For the Beauty of the Earth
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. (Psalm 8:1 NIV)
In 1864, a young poet by the name of Folliot S. Pierpoint, in Bath, England, looked out over the countryside and was inspired to write the hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.” What he saw marveled him, and he stopped, let his mind take in all the beauty of his surroundings, and was drawn to praise and worship of the One who created it all. He originally wrote eight stanzas, but we will focus on just four.
In the first verse, while speaking of earth’s beauty and the sky’s glory, he focuses on the love we have received from God since our birth.
“For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.”
He becomes more specific in the second verse as he mentions various sources of beauty throughout the day and night.
“For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.”
In verses three and four he speaks of music and art; “For the joy of ear and eye.” And he speaks of human love, another gift of God, the love of brothers and sisters, parents and children, and friends. Verse five speaks of the church and its praise and love for our Lord.
“For thy church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.”
In the last verse, Pierpoint expresses his love and thankfulness for the greatest gift of God.
“For thyself, best Gift Divine
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.”
This man articulates the feelings and love I have for our Lord and for his creation better than I do. God’s creation is fantastic, for which we need to be grateful, but our greatest appreciation must be for God Himself.
How Many Licks?
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33 NIV)
There’s an advertisement with the lead line, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” Several animals give the answer, “I don’t know, I always bite first.” The question is finally asked of the wisest animal, the owl. His answer is to try it, and takes one lick, two licks, three licks, and then he bites it. His answer is “Three.” Scientific inquiries have come up with the answers of 144 to 3481. I’ve tried it, and I’ve been unable to come up with a definite number, but my answer is closer to the owl’s than the scientist’s. I’ve never been able to be patient enough to get to the center only by licking.
What a silly way this is to introduce a Christian blog. I don’t mean to be disrespectful of the Scriptures, but if you will bear with me, I do have an analogy. I’ve read many Scriptures that I find interesting and somewhat satisfying upon first reading, but I know there is more there. I have just scratched the surface, but if I take my time and continue to read it—slowly—I keep getting additional satisfaction. I know there is still a lot more there, but I haven’t gotten to the core of its meaning yet. As I continue to read—slowly—I continue to receive more and more insight. The temptation is to crunch to get to the center—ask the Lord about the meaning. Whenever I do that, I sometimes get an answer that satisfies me, and I move on. But other times, I continue reading the Scripture—slowly—and I gain further insight, and I am intrigued to continue to reread the Scripture—slowly—and I obtain more insight. What a great way this is to garner insight into God’s Word. I don’t think I have ever gotten to the absolute core of any Scripture, but I have always received great insight into the Heart of God. Scripture is different from a Tootsie Pop. The Lord has put many more layers in His Word than the makers of the Tootsie Pop could ever put in their pieces of candy, and the crunch to the center is much more satisfying. Thank you, Lord, for the satisfaction you give us any time we “crunch” through a Scripture and ask for insight.
Seventy Times Seven
“At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, ‘Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven? Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven’” (Matthew 18:21,22 MSG).
God’s Math
70 X 7 =
EXTRAVAGANT
Seventy times seven was a symbolic answer that meant, “EXTRAVAGANTLY!” God created this entire universe for us, and after he created it, He created us. He asked us to take good care of it, all of it, especially the people, and we don’t always do that. But God loves us, and He forgives us. Because God is love, He certainly forgives “EXTRAVAGANTLY!” He made us in His image, so He expects us to forgive “EXTRAVAGANTLY!”
In 1 John 1:9 we are told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” It doesn’t say that we will be forgiven once, or twice, or “seventy times seven.” It just says that we are forgiven if we confess our sins. Not only that, but He will “purify us from all unrighteousness.” (NIV) Romans 8:1,2 tells us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (NIV) We’ve been set free from the law of sin and death and are not condemned. Psalm 103:12 shows how far our sins have been removed from us: “as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (NIV) At the time of His greatest pain, and near death, Jesus said, “…Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing….” Luke 23:34 (NIV). It’s clear that His forgiveness for us is well beyond “seventy times seven.”
God forgives us greatly, and He asks us to forgive “EXTRAVAGANTLY.” He directs us in Ephesians 3:32, to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We are to give as God has forgiven. The members of the church in Collosse were told: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” God forgave us “EXTRAVAGANTLY,” and He is again asking us to do the same. Jesus spoke these words that are recorded in Luke 6:27,28: “But to you who are listening I say: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.’” That does NOT leave any room for, “But look what he did to me. Where’s my justice?” God expects us to forgive even our enemies. He expects us to forgive “EXTRAVAGANTLY.”
If we are going to be faithful to Him, we need to do that. If we are going to grow to be like Jesus we are going to have to forgive “EXTRAVAGANTLY.” We’ve got some growing to do. Our joy will grow as we follow His lead and forgive as He forgave.
But How Do We Love?
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (NIV)
I am convinced that the world recognizes love and responds to it. At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples to love one another as He loved them. Later, Paul describes the love that Jesus showed and that He expects us to show as well. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, he says: “Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; it’s never crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight. Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.” (VOICE) All of that really sounds difficult. Well, it is, but Jesus told His disciples to love as He had loved them, and Jesus’s love is perfect love.
I knows that I can’t live up to that kind of love all the time, or even most of the time, but I can count on Jesus doing so and forgiving me when I don’t measure up. How do I stack up against Paul’s definition of love?
My lack of patience and kindness often shows up when I am driving. It’s easy for me to be envious when I see someone pick up a package of steak, and I look at the price. I do brag about my three sons, but I don’t think I strut. Arrogance is something that I don’t recognize in myself until I stop and think about my pride in my accomplishments. I try not to be rude, or crude, or indecent, but I’m sure that I am sometimes. It is easy for me to become absorbed in what I am doing and forget about the rest of the world. Again, traffic, easily upsets me, but I try not to be pleased when I catch up to the person who cut me off at the next light. Injustice is not something I approve of, but some truths are hard to accept. No, I don’t put up easily with everything that comes my way, but I do trust and hope in my Lord, and with His help I will endure until I meet Him face to face.
So, I guess I don’t fulfill everything Jesus expects of me in love, and I ask for His forgiveness, knowing that He has taken these sins of mine to hell and left them there. Thank you, Jesus.
So, ask yourself how well you measure up to Paul’s definition of love.
God Is Love
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1John 4:8 (NIV)
God loves us. He always has, and He always will. He showed His love at creation. He showed His love throughout the Old Testament. He showed His love as told in the Gospels. He showed His love at Calvary, and demonstrated His love in power at the resurrection. His Word speaks of His love in the Epistles. He speaks His love every day if we will take the time to pray and listen for Him while we pray.
Paul states in most eloquent terms in Romans 8:35-40 of God’s desire to keep us close to Him. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nsr the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” These verses can be shortened to “Nothing in all of creation can keep God from loving us.” But the listing of all the possible things that might keep us from the love of God calls our attention to the magnitude of God’s love for us.
We all have trouble in life, but that can’t keep us from the love of God. Hardships are a part of everyday life, but they can’t keep us from God’s love. I haven’t suffered from famine, and I’ve always had clothes to wear, but Paul tells us that they can’t keep us from experiencing the love of God. I’ve never been in the military or police service where I’ve faced danger or today’s “swords,” guns, but I have been told and have read that “there are no atheists in foxholes.” There are people today, yes even today, who are facing danger and death because of their belief in our great God. I stand in awe of those who have said in the face of these extreme dangers, “I will not renounce my faith in Jesus Christ.”
Paul is convinced that God’s love will not be kept from us by either death or life. Neither will spiritual beings, angels or demons, keep God’s love from us. Today won’t, tomorrow won’t, and no power can come between us and the love of God. No mountain is tall enough, and no ocean is deep enough to block God’s love. No, nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God. We are His, and He will love us forever.
I’m certain you noticed that I repeated every problem mentioned in Romans 8:35-40 in the precedng paragraph, and you may have found that to be repetitious. Let’s look at it from God’s perspective. How many times has he had to help us through problems and hardships. I know that it has been many, many times in my life. I’m so glad that He doesn’t say, “I’ve helped you with that problem once, that’s it.” He’s not a “one and done” God when it comes to helping us with our daily lives. The fact of the faithfulness of His love, no, the TRUTH of the faithfulness of His love resounds through the centuries.
What does God expect from us in return? A Pharisee once asked Jesus about this in Matthew 22:36 (NIV), “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus answered, in verses 37 to 40: “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” God created us, and that gives Him the right to ask that we love Him, but He expects us to expand our love to our neighbors and love the people He loves.
Come back next time for a deeper dive into God’s love and our response to it
