Coffee House Chapel #5

December 26

Romans 11:35, “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

It is impossible for us to put God in debt! Yet that is the way we continue to think - even after we become Christians. How are some of the ways we suppose that we can put God in debt?

1. We do so when we think we have caught God is some fault! I can hear somebody say, “I’ve never done that!” “But every time we are critical of God or complain to God about something, we are telling Him indirectly, and sometimes quite directly, that we believe He has made a mistake and should correct it.” (Boice)

Consider these statements:

“I think He made me too short. I should be taller.”

“Life would be better for me if I were only better-looking.”

“God has me stuck in a dead-end job, when I could be accomplishing something important. He should have given me opportunities I did not have or promotions that were given to someone else.”

“He made a mistake not giving me a husband.” Or, “... giving me the one I have.”

I suppose I could go on giving numerous other examples! When we think along these lines, we are actually saying (or thinking) that God lacks knowledge or wisdom, and that He should acknowledge His mistake and correct it, and perhaps thank us for setting Him straight. If you have thought that way, (and I include myself here) then you are saying that God is indebted to you, because you have supplied Him with a bit of wisdom or knowledge that He previously did not possess!

Let’s see what the Word has to say on this subject! Paul asks, “... who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? Job replies, “I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42:3)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

December 28

Romans 11:35, “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

It is impossible for us to put God in debt! Yet that is the way we continue to think - even after we become Christians. How are some of the ways we suppose that we can put God in debt?

1. We do so when we think we have caught God is some fault!

2. We do so when we think we have caught God in an injustice! This is a step farther than our last discussion. This step involves human pride and rebellion. Now we are accusing God of doing something that is not right! For example:

“It’s not right that I should be sick when my friends are all well.”

“It’s not right that she should have gotten the prize rather than myself. I worked harder for it.”

“It is not right for God to let me go on like this without answering my prayers as I would like or doing what I have repeatedly asked Him to do.”

When we find ourselves thinking along these lines, we need to remember Abraham and his discussion with God about the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his family lived in those cities, and if God destroyed those cities, He would also destroy Lot and his family. Remember Abraham’s pleading? “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:23-25)

This is a good text on the subject of persistent prayer. “The Judge of all the earth must do right.” (Boice) But the bottom line was that there were not even 10 righteous in the cities, there was perhaps only one righteous one is the city, and he was desperately backslidden! We can never argue with or put God in debt to us on the basis of justice. Justice only condemns - the cities were destroyed - totally blotted out. “Justice sends people to hell!” (Boice) We should never ask God for justice, we should plead for mercy and grace. Mercy and grace are the very opposite of debt.

If you think God owes you justice, please remember our text; “... who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” “The only thing we have ever earned from God is condemnation.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

December 30

Romans 11:35, “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

It is impossible for us to put God in debt! Yet that is the way we continue to think - even after we become Christians. How are some of the ways we suppose that we can put God in debt?

1. We do so when we think we have caught God is some fault!
2. We do so when we think we have caught God in an injustice!

3. We do so when we think we have obliged God by some service! Many Christians are under the mistaken notion that when we serve God - He owes us. The following occurrence happen while R.A. Torrey was in Melbourne, Australia. One afternoon while at a meeting for businessmen, a note was handed to him. It said,

“Dear Dr. Torrey:

I am in great perplexity. I have been praying for a long time for something that I am confident is according to God’s will, but I do not get it. I have been a member of the Presbyterian Church for thirty years, and have tried to be a consistent one all that time. I have been Superintendent in the Sunday School for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years; and yet God does not answer my prayer and I cannot understand it. Can you explain it to me?”

Dr. Torrey read the note from the platform, and replied, “It is very easy to explain it. This man thinks that because he has been a consistent church member for thirty years, a faithful Sunday School Superintendent for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years, that God is under obligation to answer his prayer. He is really praying in his own name, and God will not hear our prayers when we approach Him in that way.”

After the meeting, a man came up to Dr. Torrey and admitted he had written the note. He said, “You have hit the nail square on the head. I see my mistake.”

Many of us have made the same mistake. The lesson we need to learn is that we cannot put God in our debt by anything we do or say. “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” The answer is, NNE! “Not event the most dedicated, most self-sacrificing, most consistent, most devout, most exemplary Christian. Nothing flows to us from God because of debt. A great deal comes to us, but it is all of grace, and grace is a different category entirely.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

January 2

Romans 11:35, “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?”

What have we learned from this verse? It is impossible to bring God down to our level! It is also impossible to make God answerable to us on any level. We are not wiser than God, we do not have more knowledge than God, and we cannot require anything of God because of our service to Him! What can we then do? Live the Christian life as God has planned for us to do! Then we can discover what living by grace is all about?

We must begin this walk in humility. God is infinitely great - and we are weak in service. Consider Jesus words in Luke 17:7-10, "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, `Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, `Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (NIV) We must always remember that He is the Creator, and we are the created. He is the Master, and we are the servants.

Jesus also told His disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. “ (John 15:15) He also said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (Ver 14) “God owes us nothing. All is of grace. But God, for the sake of His own good pleasure, has rescued us from our sin and has raised us from the status of mere servants to being sons and daughters of God, co-workers with Jesus Christ and heirs of all God is and has.” (Boice)

That leads us to thanksgiving to and love for the One who has been so gracious to us. It also leads to service. Though we cannot put God in debt to us - we do receive God’s favor by grace. “Let me say it again: God is not obliged to give you anything. Yet He gives you everything, if you will receive it in Christ. The great wonder is that the people who know this, who know they cannot give God anything that He has not first given them, nevertheless give Him everything.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

Have a blessed New Year!

 

January 4

Romans 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Let’s take a look at the Christian World-View! Let’s hope that the phrase “Christian World-View” is not merely another “Buzz-Word!” We use buzz words all the time. A few examples might be:

In psychology - Freudian slip and guilt complex.
In politics - Reaganomics, talking points, and spin doctors.
In education - political correctness, whole language (what ever that is!), and new math (again, what ever that it!).
In computer technology - IT, input, output, and downtime.
In business - bottom line, bullish or bearish, and market driven.

Boice writes, “One of my favorites is ‘paradigm shift.’ A paradigm is a complete model or pattern, originally referring to a list of all the inflectional forms of a verb or noun, showing its complete conjugation or declension. A paradigm shift is a total reordering of how one looks at or evaluates something.” A couple of examples:

If you love someone or something - and then for some reason stop loving that someone or something and begin to hate them - that is a paradigm shift. If you start your political life as a liberal Democrat (like Teddy from Mass.) and then become a conservative Republican (like the late Ronald Reagan) - it would be a paradigm shift of great proportions.

Do you know what the greatest paradigm shift of all time would be? It would be the day you placed your trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life! Before salvation - in our unregenerate state - everything revolves around ourselves. “We are the measure of all things. Everything in the universe is for us and for our glory.” (Boice) But when we become Christians, we begin to see the world is actually from God, and is governed by God, and that it exists for only one purpose - to bring glory to Him. That is exactly what the apostle is telling us in our text.

The last song that the British group, the Beatles, recorded before they broke up was “I, Me, Mine.” That is the song of the unregenerate heart. Contrast that song with the song of the redeemed - our text, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” The contrast is significant and radical!

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

January 6

Romans 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Those people who think that the world revolves around them, and/or think that mankind is the only valid measure of all that we are, are “secular humanists.” This buzz word is used by fundamentalists and tel-evangelists with predictable regularity. While secular humanism is a dangerous enemy, it is not the only enemy we face, nor is it a new enemy. This enemy may be traced back to Cain and his disobedience in choosing the incorrect sacrifice. “It is the ... natural inclination of the unsaved heart and mind.” (Boice)

Perhaps the best statement of secular humanism is found in Daniel 4:30, “The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” Nebuchadnezzar was the king, and as he looked out over his capital city, he was greatly impressed with himself.

God saw things a bit differently than did Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, God judged this mighty king for his secular humanistic attitude. “ While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.” (Vers 31-33)

Nebuchadnezzar remained insane until he acknowledged that God ruleth all. “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” (Vers 34-37)

“Anyone who thinks he or she is the center of the universe is spiritually insane. A person who thinks like this is out of his or her mind.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

January 8

Romans 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

If secular humanism is not new - what is new? The regenerate mind is new! Paul talks about the regenerate mind in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The regenerate mind thinks about things differently. “But specifically how? What form does a renewed mind take? Or, to express it differently, what is a genuinely Christian world-view?” (Boice)

A. W. Tozer writes about this in “The Pursuit of God.” In the chapter called “Restoring the Creator-Creature Relation,” Tozer writes:

“The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God over all we step out of the world’s parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the world, and increasingly so as we make progress in the holy way. We shall acquire a new viewpoint; a new and different psychology will be formed within us; a new power will begin to surprise us by its upsurgings and its outgoings.

“Our break with the world will be the direct outcome of our changed relation to God. For the world of fallen men does not honor God. Millions call themselves by His name, it is true, and pay some token respect to Him, but a simple test will show how little He is really honored among them. Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who is above, and his true position will be exposed. Le me be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be exalted above. However the man may protest, the proof is in the choices he makes day after day throughout life.

“‘Be thou exalted’ is the language of victorious spiritual experience. It is the little key to unlock the door to great treasures of grace.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

January 10

Romans 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Our text gives us a concise definition of the Christian world-view! Paul has written several other verses that are similar in content:

1 Corinthians 8:6, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Colossians 1:16, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”

During the next couple of devotionals, we will look at this verse in the light of two specific areas:

1. God and Creation,
2. God and the Gospel.

We are easily dissuaded from putting God in the central place in our lives and our culture. He must be first - first in all things. If He is not the God of creation - as Genesis tells us He is - then he is not god at all. If He is not the God of salvation - as the entire Bible tells us He is - then he is not god at all.

God must be who He claims to be - or he is not god at all. Friend - never let anyone persuade you from this fast adherence to God and who He claims to be in His Word.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd