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Becoming who Christ declared you to be

Updated: Mar 23, 2019

by Dave Miller

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By this point, I hope you have seen the connection between disciple making and the glory of God in Jesus Christ. God accomplishes his purposes of glory and restores a person to man’s purpose, worship. John Piper taught, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” [1] Chapel wrote, “Love for Christ compels us always to consider how we may re-present the Gospel so as to bring the most glory to God and good to his people.”[2] God accomplishes all through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

The glory of God in Jesus Christ and disciple making collide in the gospel precisely because God glorifies himself through the salvation of sinners in Jesus Christ and our transformation into the image of Christ. So, a person can understand John Piper’s assertion: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”[3] We the church primarily accomplish God’s purpose as long as we focus on making disciples who follow Jesus.

We are never more human than when we are true to God’s covenant partnership of Eden to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with image-bearing ambassadors through disciple making in the gospel.

If you are not making disciples, you are not following Jesus.


Calling All Boats

On the day of 9/11 the entire island of Manhattan was closed. Bridges, tunnels, evacuation routes, and subways were shut down. The towers had already fallen and mass panic was sweeping the thousands of people trapped at the base of the New York skyline. What happens next defies comprehension.

Floating in the New York harbor were hundreds of boats, tugs, ferries, fishing boats and Coast Guard cutters. As the buildings fell a mass rush of vessels risked the unknown and moved towards the island. As one boat filled with distressed New Yorkers, another came and filled. Then another and another. A simple radio call to all available maritime vessels was issued. The sheer number of everyday responders filled the waters near the landings. Captains who saw the evacuation on TV left homes and family to push their boats into the harbor.

Over the next nine hours the largest maritime evacuation in history transported over 500,000 New Yorks to safety, unplanned and unrehearsed. Not one injury occurred. The sense of purpose and singular focus of mission brought together an incredible rescue. Stephen Flynn from the Center for National Policy said, “First responders will always do their best to assist us. But, in real life, success or failure in our moments of greatest need is usually determined by the actions of regular people."[4]

They evacuated Manhattan Island on 9/11 with one simple radio call. “All operational and available boats meet at Ellis Island there are people to save.” The call was to leave behind whatever you had planned and focus only on saving the people. We have a to leave everything else behind and follow Jesus. All operational and available image-bearing ambassadors there are people to save.





Until there's #NoPlaceLeft...

 

[1]John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist(Sisters: Multnomah, 2003), 18. Piper alters the original Westminster confession response from ‘and enjoy God forever’ to ‘by enjoying God forever.’ See Desiring God for further explanation.

[2]Bryan Chapel, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 126.

[3]John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 17.

[4]Eddie Rosenstien, “Tom Hanks Narrates 'BOATLIFT,' Honors Untold 9/11 Story Of Mariner Heroes,” Huffington Post (Accessed November 19, 2015) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eddie-rosenstein/tom-hanks-narrates-boatlift_b_956529.html

 

Sentergy: When Jesus, People, Practice and Theology Collide

Chapter 1: The Glory of God

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