So That

(This article originally appeared in the October 2018 Communique)

I want to start by just thanking the church for providing the ability for Becky and me to attend the Sing! Conference in Nashville. It was an absolute blessing for both of us. I would love to share everything that I learned, but I’m pretty sure that I would exceed my allowable space in the Communique. Instead, I will share from one of the messages that I found powerful and challenging. (And let’s be honest, this probably won’t be my last article that gleans from things I learned at the conference). The theme of the conference was the Psalms and virtually every message and session pulled heavily from them. David Platt preached a message from Psalm 67 that I believe is a very important reminder to us regarding our salvation that I want to share with you.

May God be gracious to us and bless us; may he make his face shine upon us – Selah
so that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy,
for you judge the peoples with fairness and lead the nations on earth – Selah
Let the peoples praise you, God, let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.
God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67

I want to open with a pair of questions: Why does God bless us, as stated in the first line of the Psalm? Why does God save us? These are important questions as they impact greatly how we go through our lives.  If the answer to these questions is that He desires to be with us or that we are the prize, then that inflates our importance far too greatly. The second line of Psalm 67 above clues us in on the answer. The phrase “so that” is critical. It shows us that his blessings are for a specific purpose. In the subsequent lines of the Psalm we see very clearly that God blesses His people so that He receives praise among all peoples, tribes, and nations. I am thankful that it is spelled out so clearly here because one of the biggest dangers we face is that we are often prone to disconnecting God’s blessing in our lives, as individuals or collectively as the body of Christ, from God’s purpose in our lives. The Lord saves us for the purpose of us rejoicing and praising Him and then taking that good news to all the people and nations of the world so that they too can rejoice and praise Him. God’s ultimate purpose for us is to have us bring glory to the greatest and most valuable being anywhere…Himself.

So knowing that God is the Savior of the nations and that He blesses so that He can be known, enjoyed, feared, and praised, this simply means one thing for those of us who have been saved as well as our families and churches. In the midst of all of our day to day lives, we cannot and must not lose sight of our purpose here on Earth as children of God. We must make it a priority to share the joyous news of our Savior with all the people and nations. As we do, we will be blessed with the joy that comes with fulfilling our purpose as well as the joy that comes with seeing those who will respond, come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and be given the blessing of eternity with Him. And that will lead to even more glory for His name.

In Christ Alone,
Jamie