{"id":3384,"date":"2023-03-24T15:58:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=3384"},"modified":"2023-09-12T20:24:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T20:24:44","slug":"the-generosity-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2023\/03\/24\/the-generosity-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Generosity of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the fountainhead of God\u2019s generosity flows Christian, gospel generosity. That is, we are called to imitate God\u2019s generosity by giving the gospel of Jesus to the world. I think the best way to grasp the depth of God\u2019s generosity, is to first consider his greatness. So let\u2019s consider God\u2019s greatness, his great generosity in light of himself, and our call to imitate him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Imitate God<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Ephesian 5:1, Paul issues this command: \u201cTherefore be imitators of God\u2026\u201d. This leads to the inevitable question. How can we be like God? Well, when you consider God, what comes to mind? Currently, we as a church family are memorizing Psalm 139 together. In this Psalm, David reflects on some of the awesome attributes of God. So, let\u2019s consider Psalm 139 along with some other passages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God\u2019s Greatness<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps when you consider God, his perfect knowledge springs forth. David reflects on this:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 139:1\u20136\u2014O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or, perhaps you think of God\u2019s immensity. He is omnipresent, everywhere all at once. There is no place we can go that God is not there. Again, David observes:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 139:7\u201312\u2014Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, \u201cSurely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,\u201d even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or, perhaps you can\u2019t help but think of his awesome power as the Creator, who created all things (Genesis 1:1). Consider a passage from Jeremiah:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeremiah 10:12\u201313\u2014It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

And, again, David considers this awesome power of God to create life while also acknowledging, in the same breath, that it is in God\u2019s power to take life:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 139:13\u201314\u2014For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother\u2019s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 139:19\u2014Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

God is all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful. There is none<\/em> like him. And as our sermon text this weekend will make clear, God in all his knowledge, immensity, and power, well, he can do whatever he wants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Psalm 135:5\u20136\u2014For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Given all of this, I ask again: How can we be like God? How can we be like God when there is literally, none like him? He has all knowledge. We don\u2019t and never will (No matter how advanced our AI). He is everywhere at once. We can never be, though we might try on the regular. He has all power. Though we might like to think we have some<\/em> power, if he has it all, we actually have none save what he gives us. And, in his greatness, God does whatever he pleases. Another impossible task for us. Even if we did have the ability to do whatever we pleased, it probably wouldn\u2019t go over so well. How, then, can we be like God? Let\u2019s look at again at Ephesians 5:1 and consider the context and how it points to God\u2019s generosity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God\u2019s Generosity<\/em><\/p>\n

Ephesians 5:1 fits into a context of wondrous generosity. Do you see it? “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.<\/em>” Imitating God means being his children, his family. As children of God, there is a family resemblance. God\u2019s children will look like him. In the immediate context of this passage, Paul exhorts the Ephesians to \u201cput on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness\u201d (Ephesians 4:24). When Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be \u201cimitators of God\u201d, then, he is exhorting them to be who God made them to be. They should turn from sin and walk in the righteousness and holiness of God. And the same is true for us. As God\u2019s loved children, we strive to look like our Father in righteousness and holiness. So indeed, we can imitate God in this way. But where’s this wondrous generosity I mentioned? Let\u2019s dig deeper. How did we even become his children in the first place? Consider the next verse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ephesians 5:2\u2014And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

This passage reveals another attribute of God: generosity. What does God do with all his freedom as the greatest being? God, in all his knowledge, in all his immensity, in all his power, in his perfect freedom, makes us, his lowly creatures and rebels against him, his children through the perfect love in the person of his Son, Jesus.<\/em> And what was the nature of that love? Generosity<\/em>. God reveals his love for us in the giving of Jesus, who \u201cgave<\/em> himself up for us\u201d (Ephesians 5:2) so that we could be God\u2019s adopted, beloved children (Ephesians 1:5). This is the generosity of the gospel. And this generosity is multifaceted. Consider the generous gifts of God in the gospel of Jesus.<\/p>\n

In the gospel, God gives us the gift of his very own Son, Jesus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  • John 3:16\u2014For God so loved the world, that he gave<\/em> his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    • John 4:10\u2014 If you knew the gift<\/em> of God, and who it is that is saying to you, \u2018Give me a drink,\u2019 you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

      In the gospel, God justifies us, lavishes on us righteousness, and gives us eternal life.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      • Romans 5:16\u201317\u2014And the free<\/em> gift<\/em> is not like the result of that one man\u2019s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free<\/em> gift<\/em> following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man\u2019s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free<\/em> gift<\/em> of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        • Romans 6:23\u2014For the wages of sin is death, but the free<\/em> gift<\/em> of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

           <\/p>\n

          In the gospel, God gives us the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to Jesus, to remind us of his ways, and to empower us for gospel witness.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

            \n
          • John 15:26\u2014But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

             <\/p>\n

              \n
            • John 14:26\u2014But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

               <\/p>\n

                \n
              • Acts 1:8\u2014But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                  \n
                • Acts 2:38\u2014And Peter said to them, \u201cRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift<\/em> of the Holy Spirit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  This list could go on and on, but the point is clear. God has been inconceivably generous to us.<\/p>\n

                  Imitate God\u2019s Generosity<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  So how do we imitate God? We, as Ephesians 5:1\u20132 suggests, act like God\u2019s children. Certainly, then, we imitate God by being holy and righteous in our ways (Ephesians 4:24). But we also imitate God\u2019s generosity. Indeed, this can look like generous giving out of our material resources, as Paul exhorts the Corinthians to do (2 Corinthians 8:9; 9:13\u201315). But, we also imitate God\u2019s generosity by giving to others what he gave us to make us his children in the first place. God in all his knowledge, immensity, power, and freedom delighted to be generous to us. He made us his family by generously giving us the gift of the gospel through his Son, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:34\u201335). God\u2019s gospel generosity, then, sets us up to give to others the most generous gift we can: the gospel of Jesus. By giving ourselves up to the task of giving the gift of Jesus in the gospel to others, we love as Christ loved us. We love with a love marked by generosity. In this way, we imitate God.<\/p>\n

                   <\/p>\n

                  Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  From the fountainhead of God\u2019s generosity flows Christian, gospel generosity. In all his greatness, God delighted to be generous to us. And, through his generous gift of the gospel, God has made us his family where we were once his enemies. Therefore, while we may not be able to imitate God\u2019s divine attributes of knowledge, immensity, and power, we can imitate his divine generosity by passing on this gospel gift to others. This is the greatest act of generosity we can perform. This is who God made us to be, his generous gospel giving family. So let\u2019s be like our Father and generously give the gift of Jesus to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  From the fountainhead of God\u2019s generosity flows Christian, gospel generosity. That is, we are called to imitate God\u2019s generosity by giving the gospel of Jesus to the world. I think…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15,16,17,18],"tags":[168,2688,589,2689,657],"class_list":["post-3384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","category-evangelism-blog","category-family","category-missions","tag-attributes-of-god-2","tag-ephesians-51-2","tag-generosity","tag-gods-attributes","tag-gospel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3384"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3581,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3384\/revisions\/3581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}