jer. 10:10a

An explanation: There is only one, living and true God. The Scriptures teach us that God is one (Deut. 6:4). The Christian Faith is monotheistic which means that we believe in one God (“mono” = one; “Theos” = God). We confess that this one God is revealed in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but He is One God (the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God).

One purpose of the Bible’s emphasis on the one, true and living God is to instruct and warn sinful man against idolatry and pagan polytheism, or the belief in many gods (1 Cor. 8:4-6; Psalm 96:4-5). The Holy Scriptures teach that the gods of the pagan peoples are “worthless” (they cannot save; they cannot speak because they are often merely dead pieces of wood or metal; they are powerless to help anyone because they are dead and lifeless, Psa. 96:5; Jer. 10:5). Idols have no real existence (1 Cor. 8:4), and therefore we confess:

“…There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:6).

Yet fallen man makes idols, and worships and serves false gods, even though the True God has made Himself clearly known (Rom. 1:19-25). Romans 1 teaches us that at the heart of idolatrous unbelief are a refusal to see the evidence of the True God in creation, a warped foolishness in blind unrepentance, and a desire to  exchange the truth of God that is revealed for a lie, to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! (Rom. 1:25).

As Christians, we should rejoice that God has fully revealed Himself as the One and Only, True and Living God! In God’s merciful kindness, God Himself took upon Himself our nature in the Lord Jesus Christ, to clearly reveal the existence and nature of the One True God. Jesus teaches “I and my Father are one” and “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 10:30; 14:9), and “…This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

God reveals His lavish love for sinners who will repent and turn from their idolatry to serve the Living God. Christians are described in the Bible in this way: “…You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:9-10).

We must keep ourselves from idols, dearly Beloved. What we are tempted to live for, serve, dream about, and adore too much will be our temptation to idolatry. Let us love God first above all things in Christ Jesus, and be thankful. Let us worship and serve Him alone because of the love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness He has offered idolaters, and how He has saved us from His coming wrath upon all disobedience. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

A prayer: Thank you, dear Father, You who are the Only God, the True and Living God, for saving me from idolatry, and your righteous judgment that will fall upon all idolaters (1 Cor. 6:9; Rev. 21:8). Thank you, dear God, for your mercy to me in Jesus Christ, and your unfailing, undying patience with me, even as I live for you, and realize sometimes that I still love created things too much. Grant me a deeper repentance and true mourning for the way I love the things you have given me, more than the fact that you have given yourself to me in Christ! Let my heart find its rest in you alone. Amen.

In Christ’s love,
Pastors Biggs and Halley

Question: What is God?

Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth

Scripture memory:

^ESV John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

An explanation:

The Shorter Catechism in question four focuses our attention on the essence of God, or on God’s being. God is one in essence, three in Persons as the Triune God. The Father is God; the Son is God; the Spirit is God. “There is one God, in respect of His essence and being, but one in three distinct persons, of Father, Son and Holy Ghost” (J. Owen’s Catechism). God’s essence is considered by listing God’s attributes. Our forefathers taught correctly that when considering God’s attributes, we should remember that God is the most simple being, or is free from all composition and division. His attributes are not parts of God (God cannot be divided). Whatever is in God, is God. Dividing up God’s attributes in this way are to aid us in knowing Him better.

What God is, He is eternally and unchangeably. Though God’s attributes are many, yet they are nothing but God’s revelation of His single, undivided Essence, or Being. What a Glorious God! Let us meditate upon His attributes, and commune with our Triune God. Let us include God’s revelation of Himself in our prayers.

God is…infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being. Think of how God is glorious in that He is Almighty, all-powerful, everywhere present, has always existed and always will, and will never change! Take time to reflect on each particular attribute in this way: Say “God is…infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His…wisdom; …in His power;…in His holiness;…in His justice;…in His goodness; …in His truth.” Meditate quietly before God’s throne (Hab. 2:20).

Think about this Glorious God who personally loves you and has revealed Himself to you, who possesses in His being, not merely goodness, but omnipotent goodness; a God who is powerful, but who is also holy and loves to do good, and never evil; a God who cannot do evil, not merely because He wills not to do evil, but because it isn’t “in Him” that is, in His being to do any wrong or evil, rather there is wisdom, and truth, and goodness. His justice is perfectly holy. He is kind to all in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect manifestation and revelation of this Glorious God. Let us look in the face of Christ and see the One who is the radiance of the Glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature, who upholds the universe by the Word of His power, and after making purification for sins, sat down at the right hand of God! Rejoice! (Heb. 1:3-4).

A prayer: I humble myself quietly before you, O Great and Good God. Thank you for salvation. Let me properly meditate upon your greatness, your attributes this day. Help me to walk with you and commune with you personally. May I delight in you, and find you to be my portion (Psa. 27:4; 73:28).

In Christ’s Love,

Pastors Biggs and Halley

Question: What do the Scriptures principally teach?

Answer: The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Scripture memory: ^ESV 2 Timothy 1:13

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

An explanation: The primary reason God has given us the Holy Scriptures is so that we can know Him and live obediently before Him. Who is God? How do we know Him? God has been kind to reveal Himself clearly and sufficiently as the only God, the True and Living, Triune God who has not left Himself without a witness (Acts 14:17; Exodus 3:14; Deut. 6:4-6; 1 Cor. 8:6). Although man has been created in God’s image, because of the contamination of sin on our minds and hearts, we do not by nature worship the truth and living God as we should. We are idolaters by nature who worship false gods; we exchange the truth of God with a lie (Jer. 17:9; Rom. 1:22-25). Yet God has taught us about Himself through the Scriptures, and through the Scriptures we can know God and have eternal life (John 17:3).

How do we know how to live before God and others? God has clearly and perfectly revealed this in His Word, particularly in the Ten Commandments. Our Lord Jesus summarized the teaching of the Law as loving God with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30). The Law of God is a summary of the Bible’s teaching about what love looks like, and how our lives should be lived. We are to love God alone and first before all other things, to honor God with our worship without images, being careful to glorify His name, and to keep His Sabbath Holy. Toward our fellow men (our neighbors), we are to see to it that we properly honor them, preserving and blessing their lives, being committed to our spouses if married, taking care of others’ property, loving and telling the truth, and being content in all circumstances.

Yet we fall short of this perfect will of God (Rom. 8:3-4). God in His great mercy has sent Christ to redeem us from the Law as a way of works, so that we could live it, and be righteous by His grace alone, through faith alone. Christ is our hope. God has revealed Himself ultimately to sinners in Christ. God has called all men to repentance, and given all authority to Jesus Christ to be the Judge of all mankind (Acts 17:30-31). Let us repent in light of God’s goodness and mercy in Christ Jesus. Let us live obediently before Him as the true fruit of saving faith in Him (Rom. 1:5; 6:17; James 2:14).

A prayer: Father, make me a fruitful and joyful Christian in Christ as you have promised (John 15:1-11). Let me be obedient to you by faith and so fulfill the law (Rom. 8:3-4; 13:8-10). Help me to live my life loving you and my neighbor as myself, and so live a life that is pleasing to you (2 Cor. 5:9).

In Christ’s Love,

Pastors Biggs and Halley

 

Question: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

Answer: The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Scripture memory: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness… ^ESV 2 Timothy 3:16

A brief explanation:

God is not silent, He has spoken. God has clearly spoken and revealed Himself in creation and in men’s consciences, but He has especially revealed Himself in His God-Breathed-Out Word (Psalm 19; Rom. 1:19ff; 2:14-16; Eph. 2:20). God condescended to reveal Himself to His creatures, and to grant them knowledge about Himself and about His will. God has given us the Holy Scriptures, sixty-six books of the Bible, to know Him, and learn from Him so that we might glorify and enjoy Him! Isn’t God good to us?!

Man rebelled in Adam and refused to heed God’s Word. In this terrible fall, man’s mind was darkened, and His ability to hear was damaged. God’s Word is not readily available on our minds and hearts as sinful creatures. We do not by nature think God’s thoughts after Him as we were created to do. Even when man has God’s Word, he is not content with it, but often refuses to listen, or desires to know of secrets about God and about himself that God has not been pleased to reveal (Deut. 29:29). Sinful man also desires in his fallen, “endarkened” state to add to God’s Word (Rev. 22:18). But let us received with humility the Word as God has revealed it (Isa. 66:2; Jer. 9:20a; James 1:21). God has spoken to us with authority and clarity, and this is sufficient for all of life and godly living (2 Peter 1:3ff). God’s Word profits us in teaching, reproving or rebuking us, in correcting us, and in giving us right thoughts about God and ourselves.

God has particularly given His God-breathed-out Word to teach us our desperate need for His grace because of our great sin against Him (Eph. 2:1-10). We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). We have all sinned and are deserving of God’s wrath. Yet God in Christ, came to teach us that the God who requires perfect obedience to His Word, has also provided a Substitutionary Substitute to live perfectly for us where we have failed, and to take all of the curses of our disobedience upon Himself! Christ has come to teach the truth, and to listen to the truth, and to live the truth for man’s sin and failures. Christ is the Truth; He is the Word (John 1:1-3; 14:6). God is rich and mercy and gives His own ears to hear and obey His Word.

A prayer: Dear Father, help us to hear and obey your Word. To receive it as it is, the very Word of God. Let us receive it with humility, reverence, and obedience. Let us live for you, and to be thankful that you have privileged us with having your perfect, infallible, inspired Word. Let us memorize it and hide it in our hearts. We often have deaf ears, grant us hearing ears like your Beloved Son (Isaiah 50:4).

In Christ’s Love,

Pastors Biggs and Halley

Question: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify and enjoy Him forever.

Scripture memory:

 ^ESV Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

An explanation:

God made man specifically so that man could glorify and enjoy Him. This was man’s ‘chief end’ which means this was God’s goal for man. The goal for which He created man was so that man would bring glory to the Triune God and to be filled with joy in fellowship with Him.

We can see how far man has fallen from this ideal. How do we know something is faulty? A thing is faulty if that which it was designed to do, it does not do. Man is faulty; he is broken by sin. Mankind chose to live for self, and sinned against God, his only hope, and the only true fulfillment and rest for his soul. Man was created for God and man will never find rest and satisfaction until He rests in God, as our dear forefather Augustine taught us. How can we ever find the goal and satisfaction of our lives if we are so selfish and broken from sin?

God loved man so much that He sent Christ to redeem some of His creatures, His own Beloved Elect, to redeem them from the fall into sin, and to enable them by His grace to find His chief and, or main purpose in life! Christ lived a perfect life, finding in His life the true purpose for which man was created! No one else after the fall into sin had ever experienced such blessed living! Christ has come to free us from our slavery to self and to trying to find our purpose in this fallen world, so that we can find the true joy and delight of serving and worshiping God as He has designed us. Now we can live joyfully and fully in Him! He is our delight.

What a Savior!

A prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I was created to glorify and enjoy you, but I don’t do this as I should. Forgive me for Christ’s sake. What a privilege to be your child. Fill me with your Spirit so that I can better glorify you in all I do, and to be filled with your joy in the Lord Jesus! You are my portion (Psa. 73:23-28). Amen.

In Christ’s Love,

Pastors Biggs and Halley