Pastor John, before taking your leave of absence in 2010, you preached an important sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church titled "How Much Does God Love This Church?" That was on April 18th of 2010, and the sermon deals with the fact that God does make much of us as Christians. It would eventually become a new chapter titled "God Does Make Much of Us" in your recently re-released book, "Brothers, We Are Not Professionals." Explain for us the background to this sermon and the chapter and its importance in your thinking that God does make much of us.

Was this point a point of correction to your theology? Was it a deepening or a broadening? How do you think of it? The sermon, and it was probably the third time I had preached something like that, I did something like that at Westmont College, and I did something like that at Passion.

There was a whole series of messages. All of them, I would say, were given not by way of correction, but by way of clarification and reprioritization. I have really benefited over the years from feedback, and on this issue, Tom Steller, my associate for 33 years at Bethlehem, was the most influential because Tom would never let me get away with saying anything of an exaggerated nature without his drawing my attention to the other side of the coin, and on this one, there is another side of the coin.

Here's the background. I used to go all over the country saying, "Which makes you feel more loved by God? That he makes much of you, or that he enables you at great cost to himself to enjoy making much of him?" It's a pretty provocative question, pretty thought-provoking. I still like the question.

I'll still use the question. The answer I meant for people to give was true love is not mainly God's true love. The highest divine love is not mainly God making much of us, but giving the highest price imaginable in his Son to free us from our bondage to joy-destroying self so that we could enjoy making much of him forever.

I really believe with all my heart, Tony, that we are created, human beings are created for joy in God, for admiring God, for being amazed at God, for standing in awe of God and wondering at God, and God is the source of all that, and anything that detracts from that I'm going to resist with all my might.

We are created for joy in God. But part of the wonder of God that we take joy in is in fact possible because he makes much of us and is constituted by his making much of us. And in that sermon I just rattled off with text—I won't give the text here—but here's what I meant by God making much of us.

He makes much of us in being pleased with us and commending our lives in the end. Well done. He makes much of us by making us his fellow heirs with his Son who owns everything. He makes much of us by having a sit with him at table, and he serves us according to Luke 12.

He makes much of us by appointing us to carry out the judgment of angels. Good night! What an incredible role that he gives to us. He makes much of us by ascribing value to us. You're more valuable than the than the birds, you're the apple of my eye. He makes much of us by giving us a glorious body like Jesus' body that will reflect his glory like Jesus did, and he makes much of us most amazingly of all by saying that we will sit with Christ on his throne, whatever that means.

I mean, we will be co-rulers of the world. So there's just no doubt, and I have never doubted, that God makes much of us in all these senses. So it's not a change of theology, but it is a reprioritization because I didn't preach those seven points in those sermons where I asked that question usually.

I left that unsaid, feeling like the other needed the emphasis, and I have now tried to balance that better by drawing people's attention to the truth that God does make much of us. But I ended that sermon by asking the question, "Now why is it that God performs all these acts of love toward us by continually drawing attention to the fact that he's doing it for his own glory?

He's doing it for his name's sake?" And my answer to that is that if God made me and myself the end of my goal, my quest, he wouldn't love me so much as if he made himself the end of my goal and my quest, because self, no matter how glorified, no matter how made much of, will never satisfy my heart.

I must look away from my made much of self in order to see God truly and love him as my final treasure. And therefore, I think God makes much of us precisely so that we will have the greater capacity to enjoy him. Amen. Thank you, Pastor John. The sermon title again is "How Much Does God Love This Church?" which was preached on April 18th, 2010.

Also see the new chapter, "God Does Make Much of Us," in the recently re-released book, "Brothers, We Are Not Professionals." You can find both of those resources at DesiringGod.org, along with thousands of other free books, articles, and sermons from John Piper. I'm your host Tony Ranke, thanks for listening.