God’s Gifts

Oregon Coast at Yaquina Head Natural Area north of Newport.Sometimes I am amazed by God’s creation.  I truly take it for granted most of the time.  Then I see a setting like the one above and just can’t absorb it all.   God’s gift of creation got me thinking about God’s most precious gift to us, His Son, Jesus Christ.

Today I am going to share some quotes from Of First Importance. 

The first quote is from Timothy Keller, one of my favorite authors.  His latest book is Counterfeit Gods, a book well worth your time and attention:

“You don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

--Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods (New York, NY: Dutton, 2009), 19.

“The Lord Jesus came into this world not primarily to say something, not even to be something, but to do something; He came not merely to lead men through His example out into a ‘larger life,’ but to give life, through His death and resurrection, to those who were dead in trespasses and sins.”

—J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith? (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1991), 113

“‘Come unto me,’ he says, ‘and I will give you.’  You say, ‘Lord, I cannot give you anything.’  He does not want anything.  Come to Jesus, and he says, ‘I will give you.’  Not what you give to God, but what he gives to you, will be your salvation.  ‘I will give you‘ — that is the gospel in four words.

Will you come and have it?  It lies open before you.”

--C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), I:175.  (HT: Ray Ortlund)

And finally…

“Will you trust the grace of the Gospel and quit frantically seeking what you have already been given in Christ?”

--Paul David Tripp, Twitter post