The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 3 – Adjusted Perspective

In our pursuit to understand the strong warning at the end of Hebrews 10, we are examining the assumption that the whole Story is about forgiveness and redemption. If these are the only issue, then the warning threatens our eternal security. Are we in danger of “loosing our salvation”? Could we really go to hell if we screw up?

So, we returned to the beginning of the Story, to see if we missed anything.

We started with the Bad News behind the Good News. In summary, the Bad News is that, in the Garden, we chose to -

• Abandon the identity and significance that was ours as God’s representatives.
• Abandon the fulfillment of life in the Garden -  the sustenance, beauty, and intimacy available there.
• Align ourselves with the enemy of God, making ourselves rebels, objects of God’s wrath.
• Follow a path leading to physical death.

This raises the question, “Is the situation hopeless, or can all that was lost be recovered?”

Actually, from the very beginning, there is hope. But the hope was not in redemption but in the anticipated defeat of the enemy responsible for the overthrow of God’s kingdom on earth, and in the reversal of the effects of the curse. They are not looking forward to being forgiven, they are looking forward to a time when the threat to God’s Kingdom is crushed, and when they can rest in the abundant provision of the earth, rather than toiling in sweat, battling thorns and thistles.

Which raises the question of whether our perspective still too limited? Is our understanding of the Story too self-centered? Is it about more than the personal loss for us? Read more

The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 2 – A Glimmer of Hope

When I set out to explore the idea of the “pleasure of God’s soul” last week, I did not anticipate where that would lead. But as I have considered how to explain all that is going on at the end of Hebrews 10, it has become clear that we need to take our time, and let the Larger Story unfold, so that we can understand what brings pleasure to God’s soul . . . and what does not.

So, relax, sit back, and let’s consider the major developments of the Story.

Last week we went all the way back to the beginning and reviewed the Bad News that lies behind the Good News. In summary, the Bad News is that, in our choice in the Garden, we -

• Abandoned all the identity and significance that was ours as God’s representatives.
• Abandoned the fulfillment of life in the Garden -  the sustenance, beauty, and intimacy available there.
• Aligned ourselves with the enemy of God, making ourselves rebels, objects of God’s wrath.
• Chose a path that would lead to physical death.

So, what’s the Good News? “You’re forgiven. You will never be who you were intended to be, and life as it was in the Garden is forever lost to you, but at least you’re forgiven.” Is that the Good News? Is that the only hope we have? Read more

The Pleasure of God’s Soul – Part 1 – “Bad News”

The “pleasure of God’s soul” – There is something unsettling, yet compelling about that phrase. Unsettling because I don’t think of God as having a “soul”. Clearly, He is Spirit (John 4:24). But the idea of Him “having a soul” is somehow foreign. Unsettling also, because it seems that I might have something to do with this pleasure . . . and compelling for the same reason. Also compelling because it seems like a good thing for God’s soul to have pleasure. If I can impact that . . . Wow!

It is this idea – the “pleasure of God’s soul” – that draws me back to Hebrews 10-11. It is so powerful that I memorized Hebrews 10:35-39 a few years ago -

“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ‘For yet in a very little while, He Who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Right there in the middle is the idea that draws me – “. . . and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him . . .”. God is speaking, ascribing a soul to Himself. And the pleasure of His soul is linked to our choices. Very unsettling. How do we “shrink back”? As I read on, it seems that the destruction of my soul is at stake. How can that be? I thought we were saved “by grace, through faith”. What about eternal security? Read more

A Pause For Clarity

As we continue the journey of learning what it means to “love and hate like God”, I am drawn back to a passage we touched on in last week’s look at the Kingdom - Hebrews 10 & 11 – particularly 10:26-39.

Yet, when I go back and read the passage, it doesn’t quite fit our pursuit as we’ve described it. We set out to find the things we should love because God loves them, and the things we should hate because God hates them. But this passage does not focus on our displeasure with other things, or even God’s displeasure with other things – it focuses on His potential displeasure with us.

Still, I can’t let go of the sense that we need to take a deeper look at this passage. Why?

Pausing to reflect, I realize the need for more clarity on exactly what we are pursuing. Describing our goal as “loving what God loves, and hating what He hates” was enough of a destination to start the journey, but now I see the need for a more specific destination.

Kind of like deciding to go backpacking in Colorado. While Colorado is an ideal place to backpack, there is a lot of Colorado that will not deliver the experience I have in mind when I think “backpacking in Colorado”. What I am looking requires a more specific destination.

So, how can I better define our pursuit of loving and hating like God? Three issues come to mind. Read more