#desiringgod

[aletheiagm]

“𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕝. 𝔾𝕠𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕦𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕖.”

- John Piper

[beyboii]

What God Chooses to Forget?

God will “not remember” believers’ sins (Isaiah 43:25, Psalm 79:8). How can an omniscient God “not remember” the sins of his people?

In the olden days, people tied a piece of string around a finger to recall the commitments they have made. Today’s forgetful people are more likely to use an alarm on their smartphone’s productivity app.

How God sets up reminders for himself -  John describes God’s throne as surrounded by “a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald” (Revelation 4:3). God’s throne is surrounded with color to remind himself of something. But what?

The Rainbow from Earth’s Perspective

The Bible’s first book — Genesis — where the rainbow first appears in chapter 9. After using an ark to bring Noah, his family, and the animals through the flood, God made a covenant with them. As a part of that covenant, he gave them a sign: a bow. God said, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13). This rainbow signifies that “the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15).

When the Bible describes the Lord hanging up his bow, it pictures God putting away his weapon of war and committing to peace with his people

By hanging up his bow in the cloud, God reminds himself of his commitment at the very boundary that he has newly promised to uphold.

The Rainbow from Heaven’s Perspective

While God’s people can take comfort from seeing a rainbow, the Bible tells us that the purpose of the sign is actually to remind God. “When the bow is in the clouds,” the Lord said, “I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:13–16).

Here, in the very place God dwells and rules, he has surrounded himself with this reminder. Like us, God has surrounded himself with a reminder of the commitment he has made to the people that he loves.

This clarifies passages in the Bible where it says that God will “not remember” believers’ sins (Isaiah 43:25, Psalm 79:8). How can an omniscient God “not remember” the sins of his people? It is because God does not “forget” sin in the same way that we forget things. We forget things when our neurological synapses fail, but God does not forget things because of failure. When the Lord chooses to “not remember” our sin, he is instead choosing to remember his covenant not to destroy his people. He sees his colorful reminder and remembers.

The Rainbow and the Lamb

As Sally Lloyd-Jones wrote in The Jesus Storybook Bible, “God’s war bow was not pointing down at his people. It was pointing up, into the heart of heaven” (47). When God saw the sin of his people and considered the wrath that sin deserved, his war bow pointed at his own heart, his Son.

The Bible describes this mighty Christ representative as having “a rainbow over his head” (Revelation 10:1). This should encourage God’s people. Like the story of the exodus, the angel of death has come to judge the world. But because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the rainbow reminder of God’s promise over his head, God’s people need not fear. God the Son has paid the penalty for our sin, so God the Father will not remember our sin. He remembers his covenant with us — his promise to do us good — instead.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-god-chooses-to-forget#the-rainbow-from-earth-s-perspective

[calebyap]

[krystallalelei]

Jesus is not one to sugar coat things. Read his words, the words written about him and it’ll be clear. He went straight to the heart of things. You can’t pretend with Him. Righting Wrong views and realigning people who were missing the point was constantly a part of His mission because the world to which he came was and is far off of God’s original design. . I am not an expert at the Bible. But what I’m struck with is in giving a correction to a group of friends who dismissed the children, Jesus points them to the statement it emphasizes —to such belongs the Kingdom of God. Impactful words that no doubt shook his friends up, especially when they were just discussing who among them is the greatest, maybe it confused them, but I think it reminded them what God’s way is like. It’s like nothing they’ve understood before. . I come to the Bible because I believe God gave it to us and shows us the way of life in it. And each time I do, I am shown more of who God is. I am shown what my wrong assumptions or views are, and where I’ve missed the point. It consistently leads me back to happiness, peace, and joy in knowing that this God is unmistakably GOOD, His grace is all around me, and to be far from Him in any aspect of life is the opposite of happiness, peace, and joy. . #bedeeplyrooted #desiringgod #shereadstruth #becauseimhis #loveandkindness #jesusfollower #risenmotherhood #littlestoftthese #cultivatedthoughts #cultivatedhome #cultivatedforHisGlory

[typeswamp]

Dec. 4: “The King's Heart / Caesar Augustus - Luke 2:1-5 and Proverbs 21:1” My daily advent illustrations loosely follow John Piper’s blog which you can read along with me here: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/for-god-s-little people #advent #illustration #daily #drawing #painting #conceptual #art #christmas #artwork #artistsoninstagram #artist #johnpiper #desiringgod #December #instaart #editorial #king #water #hand

[sarahfeezy]

Followers of Christ find many good things in friendship, but identity and security should never be among them.

Kelly Needham

[gtasoldier]

This is true for me because whenever I feel distant as fuck from God and feel abandoned from His presence, I have good friends on here that can bear witness to God’s comfort: @gossboy31 @yourfavefemme @thelittleinstar @affiler @wild-poet-tree @solunasis @keryssein @drakonera @deeper-water @creakingsweetbaytree @tribulationsarego @freddyoakland @lunar-solar @jollysunflora @koshetchka @inquietstrength @baddestbitchofcolor @mari-182 @pseudo-euphoria @bey-gypt

[kelsey-wong]

Don't follow your heart. God did not design our hearts to be followed, but to be led.

DesiringGod