Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
01/18/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 120: God's Telescope
God credits Christ’s righteousness to sinners, making us useful instruments to serve and glorify Him.
Paul’s letter about the runaway slave Onesimus illustrates this imputed righteousness:
Philemon 17-18 if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
Consider Mary’s song in Luke 1:46 - my soul magnifies the Lord. This word has the thought of glorifying, exalting and honoring God.
Phil.1:20 KJV: Paul wanted to use his life to magnify Christ. How can a human magnify the Son of God?
There are 2 kinds of instruments that magnify: a microscope is designed to view things that are small and nearby.
But a telescope is used to view something large but distant, something that would be unknown without the instrument.
The stars are much larger than a telescope, yet the instrument magnifies them. The telescope seems to bring stars closer, so that people can learn about them.
God wants us to be telescopes that enable our neighbors to see Jesus more clearly.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
