Proclaimer Blog
God displays the glory of the cross through suffering and prayer
‘there isn’t anything greater that can be said about this reality in this room, called the church, and all over the world. there isn’t anything greater that can be said about the global church of Jesus but that through the death of the messiah God has created a people in whom he means for his infinite wisdom to be manifest to the cosmic powers of evil.’
If you are looking for light entertainment, don’t watch John Piper’s contribution to the Lausanne Congress. His exposition was both painful and powerful.
In the first video (see below) he shows the three ‘scenes’ that Paul shows in Ephesians 3:
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It is the great, sovereign, cosmic, purpose of God to make known purpose of his wisdom to demonic powers of the universe.
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God has chosen that some of his servants be imprisoned as a way of bringing about his cosmic purpose – gathering a people through the suffering of the church’s missionaries and ministers.
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God has chosen that the supernatural power required to see the glory of his wisdom and to suffer for his name comes to us through earnest prayer.
It is in the second half that he pulls this together. He shows the awful lostness of humanity; this part made me want to weep. He shows us a Christ who saves us. He shows the power of Christian witness has, when we are willing to give up comfort and freedom to draw others into the unsearchable riches of Christ. Finally we see how God’s power through prayer changes our hearts so that we are willing. Challenging stuff!