God's Lavish Language

"God doesn't seem capable of moderation or of understanding the basic concepts behind supply & demand. He constantly devalues his own products by giving us too much." (N.D. Wilson)

Paul would agree with Wilson's quote when he writes in Ephesians that God "lavishes" us with everything we have. Lavish. Don't you love that word? Paul is almost saying it's too much or its over the top. Why don't we see it like that? We spend most of lives grumbling and complaining all the way up into eternity. We don't enjoy our lives, let alone think that we have been given too much. God has done too much for us and maybe that's the problem. God has given us too much wonder. He didn't just give us one one little plant in nature to marvel at, but billions of them. He doesn't just give us one human life, but 7 billion of them all over the world. We are minimalists. We have the gospel too shallow. We don't realize what we have.

In his book Insourcing, Randy Pope describes our problem & the distorted or shallow gospel like this:

1. We lost a lot.
2. He did a lot.
3. We get a lot.

We lost a lot. We lost our perfection, because everyone sins, but we're not sinners right? We still have our goodness left which means that Christ did a lot. He came to earth. He lived a perfect life and he died for sinners. But he didn't do everything. Why? Because we did something. We took the goodness we had left in us after our sin and created some faith and repentance and belief. This may not seem like a big deal into you get the 3rd statement: if he only did a lot, we only get a lot. This makes the good news not quite so good, and the language of the Bible confusing. Every time the Bible talks about the gospel of who Jesus is and what he has done it talks about it in epic proportions and uses "lavish" language. For example:

• For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16)
• In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. (Ephesians 1:7-8)
• But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
• "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7)
• "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior." (Titus 3:5-6)
• "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him." (Romans 10:12)
• To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8)
• "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Romans 11:33)

Here is the true gospel, the one the scriptures so richly talks about:

1. We lost it all. (Romans 3:12)
2. He did it all. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
3. We get it all. (John 1:16)

Everything Christ is and everything he did we get. Fully known. Fully accepted. Fully loved. All  on the merit of Jesus alone. All because of him. Want to believe you got it all? Then you must begin to embrace the reality from scriptures that you have lost it all and he has done it all. Until we see the gospel as getting it all Jesus will not be everything. He might be important and a significant part of your life, but he won't be your absolute treasure that the Bible describes him as. Jesus can't be everything, until you realize you are nothing. You won't receive it all, until you realize you have lost it all, and Jesus did it all out of his great love for you.