Ruth: 3:1-9; a study on chesed – the substance of all things, God’s glory.

Ruth: 3:1-9; a study on chesed - the substance of all things, God’s glory.

 

GEN 1:27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

 

GEN 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

 

GEN 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

 

GEN 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked

 

We have been studying the significance of Jesus’ statement:

 

MAT 6:22

“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear [singular or simple], your whole body will be full of light.”

 

Adam and the woman saw the fruit and thought it “good.” They took it and it resulted in death. This pattern is repeated in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah saw Hagar as a solution to God’s promise of a child, they saw that their plan was good, they took her, and the result was Ishmael. Aaron saw the gold of the Israelites, saw that it was good for making a calf, and he took it, and the result was idolatry and death. Achan saw the gold of Jericho, saw that it was good, he took it, and the result was his death and a curse upon Israel. The Israelites saw Saul and handsome and tall, saw that he was good and took him to be king, and the result was misery and suffering to the kingdom. David saw Bathsheba, saw that she was good or desirable, takes her, and the result is the death of her husband, their child, and suffering in David’s life.

 

This is done even by men of faith since we are all outside the garden, having lost the world, and under the curse of sin and death, even the best of us fail.

 

GEN 3:23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

 

GEN 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

The pattern of seeing something, but not the glory of God in it, taking it, and using it resulting in evil, is broken by the Lord of glory.

 

And then comes One who breaks this pattern. When Jesus sees the cross looming in His very near future, from the Garden of Gethsemane (the oil press) He doesn’t take another way. In breaking the pattern, at His lowest, His weakest, and facing His greatest temptation, He says, “Father, your will, not Mine be done.” Instead of taking, He gives and that breaks the pattern. He fulfills His calling on the cross. He fulfills His Father’s will. He lives for others. He shows chesed and leb (the love of God), and for the first time, eyes that are pure see the glory of God in the most wretched of places: the sin and evil of man.

 

Jesus’ decision doesn’t result in misery, but in the offering of salvation to the world. It does result in His own misery and subsequent death, but in a matter of days He will be resurrected and glorified and suffer no more.

 

Now, He turns to us and says, “I have made your eyes like Mine. Learn of Me and see like Me.”

 

God gave to man what he had lost at the fall. Since the meek shall inherit the earth, God gave it back to them. It would actually be an ironic punishment if we were to inherit this earth since it is cursed and doomed for destruction.

 

God did not restore to us the present physical, visible earth. He gave to us His invisible glory that is within the things of the earth and are their real substance.

 

His glory is invisible, unmeasurable, and cannot decay or rust. It cost Him quite a bit to give it to us.

 

One of the great places that we see the glory of God is in missionary work. Missionaries have existed since the beginning of the church. There has never been a lack of Christians who have been given a heart full of desire to go to distant lands and even hostile lands in order the preach the gospel at any cost. Right now, the fastest growing Christian church is in China. No one would have guessed that even a couple of decades ago. The second fastest growing church is unbelievably in Iran. Even in a secular, cynical world, the grace of God still shines in the most unlikely places. Let us be sure that it shines through us.

 

We lost the earth through our fall. God gave back to us, not only the earth, but also His glory in all things.

 

Last night we saw this stated by Paul in 1Co 3.

 

1CO 3:21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you,

 

1CO 3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,

 

1CO 3:23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.

 

The rest of the first letter to the Corinthians addresses this same principle in reference to other parts of our lives.

 

1Co 1-4: No glory: Division. Glory: Christ has made us all one family centered upon Him.

 

In 1Co 1-4 Paul deals with division. Corinth turned Christianity into another popularity contest. The human need to be better than others, loved more, and admired had been crushed by Christ on the cross. Paul appeals to our faith in the gospel. All who have believed have become a family centered around Christ. God’s glory is in the unity of minds.

 

1Co 5-7: No glory: Sexual misconduct. Glory: Christ has made us all the temple of God giving unity and integrity in marriage.

 

In 1Co 5-7 Paul deals with sexual integrity. Corinth turned grace into the freedom to satisfy the desire of the flesh for instant gratification. One man was even sleeping with his step-mother, and others were bedding temple prostitutes and thanking the grace of God for the ability to do so. The human need for sexual gratification without integrity had been crushed by Christ on the cross. The sexual misconduct that destroys so many marriages had been crucified along with Christ. All who have believed in Christ have been made the temple of the living God. The temple of God should only be united with another temple of God under the covenant of marriage. God’s glory is in sexual integrity and Christian marriage.  

 

1Co 8-10: No glory: Food over people. Glory: Christ has fulfilled all needs. He gave us His love, so we can go without or with and still be filled.

 

In 8-10 Paul deals with the division that had arisen over meat sacrificed to idols. Some would eat and some would not. Some were offended, and some were weak Christians or unbelievers who equated eating with worshipping the false god. Jesus clearly revealed that there was no such thing as another god. So, we should eat and give thanks. Jesus also clearly revealed that we should sacrifice for the benefit of others. So, don’t eat and give thanks. Don’t eat if some watching you eat will mistake it for you worshipping an idol. At the cross, the Lord gave us His love so that we could see that giving to others has far, far more value that satisfying out base desire for certain foods. The glory of God is in freedom. The glory of God is also in sacrificing a legitimate freedom for the benefit of another, which is chesed.

 

1Co 11-14: No glory: Church was a place for magnifying self. Glory: Christ provided the assembly for all to worship freely and in unity.

 

In 11-14 Paul deals with those who were speaking in tongues for the sake of being heard, shouting above others, and not caring for the content of what was said, since if there wasn’t an interpreter present, they spoke up anyway. Also, those with the gift of prophesy were speaking out of turn, interrupting others who were speaking, shouting above one another. The others attending the service couldn’t understand anything, new attendees or unbelievers were not hearing anything clearly. It was chaotic, disorderly, and distracting. This is another issue of humility and love for others. It is in this part of the epistle, chapter 12, that Paul gives the analogy of the body of Christ. The head, eye, foot, and hand all need each other. Chapter 13 has the definition of agape love. Christ has given us each the eyes to see His glory and thus be unified in one purpose, one mind, one love, one spirit. The worship in the assembly must be orderly so that all can worship, sing, listen, etc. Christ destroyed our desire to elevate ourselves. No one should be elevated in the service besides Christ, not the one speaking or anyone else. The church is not a place for promotion, but for worship. We must see the glory of God in all of these. The glory of God is in orderly worship in which all may participate.

 

1Co 15: No glory: Resurrection is a silly notion. Glory: Christ is risen and there are many eye witnesses to it.

 

Finally, Paul deals with those who claimed that there was no resurrection from the dead. These actually claimed that resurrection had nothing to do with Christianity. Christ destroyed our misplaced notion that we should live only for the here and now. Fallen man doesn’t like the idea of afterlife where he does not reign supreme. He doesn’t like the idea of accountability. But Christ was risen. Paul states that 500 saw Him, as well as Peter, the other apostles, and finally Paul himself. Paul purposely closes with this situation rather than starting with it. The resurrection makes all of the other aspects of God’s glory, which we see in the different parts of our lives, eternal. If there was glory in the church, in marriage, in sacrifice, in food, in sex, in friendship, in everything, then it is now, will be tomorrow and next year, and on to forever. Jesus defeated death and therefore, not even death annuls the glory of God in the things that make up our lives.