"Jesus, You’re wonderful!"
In Psalm 40:5 we read these words, "Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order to You: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."
On dictionary.com you will find the following deffiniton for the word wonderful: excellent; great; marvelous: & of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing.
You will notice that the wonder in view in Psalm 40 is the wonderful works or deeds or actions of God toward the poet who wrote about them. Yet, who can do wonderful things but one who is himself wonderful? And so it is! The great prophet Isaiah records for us in the book bearing his name (chapter 9, verse 6), "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
These high and lofty titles are more felt by us than actually understood. We believe them, of course. And our assent to their veracity makes us orthodox in our doctrine (orthodoxy = right opinion). But, let us not forget that we have to somehow cooperate with and act in submission to great truth in order to claim any kind of orthopraxy (right practice). And, knowledge without charitable submission is worse than useless. It destroys the one who hoards it.
So, how do we "cooperate with" and "act in submission to" the fact that our Lord is wonderful? I doubt you need to think very long upon this question. Since He is wonderful, we should be full of wonder when He is within our view. And of course, He is to be always and ever in our view. I mean, He is indeed always there. But we are to be always choosing to keep the eyes of our spirit focused on Him. We are always supposed to be looking to Him, the Author and finisher of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2).
Surely you realize that we were made to worship. We (humans) do it instinctively; naturally; voluntarily. We may not worship the right entity, but we worship nonetheless. Some even worship they know not what (John 4:22). Yet, worship they do.
Let us skip over the arguments claiming that we do or should or can worship. Let's pass by all of the false and faulty options that can easily distract us and spoil our true worship of the true and living God, or worse steal our worship from Him altogether. Let's also set aside for another time the arguments demanding holiness in worship. All of those discussions are very important and deserve full address. Yet for today, let us go all the way to the end of the road to behold the wonderful One who merits all of our worship, all of our praise, all of the honor, glory, and adoration that we could possibly heap upon Him.
I write, of course, of the Savior; the Son of God. He is the 2nd member of the Holy Trinity. That is, He is the 2nd person in the Godhead. He is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. But what makes Him uniquely wonderful?
We can think and speak of His divinity surely enough. He is eternal, immortal, holy, righteous, just, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, transcendent, etc. All of these attributes and more certainly demand that we bow in awe and reverence before Him. Yet there are some things about our Master that make Him somehow unique even within the Trinity. These traits make Him altogether lovely in our eyes and draw our hearts toward Him like an irresistible gravitational force pulling at our very souls.
While I do not pretend to know all of the proper truths that should be considered here. And I hardly understand the whole reality of the truths of which I am indeed aware, I will attempt to direct your attention and mine to consider reverently the ones that do come to me.
One, it appears evident from the Scripture that Jesus is uniquely to be wondered at as the declaration of the Father to us. We would not and could not know the Father apart from the Son's expression of the Father to us. This makes Him particularly wonderful to us!
Also, the Father has exalted the Son and given Him a name that is above every name. The Father has given Him the right to judge all men and all things. And what does He do with this right? Ah, He grants forgiveness and everlasting life to wretches like you and me. This is wonderful!
Being fully divine and fully human, He speaks to me of God in terms that I can follow and embrace. Yet He also speaks to God for me in ways that I cannot follow, yet by faith I do embrace. This is wonderful!
It is said in Holy Writ that He is touched by the feelings of my infirmities. It is said that He ever lives to make intercession for me. It is written that He is returning in glory to conquer His enemies and mine and to set up a kingdom on earth, in which I will have the honor and privilege of ruling and reigning with Him. This is wonderful!
We know also that we are joint heirs with Him. We know that He is preparing a place for us in His Father's house. We know that He has promised to complete the work He has started in us, even our sanctification. We know that He will present us faultless to His Father with great joy. These things are wonderful! They are the wonderful works of our wonderful Lord.
Let us stand in awe of Him! Let us be amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene. Let us wonder how He could love us. How could He love me; a sinner, condemned, unclean. How marvelous! How wonderful! My song will always be this, "Isn't He wonderful?! Isn't Jesus my Lord wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful, is my God to me. Counselor, Mighty God; living Prince of Peace!"
Surely we will all say these things and more ABOUT Him and ABOUT His tremendous accomplishments. While the ages roll, we will declare His greatness repeatedly. But so too will we say TO Him. We will murmur and cry sweetly and that with perfect utterances...
Oh Lord You're beautiful
Your face is all I seek
And when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me
- lyrics by Keith Green
Oh, but don't wait until your journey here on earth is passed. Speak to your Savior now. He is here. He is listening. Tell Him how wonderful you know Him to be. And if you can do it sincerely, under the influence of the Spirit and guided by the revelation of what is written in His Word, you will surely find Him willing to reveal even more of His glory to you. He has done all things well, yet we do not know all that He has done. His grace and mercy are fathomless. His love and compassion are immeasurable. His wisdom and understanding are limitless. His power and strength are incomprehensible. His perfection and glory are inestimable. And his knowledge and care for you are beyond all that you can possibly imagine or hope.
Isn't He wonderful!?
