Danny Panter – Page 36 – The Everyday Prayer

Invitation into Bigness

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 10 (day six)

God is engaged in both the big and small of history. Genesis 10 is a keen reminder of that truth. He is always advancing the bigness of His Kingdom, while “walking” with the small, i.e. Enoch. But it is the bigness that God wants us to see here; that He is a God of nations not only the individual. This is an important reminder for us. In a culture that epitomizes the individual (even Church culture), God reminds us not to lose sight of what he is doing in the world by being enamored by the self. Even more he invites us, indeed commands us, out of our enamored-self into the bigness of his Kingdom work. It’s a blessing! It is there where we realize the Old Testament words that Jesus quoted, “Love your neighbor as your self.”

Objects of Mercy

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 9:1-17 (day six)

After wiping out all living things save those on the Ark, God demonstrates his mercy by promising never to destroy humanity and all living creatures with a flood again. Objects of wrath have become objects of mercy. Paul wrote in Romans 9:23, “…what if he [God] is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory…” Noah, nor his sons, nor any future generation have not changed the condition of humanity; they had not (nor us) become worthy of God’s mercy, or any less worthy of his wrath. That much becomes clear in the later half of Genesis 9! So what is the point? Glory! “To make known the wealth of his glory.” Make no mistake, God was glorified in his display of his wrath in the flood, but “the wealth of his glory” is made known in his mercy!

His patience, or mercy (the display of his glory) is a kindness that ought to lead us to repentance! (Romans 2:4)

But God Remembered

Genesis 7:1-4, 17-24; 8:1-5, 13-16, 20-22 (day six)

“But God remembered…” Genesis 8:1

It wasn’t as if God needed to jog His memory; that is not the right connotation. No, God doesn’t forget. This verse more accurately refers to God’s commitment to fulfill His covenant promise with Noah and His family. If one thing is certain, God makes good on His promises. That’s the essence of eternal security, God does not forget. We never have to wonder if God has forgotten us. He finishes what He starts; He completes His work, and that is good news for all who faithfully cling to His promises this side of eternity.

Brokenhearted

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 6 (day six)

“The Lord regretted that he had made humankind, and he was highly offended (or broken hearted.)” Genesis 6:6, NET

A sovereign God doesn’t regret in the same way we do (1 Samuel 15:28), as if he wished he had done something different in order to achieve a different outcome. God’s regret is an expression of his grief over the wickedness of man, not a stab at his sovereignty. That aside, consider His broken heart. What God now saw in humankind was no longer good, and the reality of humankind’s self-determination (and God’s judgement) was settling in; humankind was exponentially experiencing suffering and death. It was ugly; it was wicked, and God was brokenhearted. If you have children, you know the feeling.

God is not indifferent, and that is glorious! God is not indifferent to your sin either; he is brokenhearted, so much so He sent a cure for His broken heart (and yours), his very own Son.

Antidote

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 4:1-16; 25-26 (day six)

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7

The antidote to temptation is worship. Is that not what God is teaching Cain? What must Cain do well? It was not a matter of the physical offering, but rather a matter of the heart. “Cain, be careful. If your heart is not in the right place, then sin will be crouching at the door.” What God asks of Cain, he also asks of us, genuine delight in giving of our worship. And where there is sincere worship, there is no room for temptation. That is what God was teaching Cain…and us.

Knowledge

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:8-24 (day six)

Maybe the hardest kind of knowledge is self-knowledge; seeing yourself for who you really are. Their eyes had been opened, but they still couldn’t see; they had become wise in their own eyes. Rather than come clean, they both thought it wise to hide, and then even wiser still to cast blame. The consequences came, they were just, and they were devastating-heartache, pain, sweat, and death. But that is not the end of the story, God doesn’t walk away, he draws close, covers their shame. He loves them despite it all. He wants them to see Him, and then themselves, in that order. Only then can they know the truth, and the truth will set them free.

The Goodness Charade

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-7 (day six)

Becoming like God was not what they expected. Yes, their eyes were opened, but it did not have the desired affect. From the very first bite, it was not goodness they would enjoy, but despair, shame, and separation; they had never known such things. It was a bitter concoction.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to him, and bad when it turns from him.” (The Great Divorce) When we aim for good apart from God, we aim for nothing. It’s a ruse, a goodness charade. We convince ourselves that surely what we want is good until the game is up and discover it isn’t good at all. Adam and Eve discovered that turning from God to find their own good resulted in them being alone, from God and one another. The charade was up.

Thou

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25 (day six)

Then God said, “I now give you…” Genesis 1:29

It is no small thing, but it can be easily overlooked. God only addresses humankind with the second person pronoun, “you.” Not with any other creature, but Adam and then Eve, does God speak directly; later He will even issue His first command. This is so profound. We are distinct from all creation because we were made for the divine relationship; we were made to know and be known.

Consider this for a moment, there is no other created thing that hears God’s voice but humankind. When God said, “you” for the first time, Adam and Eve perceived it and understood it. They related to God; they knew Him. We were created to listen to God’s voice, to walk with Him in the garden, to truly know Him. Jesus declared to us that knowing God is the essence of eternal life. (John 17:3)

Are YOU listening?

All Our Being

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 2:4-17 (day six)

“For in him we live and move and have our being…” Acts 17:28

Those are the words Paul used to introduce the creator of the universe to Athenian philosophers; they were an echo of Genesis 2:17. We are not wound up clocks, all spinning gears and steel springs. Our very essence, all our being, is sustained by the breath of God. This is not figurative, or poetic, but is our reality, and it is good. The clock once complete exists on its own accord, separate from the clock maker. The clock maker looks at it, uses it, but no more. We are far different; our humanity is bound to our creator, even our next breath we owe to Him. Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

This is precisely why it is unfathomable that those whose “being” is dependent upon Him for every living moment would think so little of Him; choosing to “worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25) All our being bent against Him, but “while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)

He died for all our being.

Good

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:14-25; 2:1-3 (day six)

“God saw that it was good.”

The creation narratives remind of us God’s goodness! As He gives shape to the land He intends for it to be a good place for us to live in fellowship with Him and one another. It is also a reminder that God knows what is best for us; that self-determination is not the loftiest goal, but a vibrant relationship with God who knows our good!

Mind you this is no American dream philosophy; nor is it a prosperity Gospel, but a solemn trust that God alone knows and provides for our good. At the beginning this good was disrupted by sin, but we taste His goodness even now in the Gospel, and in its fullness when God completes His work in a new heaven and new Earth. His goodness comes full circle.