“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant…” (Deu 7:9 ESV)
First things first….
(Notice that the letter “F” will be used frequently in this message…)
What is the chief and highest end of man?
Let the revered Christian book, namely the Westminster Catechism, give the answer; Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify (worship) God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
When it comes to glorifying Him and fully enjoying Him, let it be said that the entire exercise ought to be “absolutely genuine emanating right from the innermost core of one’s being” (read spirit).
This would lead to the next question: How could the process of glorifying God originate right from the depths of one’s heart? It is only possible when a person is truly fascinated by His unique traits. Remember, worshipping God for what He is, is the highest form of worship, standing head and shoulders above other forms of worship. Remember that other forms of worship, such as worshipping Him for the blessings He showers upon us, all come with strings attached!
While on the subject, at this stage it would serve us well to look at a synonym of the word “glorify”, namely “magnify”. When, one magnifies Him, that is to say, when one keenly observes His Divine nature with a magnifying glass as it were, the “spiritual explorer” in you is bound to come across several unique attributes of the Almighty. lThese will evoke awe, and in turn, lead to spontaneous, heart-felt worship and praise.
In this 5-part series, I would like to bring before my readership one definite attribute of the Almighty — one which at once evokes awe in me: He is, as the above-captioned Scripture emphasizes, a “faithful One”. In Hebrew the word used to describe the faithful God is EL EMUNAH (pronounced E-Ma-Nah). One may well say that His signature of faithfulness is seen vividly in all of His dealings with men, beginning with Adam. Going with the ebb and flow of this message on the topic of our Lord’s faithfulness, I have also attempt the following:
a) To reconstruct the events ofDaniel 5, where we would see the overthrow of the mighty Babylonian Empire by the Medo-Persian King Cyrus, in line with the prophecy uttered just a few hours earlier (SeeDaniel 5:24-30), while b) bringing out some similarities between King Cyrus and Christ.
At this stage, it would also serve us well to look at the Hebrew and Greek words employed for describing faithfulness: “Emunah” and “Pistis” respectively. These mean loyalty or steadfastness. It is His infinite loyalty that binds the Eternal One into an eternal relationship with his prized creation, Mankind.
Prayer: Father, we your children, despite our many limitations are being sustained by Your faithfulness alone. Enable us to trust Thee at all times. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Yours in His Service,
Suresh Manoharan
J and SM Ministries
Hyderabad-India
(To access the entire “The Faithful One” mini-series, please click here.)