On His Throne, the LORD does all that He pleases.
"Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that he pleases."
Psalm 115:3 (ESV)
The LORD, the WORD of the LORD, the Spirit of the LORD, He is high and lifted up. In the highest heaven, on His eternal throne, He reigns. No spirit, no man, no creature can transcend, ascend, or comprehend the span, the height, or the depth of our LORD's reign.
Absolute, is His reign. No quark moves beyond the LORD's Hand (Acts 17:28), and no galaxy of galaxies spins outside His Sovereign plan. (Romans 11:36)
By the word of His power He upholds all things (Hebrews 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6), 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.” Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
So, how does the LORD reign? In what way does He rule over all the heavens and the earth?
Through full engagement and manifold action—to do all and only that which pleases Him!
Consider just a few of His sovereign ways:
He wills.
“Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”
Isaiah 46:10 (ESV)
He plans.
“The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.”
Psalm 33:11 (ESV)
He speaks.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’”
Genesis 1:3 9 (ESV)
He creates.
“and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3 (ESV)
He judges
(what is good and what is not good according to His own eyes).
“And God saw that the light was good.”
Genesis 1:4 (ESV)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)
He seeds.
“And God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,
and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.’
And it was so.”
Genesis 1:11 (ESV)
“Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable,
through the living and abiding word of God;”
1 Peter 1:23 (ESV)
He appears.
“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:2-6 (ESV)
“And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’”
Luke 9:29-35 (ESV)
He calls.
“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred
and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’”
Genesis 12:1 (ESV)
“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’
And he rose and followed him.”
Matthew 9:9 (ESV)
He covenants.
“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram,”
Genesis 15:18 (ESV)
“And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”
Luke 22:20 (ESV)
He promises.
“‘And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you
and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.’”
Genesis 12:3 (ESV)
“And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”
1 John 2:25 (ESV)
He guarantees, bonds, underwrites, and pledges
(Himself as our New Covenant Surety).
“And he said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.’ But he said, ‘O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?’ He said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. . . . When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, . . .”
Genesis 15:7-11, 17-18 (ESV)
“This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”
Hebrews 7:22 (ESV)
He creates
(anew).
“For as the new heavens and the new earth
that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
so shall your offspring and your name remain.
Isaiah 66:22 (ESV)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
He regenerates.
“Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God.
Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—
‘This one was born there,’ they say.
And of Zion it shall be said,
‘This one and that one were born in her’;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
‘This one was born there.’”
Psalm 87:3-6 (ESV)
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”
John 3:3-8 (ESV)
He gives
(the gift of faith).
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:7 (ESV)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
He credits
(faith as righteousness).
“And [Abram] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
Genesis 15:6 ESV)
“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”
Romans 4:5 (ESV)
He grants
(the gift of repentance).
“Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.”
* * * *
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Psalm 51:8, 17 (ESV)
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:17-18 (ESV)
He atones
substitutionally.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.”
Leviticus 16:15-16 (ESV)
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9:11-14 (ESV)
He justifies
(by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone).
“In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
Isaiah 45:25 (ESV)
“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:11 (ESV)
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV)
“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law,
for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11 (ESV)
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)
“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted as righteousness,”
Romans 4:5 (ESV)
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1 (ESV)
“[H]e saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3:5-7 (ESV)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
He delivers.
“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.”
Psalm 107:14 (ESV)
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)
He forgives.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Psalm 32:1-2 (ESV)
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Ephesians 1:7 (ESV)
He reconciles.
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our[a] sins
into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19 (ESV)
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV)
He clothes
(in the righteousness of God).
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Isaiah 61:10 (ESV)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV)
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:27 (ESV)
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)
“and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith—"
Philippians 3:9 (ESV)
He adopts
(us as His children, sons and daughter of the promise).
“For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.”
Isaiah 63:16 (ESV)
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV)
He consecrates.
“But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself.”
Psalm 4:3 (ESV)
“‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
John 17:17-19 (ESV)
He sanctifies
(from glory to glory, all who behold Christ).
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[a]
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
Psalm 84:5-7 (ESV)
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
He circumcises
(the heart so that we may love God and live—by faith).
“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring,
so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV)
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:11-14 (ESV)
He renews
(the mind through the knowledge of Christ).
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
“and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:10 (ESV)
“and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self,
created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:23-24 (ESV)
He mediates.
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
Genesis 14:18-20 (ESV)
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)
He tabernacles
(with man).
“I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.
And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
Leviticus 26:11-12 ESV;
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 ESV;
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘
Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and
God himself will be with them as their God.’”
Revelation 21:3 (ESV)
He shines
(in our hearts the light of the knowledge of His glory).
“‘The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’
So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:24-27 Z(ESV)
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)
He joins
(in marriage).
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” . . . So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
‘This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.’
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:18, 21-24 (ESV)
“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”
Revelation 21:9-11 (ESV)
He fills
(as with living water, the fullness of His Presence).
“For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
Isaiah 44:3 (ESV)
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
John 4:10-14 (ESV)
He tests.
“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the Lord tests hearts.”
Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)
“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Genesis 22:1-3 (ESV)
“But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’”
Genesis 22:1-3, 11-12 (ESV)
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”
Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Matthew 4:1 ESV)
He enforces.
“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the LORD has said: “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.”’ And Aaron held his peace.”
Leviticus 10:1-2 ESV)
“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.’ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.”
Acts 5:3-5 (ESV)
He wars.
“The Lord God said to the serpent,
‘Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.’”
Genesis 3:14 (ESV)
“I said, ‘You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.’
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!”
Psalm 82:6-8 (ESV)
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.”
Exodus 12:12 ESV
“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame,
by triumphing over them in [Christ].”
Colossians 2:15 (ESV)
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,..”
Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)
“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
1 Corinthians 15:24-26 (ESV)
He gifts
(a holy priesthood to serve His High Priest).
“And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, . . ..”
Numbers 18:6-7 (ESV)
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.’”
John 17:1-2 (ESV)
“And they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.’”
Revelation 5:9-10 (ESV)
He intercedes.
“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Exodus 14:14 (ESV)
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)
He glorifies
(the WORD of the LORD).
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!’”
Isaiah 6:1-3 (ESV)
“Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of [Christ].”
John 12:41 (ESV)
“Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Psalm 24:7-10 (ESV)
“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”
John 12:12-13 (ESV)
“And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’ . . . ‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”
John 12:23, 28 (ESV)
“‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!’
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”
Revelation 5:12-13 (ESV)
He resurrects.
“For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.”
Psalm 16:10 (ESV)
“And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’”
Luke 24:5-7 (ESV)
“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!”
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.”
Isaiah 26:19 (ESV)
“‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
John 5:25-29 (ESV)
He loves.
“the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV)
He fulfills.
“God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19 (ESV)
“The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.”
Genesis 21:1-3 (ESV)
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.”
Isaiah 40:1-2 (ESV)
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Isaiah 60:1-3 (ESV)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.’”
Luke 2:25-32 (ESV)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV)
“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”
Luke 22:19-20 (ESV)
"And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)
“but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother . . .
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby,
he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!'"
John 19:25-26 (ESV)
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (ESV)
He does all these things, and myriad more—immeasurably more—for His good pleasure.
And what is that good pleasure? What does the LORD find pleasing?
His actions reveal all that pleases Him.
He delights to be known—to be known in covenantal love by one in whom He delights—to love and to be loved.
This is His good pleasure.
A good God is moved by good pleasures.
This is the good pleasure of the LORD: to create us, rescue us, regenerate us, cleanse us, conform and shape us, and glorify us, so that we may know the inner depths of His Being—so that we may know all of Him and worship in His presence all that He is.
And this also is the good pleasure of the LORD: the Son of God, in whom He is well pleased!
Because it is not good for His Son to be unknown, He brought Him a bride—a bride for Him to rescue, beautify, and love with all His soul.
To love His Bride is to love His Father—the Giver of His Gift and the Father of His Bride.
On His Throne, He does all that He pleases!
This is our God! One who delights in the best of pleasures!
And no work is greater than to serve the good pleasure of the LORD.
This was His death on a cross.
This was His burial in a rich man’s tomb.
This was His resurrection.
This was His ascension.
This was His coronation.
This will be His consummation!
The ultimate pleasure of the LORD will be seen by the Redeemed at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. And then, with even greater delight, we will know all that He is—not as now, with dim sight (the sight of faith), but as He knows the Son.
Face to face.