When Jesus died, he glorified his father and he saved his father's people who were sinners.

And therefore the resolution of history,

the great resolution of the symphony of history,

is found in the death of Jesus Christ the son of God.

The great theme of God's love for his glory and the great theme of God's love for sinners

who scorn his glory are brought together in a grand resolution as the

father delights to bruise his son.

Why did God delight to bruise his son?

That's the question John Piper answers from Isaiah 5310 in this episode of Light and Truth.

This sermon was originally preached

at Bethlehem Baptist Church on March 8th, 1987.

The essence of sin is the falling short in our duty to prize the glory of God more than houses, spouses, computers, VCR's new cars, better resumes, money, prestige, alcohol, drugs, sex, sunshine, health, church, everything.

Sin is failing to prize the glory of God above all things.

Those are the people that God has chosen to save and even after he saves us we just keep on dishonoring him too in our sin.

So the troubling thing is that God gets so enthusiastic about doing us good.

It's a strange thing that God with omnipotent energy sings and rejoices over doing good to sinners whose sin belittles the glory that he loves with all his might. This is troubling.

It's schizophrenic on the face of it.

The Bible makes God out to be a God who loves his name, who loves his glory, who loves his reputation, who

pours all of his energies into exulting his glory. And the Bible makes God out to be a God who with omnipotent energy rejoices over

doing good to sinners who trample his glory in the dirt.

This is troubling.

This is strange.

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