THE GREATEST COMBINATION

Many of us have heard of these famous combinations: Laurel and Hardy. Rodgers and Hammerstein. Bacon and eggs. Peanut butter and jelly. Fish and chips. Some of us can hardly think of one without the other.

The Westminster Catechism highlights another famous combination when it asks about the main purpose of being human. The answer: "To glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." "Glorify" and "enjoy" are holy affections, and together they make up the greatest combination we can ever experience. To do either one rightly is to do the other. Pastor and preacher John Piper suggests the following connection in his book Desiring God: our purpose is to glorify God by enjoying God-so that in our enjoyment of, delight in, desire for, and satisfaction in God, God is glorified now and forever. And as God is glorified, our joy is multiplied!

Jonathan Edwards, commenting on our passage for today, said the following about the early Christians to whom Peter was writing: "Their joy was full of glory. While rejoicing with this joy, their minds were filled with a glorious brightness. It was a most worthy and noble rejoicing. The anticipation of the joy of heaven raised their minds to glorious bliss, and filled them with the light of God's glory, making them shine with the expression of that glory."

Prayer

O Lord, “satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” In the name of our Savior, Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Charles Geschiere