What Is A Doxology?

What Is A Doxology?

 The word 'doxology' comes from 2 Greek words: 'dox', which means 'glory', and 'lolgia', which means 'speech.' Literal translation, then, is 'glory speech' or 'glorious speech.' 

   

  It is a short, formal statement of praise, glory, and thanksgiving to God, spoken or sung.

  Its traditional roots go back to the Jewish synagogues where often it was used to begin or conclude a worship service.

  Many doxologies are found in the Psalms, and Paul ended some of his letters in the New Testament with these short statements of praise.

  And Jude, the brother of Jesus, concludes his letter with an often-quoted, and very beautiful, doxology. We find this one in verses 24 and 25 in his book in the New Testament:

           To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to 

            present you before His glorious presence, without 

            fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior

            be glory, majesty, power and authority, through

            Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever.

            Amen

  Today we often sing, in many churches,  what we refer to as "The Doxology" or "The Great Doxology":

           Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

           Praise Him, His creatures here below!

           Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts!

           Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!    

  An English cleric, Thomas Ken, (1637-1711), worded this one and the tune attached to it was found in a hymnal, called a Psalter,  dated 1551.

  So as we sing this Doxology today we are joining a large choir of brothers and sisters, from all over the world, singing praises to our God for the last 350 years!  

  I think that pleases Him!

  And find more in Revelation -- so we will continue this practice forever!

  And that will always please Him!

That Great Day - Who Can Imagine?

I'm still imagining that glorious day when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and He presents crowns to us for our humble obedient pilgrimage here on earth in His service.

But who can think about crowns without thinking about the crown He had on His head while on the cross -- the crown He chose to wear while dying in unspeakable pain -- the crown of cruelty and mockery that the soldiers purposely "twisted together and set on His head." They spit on Him, abused and tortured Him and then they led Him away to  crucify Him (Matthew 27). 

Jesus suffered all the pain for our sin so that we wouldn't have to. He endured the agony of the abandonment of His Father so that we would never have to. He wore the mockery of His crown so that He could give us glorious crowns of celestial beauty.

Who can imagine it?

"No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight, but downward bends his burning eyes at mysteries so bright."

Jesus wore the crown of despicable horror so we could have a crown of glory? 

(He did that for us?)

Who can even imagine a God like that?

He Became Like Us!

   John 1:14 tells us that "the Word became flesh and lived among us." The God of the universe - of everything - left His glorious throne in heaven and moved into our neighborhood. Why? He wanted to be with us.

 There's an extraordinary story about a man injured in a horrific fire. While attempting to save his parents, his face was horribly burned and permanently, hideously disfigured. He kept his face covered and would not let anyone see him, including his wife. When she went to a plastic surgeon for help, he assured her that he could restore her husband's face. But she wasn't there to restore his face, she wanted her face disfigured so she could share his pain.

It's the way God feels about us - He took our face, our disfigurement, our sin. He became like us to show us how far He would go to be with the ones He loved. He would rather die than live without us. And so He did.

                                    * * * * * * * * * *

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected...we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took our pain and bore our suffering...He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed...He poured out His life unto death..."

   -- From Isaiah 53

P.S. He did that for US? Yes, He did that for us!

The Great Exchange

This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners:

For by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours, but Christ's,

And Christ's righteousness is not Christ's, but ours.

  -- Martin Luther

This is what it means to be  Christian: God takes our filthy garbage -- all our sin -- destroys it forever -- all of it -- and gives us -- in exchange -- the gift of His righteousness so we can live with Him forever.

What an incredible exchange! Greatest deal ever in the whole universe! An old garbage bag traded in for a treasure chest of unspeakable riches!

He did it on the cross.

Christ says, "I love you, I forgive you. Let's move on!"

Looks like He would rather die than live without us...

God's Masterpiece

 "For we are God's handiwork [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

Certainly one of the most amazing verses in scripture! We are saved by grace, not by our good works -- but we are saved so we can do God's good works and glorify Him!

We are here for a reason. So we can do the  service He designed specifically for us to do and bring glory to Him.

(Remember the Westminster Catechism -- Q: What is the chief end of man? A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever)

Otherwise He would have just beamed us up immediately the moment He saved us!

(Sort of like what happened to the repentant thief on the cross! Wow...imagine the relief...from the torture of the cross to the unspeakable splendor of paradise! In an instant! "Today you will be with Me in paradise").

Though, I admit, there are times being beamed up immediately sounds like  good option!