God's Satisfies us by Loving Himself

God loves Himself supremely above all other creatures. He delights in the purity of His character. He observes and analyses every emotion and mental capacity He possesses and declares it good! God is excellent, all together lovely, more beautiful than any landscape or icon. God's reaction to Himself is worship. He worships Himself loving to demonstrate His magnificence to everyone by speaking through creation. He is clearly seen through the testimony of earth.

He is a consuming fire, burning bright with radiance and indescribable light. He is the lion from the tribe of Judah; powerful, strong, the King of all creatures. He's the lamb that was slaughtered; meek and humble. He's the lamb that wanted to be slaughtered. It was His will to redeem a people to give Himself the joy of adoration. He desired worshippers to worship with His Spirit through His truth. He was willing to look guilty in the world's eyes to purchase our innocence. His cross was horrid and bloody. It was brutal and evil to nail the Son of God to splintered wood yet at the same time it works to express the greatness of His glory. He died and suffered to make Himself look wonderful. He did it to make Himself happy. For the joy that was promised to Him He endured the cross.

What do we get from God's efforts to make Himself look wonderful? We get we've always wanted: the happiness that comes from beholding beauty!

'And he [Moses] said, 'Please show me your glory.'' Exodus 33:18

Who did Christ Die For?

''The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

All the sins of all men.
All the sins of some men, or
Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:
a. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.

b. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.

c. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, Because of unbelief. I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!"

John Owen

It pleased God to kill Jesus

He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth...

[Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not be born.

One of the twelve whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver Him over to you?' And they paid Him thirty pieces of silver.

Now this man bought a field with the reward of wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.

While he [Jesus] was still speaking, there came a crowd. And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, 'No more of this!' And He touched his ear and healed him. Then they seized Him and led Him away. Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head and arrayed Him in a purple robe. They came up to Him, saying, 'Hail King of the Jews!' and struck Him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, 'See, I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in Him'. They took Jesus, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place of a skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to its jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the Scripture), 'I thirst'. A jar of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said 'It is finished', and bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

It was the will of God to crush Him; he has put Him to grief. Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied. A hanged man is cursed by God. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Is 53v5-7, Mark 8v31, Mark 14v21, Matt 26v14, Acts 1v18, Luke 22v47,50, 51, 54, Luke 19v1-4, John 19v16-18, Psalm 22v14-16, 1, John 19v28-30, Is 53v10,11, Deut 20v23, Rom 8v3, 2Cor 5v21

Enjoy Easter at Mars Hill

Driscoll on God

'You have been told that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, kind, compassionate, wonderful, and good sky fairy who runs a day care in the sky and has a bucket of suckers for everyone because we're all good people. That is a lie... God looks down and says 'I hate you, you are my enemy, and I will crush you,' and we say that is deserved, right and just, and then God says 'Because of Jesus I will love you and forgive you.' This is a miracle.' -Mark Driscoll