Refocus Session 2 With John Piper

John Piper is the pastor of Bethleham Baptist Church in Minnesota and leads the Desiring God Ministries.

John's text this morning was Acts 20:27.

The key word in that text is counsel which is the Greek word Boule (boo- lay) meaning purpose.

What was God's purpose for creation? What's the Boule? What is God's goal in all this? We need clarity on why God does what He does. The ultimate design of God, his ultimate purpose (boule) is to uphold and display His glory for the maximum enjoyment of His redeemed people from every tribe and nation and tongue. That is the exaltation of His worth in the white hot worship of His people.

Whether you eat of frink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. That is not just but duty, but also the passion of God for everything He does. God is Supreme in His own self worth.

When we sing that popular song that ends, "Like a rose, trampled on the ground/ you thought of me, above all." Piper cringes because the truth is that at the cross He thought of Himself above all. God's glory is the best motivation for redeeming me. God is the most God centred being in the universe according to the Bible:

Is 43:6; Jer 13:11; Ps 106:7; Rom 9:17; Ez 20:14; 1 Sam 12:22; 2 Kings 19:34; Ez 36:22 (It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name); Jn 7:18; 5:44; 14:13; 12:27; Rom 3:25; Ps 25:11; Rom 15:7; 1 Cor 10:31; 1 Pet 4:11; Phil 1:11; Acts 12:23; 2 Thess 1:9; Jn 17:24; Hab 2:14; Rev ...

Is it Biblical to say that the ultimate counsel of God is to display the glory of God? Where then does Jesus fit in and what is the apex of God's display of his glory? What is the ultimate boule? The ultimate display of God's glory; the place where it shines most brightly is the diplay of his the glory of His grace which is most beautifully manifested in the suffering of Christ for millions of hell-deserving sinners. The implications for this are shocking for Virginia tech, baghdad, drugs, war, disease....

Revelations 13:8: "and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." The suffering of Christ is not plan B- it's the Bouleof God planned before the foundations of the world.

2 Tim 1:9: "who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began..." God treated us kindly when we were ill-deserving before the beginning of time.

His grace is blood bought grace! The word slain in Rev 13:8 means slaughter - it means that God decided to slit the throat of his son before the foundations of the earth in order to display his glory and let the blood flow out to redeem a people. Its as if God said, "Son, i want you to become a man so I can slaughter you."

Why? The apex of God's boule displayed demands it! Eph 1:4, "even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him" he did this to the praise of his glory (v. 6, 12, 14). Our election, our propitiation, our adoption and justification has 1 goal- the praise of his glory. God chose us in Christ so that we would become His through Christ. Our adoption is a blood bought privelege.

Rev 5:9-12 He is praised in his worth on the basis of his slaughter. Myriads of people sing, "Worthy is the Lamb" (15:3). This is the centerpiece of everlasting worship: "We will sing about the slaughter of the lamb forever" because it will be displayed as the greatest suffering and apex of the revelation of God's glory.

This is the Boule- not an after thought. everything in the universe, whether good or evil serves to achieve this goal (everything God permits, he permits by design). Gen 50:20. What Adam and Eve and the serpent meant for evil, God meant for the display of his glory in the slaughter of his son.

Conclusion:
Gal 3:13- Christ absorbed the wrath of God by his suffering
Col 2:14- Christ defeated Satan by suffering

Why all this forgiveness? 1 Peter 3:18, that he might lead us to God. Why end here? when you read Eph 1:6 don't go away and make the mistake of thinking that grace is about us- it's not! Grace means that we should enjoy God- that's what propitiation, justification, election, adoption is for!