Reading from Thursday, September 30

Hey friends.

Reading for September 30
Isaiah 60:1-62:5
So I've been thinking more and more about this "for my own sake" thing that was revealed here in Isaiah. If you haven't been following the blog this is something I discovered where it appears that God is doing good deeds unto his people so they will love him and praise him. And now I'm starting to look at the other actions of God through this lens, specifically the crucifixion of Christ. Here in Isaiah, we see a reference to that event, and how it will not benefit us, but God:

 ¹⁵ "Although you have been forsaken and hated,
       with no one traveling through,
       I will make you the everlasting pride
       and the joy of all generations.
 ¹⁶ [...] Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
       your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 

What this reminds me of is back in Exodus when Pharaoh would not free the Israelites from Egypt. God would send a plague, Pharaoh would have a change of heart, decide to let them go and then God would intervene and "harden Pharaoh's heart" so he could send more plagues. All this so we would know that God is powerful and praise him. Now let's dig into this conspiracy.

God made it so his people had to suffer for centuries upon centuries under his wrath. He promised that a savior would come to rescue them and then one day it was so. Jesus was born and lived and was brutally destroyed for our sake. BUT. You could look at that as something very similar to the situation in Egypt. God had this huge elaborate plan to get people to praise him. It involved countless sacrifices and senseless deaths to make his point, including the death of his son, all so we would love him and praise him.

Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't praise him for this act of love and mercy, but its different when the intention from the beginning was to benefit God. It seems completely selfish. Sure we were given grace as a side effect, but it just doesn't seem right. It's kind of like hearing about someone who volunteers all their free time in the homeless shelter but only does it to pick up chicks. The act is no longer loving but tainted with selfishness.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Philippians 1:27-2:18
OK, well here's a possible answer to my question:

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 ⁶Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 ⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!

So what we have now is a sort of paradoxical situation where God became the man of Jesus and lived in complete humility to die and rescue us. However, God in heaven schemed this together to make it easier for his people to praise him. Now God and Jesus are kind of one in the same, but sometimes not. I think the answer is somewhere in that puzzle of logic, but I'm just not sure I understand it yet. 

Psalm 72:1-20
A clear reference to Jesus

 ¹¹ All kings will bow down to him
       and all nations will serve him.
 ¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
       the afflicted who have no one to help.
 ¹³ He will take pity on the weak and the needy
       and save the needy from death.
 ¹⁴ He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
       for precious is their blood in his sight.

  
Proverbs 24:11-12
 ¹¹ Rescue those being led away to death;
       hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
 ¹² If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"
       does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
       Does not he who guards your life know it?
       Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

Word up, homies. Rollin with the homies.