Life Is One Big Glory War
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - We're honored to be joined again by author
00:00:07.240 | and speaker Paul Tripp on the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:00:10.280 | He is the author of the book Sex and Money.
00:00:13.320 | And in the book, generally speaking, you write this,
00:00:15.720 | quote, "Life on this side of eternity
00:00:18.400 | "really is one big unceasing glory battle," end quote.
00:00:23.320 | Explain that, that whole perspective of life for us.
00:00:26.520 | What is glory and what is this cosmic glory battle
00:00:31.040 | that we find ourselves in the midst of?
00:00:33.100 | - Well, the first thing I wanna say about this
00:00:37.120 | is you have to talk about the way we were created.
00:00:39.860 | Human beings are hardwired by God for glory,
00:00:44.760 | for awe, to have our minds blown, our hearts expanded,
00:00:49.760 | to be taken beyond the normal, the mundane,
00:00:54.640 | to be absorbed into what is wonderful
00:00:57.760 | and beautiful and satisfying.
00:01:00.760 | Now, you see that in human beings.
00:01:03.120 | That's why we like the triple overtime NBA game
00:01:06.800 | or the seven layer mousse cake
00:01:09.320 | or the movie that just keeps us on the edge of our seat.
00:01:12.640 | Those are our created sort of glories.
00:01:17.640 | Animals are not like that.
00:01:19.400 | The penguins don't score one another
00:01:21.320 | as they jump off the ice.
00:01:22.800 | You know, 9.5 technical merit
00:01:26.200 | but lacked artistic creativity.
00:01:28.060 | The rhinoceros doesn't say to the zebra,
00:01:32.120 | "Dude, where'd you get that coat?
00:01:35.360 | "I mean, it's awesome.
00:01:36.880 | "Look at the stripes."
00:01:39.240 | You just don't have that, but human beings do that.
00:01:42.180 | Now, the glory, that hardwiring,
00:01:46.280 | that glory hardwiring was meant to drive us to God,
00:01:49.620 | to find our satisfaction in God, in his glory,
00:01:53.760 | and our absorption by grace into things that are glorious.
00:01:58.760 | Here's the problem.
00:02:01.080 | We tend to replace the glory of the creator
00:02:05.780 | with the glory of the creation.
00:02:07.620 | I tend to get satisfied with created glory,
00:02:11.240 | and I tend to begin to believe
00:02:13.500 | that my heart can be satisfied by created glory.
00:02:18.020 | Here's the role of created glory.
00:02:20.180 | Created glory is one big finger
00:02:23.180 | to point me to the glory
00:02:25.080 | that will only ever satisfy my heart.
00:02:27.220 | Earth will never satisfy me.
00:02:29.420 | Earth will never be my savior.
00:02:32.060 | It will never calm my heart.
00:02:34.020 | It will never give my heart peace or life or hope
00:02:37.260 | or meaning or satisfaction or contentment.
00:02:40.020 | And so as long as there's sin inside of me,
00:02:44.160 | there will be that war
00:02:46.200 | for what kind of glory will rule my heart.
00:02:49.600 | Will my heart be ruled and my life be shaped
00:02:53.400 | by an anxious pursuit of created glory,
00:02:56.680 | or will my heart find its rest in the glory of God?
00:03:01.680 | - So let's take this down to the pavement.
00:03:03.840 | How do you make this point concrete?
00:03:06.360 | - Well, here's the easiest one.
00:03:08.000 | Food, food's glorious.
00:03:09.880 | I mean, I will confess,
00:03:11.600 | I am thankful for how much of the glory of God
00:03:13.840 | in creation is edible.
00:03:15.200 | That's a wonderful thing.
00:03:17.320 | But food is not supposed to rule my heart.
00:03:20.880 | And it's amazing in Western culture,
00:03:24.960 | medical people say that the number one health issue
00:03:28.480 | in America is what?
00:03:30.480 | Obesity.
00:03:31.780 | Now that means that that glory of edible flora and fauna,
00:03:36.780 | fauna that God created means too much to us,
00:03:42.920 | rules us too much, satisfies us too much.
00:03:47.920 | And so we're actually chewing our way to our death.
00:03:52.480 | Food, something as mundane as food is killing us
00:03:57.120 | because that glory rules us more than the glory of God.
00:04:01.720 | Now, who can't relate to that?
00:04:03.800 | We all have gluttonous patterns in our life
00:04:06.400 | because that thing is in a place it was never meant to be.
00:04:10.220 | - Thank you, Paul.
00:04:11.960 | Paul Tripp, author of the book "Sex and Money,"
00:04:14.480 | a really helpful book worth checking out.
00:04:17.040 | And you can get everything you wanna know
00:04:18.680 | about this podcast at our landing page.
00:04:20.680 | Go to desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:04:25.360 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:04:26.240 | We'll be back tomorrow with John Piper,
00:04:28.040 | and we'll look at what happens when postmodern minds
00:04:31.300 | meet undeniable evil in this world.
00:04:34.980 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:04:35.820 | We'll see you tomorrow.
00:04:36.880 | (upbeat music)
00:04:39.460 | (upbeat music)
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