Grasping for Glory

In our study of this grand epistle,
as we turn the corner from chapter two into chapter three, Paul
makes a rather abrupt change of direction here. He has concluded
his heavy series of examination points for the believers. Those
standards of evaluation were provided, as you will remember,
for the purpose of contending with the false teachers in their
midst. Paul issued, as we considered, tediously, I might add, a series
of five examination points. Paul is not done warning or exhorting
the Colossian believers, but his counsel regarding false teachers
has largely concluded. And he has largely, as well,
concluded the more doctrinal portion of the letter. If you
haven’t already, if you would take and turn to Colossians chapter
3, We’re here now in the beginning verse, verse one of chapter three,
Paul moves to apply much of what he’s already said about our Christian
condition. These must still properly be
considered exhortations, admonitions, if you will, but they are presented
under the tone of a loving friend or an earthly father. encouragement to proper Christian
conduct. This is the overall structure
of the letter. Doctrine first, then application. We have a similar feature in
both the epistle to the Romans and the epistle to the Ephesians. Doctrine first, followed by practical
exhortations. This is the rough outline, as
I said, of Romans, 11 chapters of profound and spectacular doctrine,
opening immediately to chapter 12 in applicational address. The same thing in Ephesians,
as you know. The letter is divided almost
perfectly in half, three chapters of doctrine, three chapters of
application. And that’s essentially what we
have here in Colossians. Paul, having addressed the rich
blessings that are ours in the Lord Jesus Christ, including
the Christian ministry, as well as the fruit of Christian ministry,
those who have placed their faith in Christ for salvation, Paul
now proceeds to discuss the Christian life, essentially the application
of ministry. This is the longest section of
the letter, carrying along from verse one of chapter three all
the way down to chapter four, verse six. It’s a very dynamic
and wide ranging address. I mean, if you were going to
address the Christian life, you can begin to think of how many
things would fit under that umbrella. Paul covers a great many topics
here pertaining to the Christian life and walk. Now, as is our
practice when we begin a new section, I’d like to read the
section in its entirety from 3.1 to 4.6. But in order that
you may latch hold of the many and varied subjects, I’ll introduce
each section with a rudimentary title. And I’m hoping to simplify
this a little bit for us so that all of these sections will be
attended with the word living. Paul is addressing our Christian
life or Christian living, and he will speak to 10 different
aspects of Christian living. If you would, let’s begin in
verse one, where the first thing that Paul addresses is heaven
oriented living. Therefore, if you have been raised
up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the
things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you
have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, is revealed, then you will be revealed with
him in glory. Verse 5 through 8 opens up into
sin mortifying living. Therefore, consider the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is
because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon
the sons of disobedience. And in them you also once walked
when you were living in them, but now you also put them all
aside, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from
your mouth. Verses 9 through 11, truth grounded
living. Do not lie to one another, since
you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and have put
on the new self, who is being renewed into a true knowledge
according to the image of the one who created him, a renewal
in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised,
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and freeman. But Christ
is all in all. Christ-like living in verses
12 and 13. So as those who have been chosen
of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and
forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone.
Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Love-focused
living, verses 14 and 15. Beyond all these things, put
on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace
of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called
in one body, and be thankful. Verse 16 stands alone, Bible-centered
living. Let the word of Christ richly
dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Verse 17 stands alone
as well. Glory-driven living, whatever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through him to God the Father. Then Paul opens
up into the most lengthy of all of the sections under this heading,
relation building living. And he addresses the home and
the marketplace, beginning in verse 18. Wives, be subject to
your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your
wives and do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient
to your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to
the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your
children so that they will not lose heart. Slaves, in all things
obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service
as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of the heart,
fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work
heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from
the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It
is the Lord Christ whom you serve, for he who does wrong will receive
the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without
partiality. Masters, grant to your slaves
justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in
heaven. Verse two through four of chapter
four open up into prayer-guided living. Devote yourselves to
prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open
up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the
mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned,
that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. And then
to close out this section, opportunity-minded living. Conduct yourselves with
wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.
Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with
salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 3.1 through 4.6. And
as I indicated, that’s quite a menu of subjects. And in order
to do them justice, this should take us well into the new year. And so we’ll start here at chapter
three, verse one, with Paul’s very first subject, what I very
generally called heaven-oriented living. And I’ve honed that makeshift
initial title to a more fitting preaching title, grasping for
glory. because Paul is now urging his
readers to action. As you will recall, in the immediately
preceding section, chapter 2, verses 15 through 23, Paul had
thoroughly dealt with the temptation to legalism. He showed there
that salvation cannot be pursued through a system of works, works
righteousness. But it’s not as if Paul sets
aside any effort on the believer’s part. God, no doubt, does the
work of salvation entirely. God the Father ordained his plan
of redemption. Jesus Christ willingly secured
the believer’s redemption. through his death on the cross,
and the Holy Spirit applied that to us in the work of redemption. And absolutely, the same God
who did the work of salvation also does the work of sanctification. But in this, the believer is
not passive. Once saved, we do not just sit
back and wait for God to perfect us in Christ. And so as Paul comes here to
chapter three, he opens up all of those subjects, which are
duties expected of believers, effort. Paul begins his set of
10 encouragements for Christians with a very obvious subject. We might even call this foundational.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, We’ve had our focus changed
by God dramatically. No longer are our eyes on the
world and all of its trinkets, all of its affections, all of
its priorities. Ours now as Christians is a heavenly
focus. Everything has changed. We have
a new Lord and a new kingdom. We have a new life with new direction. We have a new purpose and affection.
We have new goals and aspirations. For the one whose faith is in
the Lord Jesus Christ, everything is new. Paul has transitioned
his discussion from salvation to sanctification. And this discussion
is not about the means of salvation. Through any of those 10 subjects
that we learned, none of those would lead a person to salvation. This discussion is not about
the means of salvation. It’s for those exclusively who
are already in Christ. This is for believers. For those
who are already Christians. Did you notice this? You may
have observed this. Let me show you a very definitive
proof that Paul is speaking to believers in Christ here. Would you glance at those opening
four verses? Four times in those four short
verses, Paul refers to Jesus Christ. Look please at verse
one. You have been raised up literally
in Christ. And again, where Christ is at
the end of that verse. Again in verse three, your life
is hidden with Christ. And then again in verse four,
when Christ is revealed, you will also be revealed. This paragraph is all about Christ
and those who belong to him. In Christ, where Christ, with
Christ, when Christ. We have been brought in, introduced,
placed, and quite undeservingly, into the grandest kingdom of
all, the kingdom of God. Everything that a person could
ever want, the best of the best, is here and available. It’s available to the newly welcomed
child of God. It’s all there and free for our
enjoyment. And all we have to do is to reach
out and receive it. This is the language that Paul
uses in the opening paragraph. Keep seeking the things above. Set your mind on the things above. Paul twice mentions the blessings
of eternal glory. They’re all there. But it must
be desired. They must be sought in order
to be enjoyed. Our glorified King wants us to
enjoy the blessings of his kingdom, and as loyal citizens of this
new kingdom, we aspire to follow and please our exalted King. And so this is Paul’s focus here
in these opening four verses, an active pursuit of eternal
blessings. Well, with that brief introduction,
verses one through four, let’s begin our consideration of this
instructive passage. Grasping for Glory, and we’ll
begin with verse one, and probably won’t make it through past verse
one this morning. The active pursuit of eternal
blessings, and the first element of that active pursuit is the
condition of our pursuit. Look at verse 1, therefore, if
you have been raised up with Christ. The first thing that
I want to do is dispel your concerns with that word, if. Paul is not
expressing doubt here. He’s not pressing the question
about whether or not some of these people might be saved. All he’s doing is hearkening
back to something that he said earlier. If you have your Bible
in your lap, glance back, if you would, please, to chapter
2, verse 20. Where there, he said, if you have died with Christ,
and we know that we have if we are in Christ, if you have died
with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why,
as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself
to such decrees, such as do not handle, do not taste, do not
touch? Paul uses the same word, if,
with the same purpose, he wasn’t doubting their salvation, he
wasn’t doubting the fact that they had died with Christ, It
expresses the foundation of his ensuing statement. This is the
baseline, if you will. And we make these statements
all the time. For someone driving away in your
vehicle. If you’re going to take my car,
you’re going to need gas. That statement expresses no doubt
either in the fact that your car is moving down the road or
no doubt in the vehicle or in the doubt that it’s running on
fumes. Or for someone who has already told you they are going
to be late. If you’re going to be late, can
you stop and get ice? You see, those situations have
context. And the same thing is true with
Paul speaking to the Colossian believers. Paul is not expressing
doubt, just as the owner of the car was not expressing doubt
as to whether the car was moving. So we could just as appropriately
translate this word here instead of if, since. since you have
been raised.” Again, Paul expresses no doubt about the Colossian
salvation. Now, this thought about these
believers being raised is not new. Back in chapter two, verse
12, Paul expressed to his readers that they had been buried with
Christ, but that’s not as bad as it initially sounds. Because
Paul immediately proceeds to tell them that they were also
raised up with him. Remember this? The same thought
that Paul communicates here in 3.1. So if Paul says, or Paul
says, if or since, since you have been raised up with Christ,
it’s an amazing phrase. It’s an incredible reminder.
It’s full of truth and hope. We no longer are dead in our
trespasses and sins. We have been raised up through
our faith in Christ to new life. It basically refers to the moment
of salvation, being raised up from the mire of sin and guilt
to a life with new forgiveness and peace, They have been raised up to new
life with new power. It’s a life now of divine energy
and purpose. And the rest of the equation
is simple. If they have been raised up,
why or how could they seek confidence in any other means beside Christ
and his grace? That’s essentially Paul’s thesis. Well, this phrase, raised up
with Christ, is only uttered three times by Paul. We’ve already
seen it. We saw it back in 212 and obviously
here, but it’s also in Ephesians chapter two. And so, as is our
habit, would you turn two books to the left to Ephesians chapter
two? I just want to review quickly
the context of Paul’s use of this phrase. When you get to
chapter 2, just pause at verse 1, we’ll momentarily review. Paul says there in Ephesians
2, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins. We’ve been
through this. That was our condition outside of Christ. We were spiritually
dead. We go down to the good news in
verse four, but God being rich in mercy because of his great
love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive. He regenerated us. He brought
us to life with Christ. By grace, you have been saved.
We didn’t deserve it. We didn’t earn it. We couldn’t
pay him back. He made us alive together with Christ, and he
raised us up with him. Those two things were concurrent.
He literally raised us to a new life. And this tells us not only
why we are to seek the things, you can flip back to Colossians
if you would, this tells us not only why we are to seek the things
above, but it tells us how it’s even possible. The reason why
we are to seek the things above is set forth in those two little
words, therefore if, or therefore since, or since then. Since then you have been raised. Of course it makes sense. Just
as Paul reminded us in Philippians 3.20 that our citizenship now
is in heaven. So the why points to the divine
enablement that we have in Christ. We are now able to seek the things
that are above. And the explanation of how we
are to seek the things above is set forth in those two little
words with Christ. The things above indicates all
of those things, all of those blessings and graces that come
with our relationship with Christ. It’s only because of our union
with Christ in faith that we are enabled to make an active
pursuit of heavenly things. That’s Paul’s point. But he has
another point, a second point. grasping for glory in this active
pursuit of eternal blessings, not only the condition of our
pursuit since we have been raised, but the nature of our pursuit.
What is it like? Paul tells us in the second line,
keep seeking the things above. We might all like to think that
once saved, we can just sit back and let God continue to accomplish
everything with regard to our sanctification, just as he accomplished
everything with regard to our salvation, but that isn’t the
case. We can’t just sit back. In this massive section about
Christian living, Paul sets forth the believer’s responsibility
in their sanctification. the day-to-day living out of
their Christian life. The Christian life is only just
begun at justification, and while God is the one who does the work
of sanctification, he enjoins the believer to participate in
this great endeavor. We are not passive. We’re not
supposed to be passive. Progress in the Christian life
involves more than just a heart desire There indeed must be the
desire to grow in Christ-likeness, but that desire must issue forth
in an earnest, grace-driven effort. The second statement in verse
one, keep seeking the things above, it’s one of the core statements
of this entire section. That is verses one through four.
This is one of Paul’s commands to these Colossian believers
and to us. This is where we get the idea,
where I secured the idea of pursuit, the active pursuit of eternal
blessings. It’s from that word. The verb
to seek is, as I already pointed out, it’s in the imperative.
We are commanded to seek the things above. The verb implies
a significant spiritual effort on our part. There is a passionate
perseverance in our heavenward yearning. This is no half-hearted
laziness in the pursuit of Christ and his kingdom. This isn’t sit
back and let God. And the form of the verb here
speaks of a continued action. This is moment by moment, day
by day, year after year. There are no plateaus in the
Christian life. And he says here that there is
to be energy expended, if you will, in this effort. And so
in it, we immediately come face to face with the believer’s responsibility
in sanctification. And this word to seek, it’s specifically
used elsewhere. in the Christian’s effort of
grasping for glory. Jesus makes use of this word
himself. Matthew chapter 6. You know these
verses probably even before I speak them. Matthew 6, 33, but seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things would be
added to you. Don’t worry, but you do need to seek. It needs
to be a passionate desire, but it’s more than just a desire.
Matthew chapter 7, essentially the same thought. Ask and it
will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock
and it will be opened to you. In fact, the New Testament, there
seems to be a dividing line, a watershed. We’re all seeking. All people are seeking. It just depends on what they
are seeking. We either seek what is good and
God-honoring, or we are already seeking what is worldly and empty. Philippians 2.21. First, they
all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Watershed. 1 Corinthians 10.24. Let no one seek his own good, but only that of his neighbor.
a watershed. 1 Corinthians 13 5, love does
not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own. In other words, it seeks after
what is good for others. And so this thought that the
Christian must actively pursue the graces and blessings of heaven
is spoken of in many places in the New Testament, not just using
the word seek. Listen to this. Matthew 6, 20,
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. That requires effort.
That requires not only desire, but an active pursuit. Philippians 3.14, I press on
toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus. Paul said, even in his case,
there was maximum effort in securing these blessings and graces. And so there must be the desire
for growth in godliness, and there must be the seeking, the
active effort, and this seeking is done through the disciplines
of confession and prayer and scripture reading and service
to others, fellowship, To some degree, you see, the Colossian
believers may have been tempted to dabble in seeking things that
would not benefit their sanctification. All of those rituals and celebrations. And instead, and when you pause
and think of it, how many hours we give to foolish, wasteful
things. Instead, Paul counsels them to
turn their attention to the things above. A vibrant relationship
with God the Father through His Son, the Lord Jesus, by means
of the Holy Spirit, this growth in sanctification would be accomplished
by means of communion with God. It is from Him that they would
seek grace for their Christian character, humility, Diligence,
faithfulness, godliness, patience toward others, graciousness,
brotherly love, a heart of forgiveness. Paul comes to a third point in
this active pursuit of eternal blessings, grasping for glory,
the condition of our pursuit, the nature of our pursuit, and
thirdly, the place of our pursuit. Where do we go? Where would we
go to look for it? Paul tells us, therefore you’ve
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Amazing image. We know why we are to pursue
the glories of heaven. We’ve been raised up with Christ.
We know how we are, and really what we are to pursue. We are
to seek the things above, And so we come to the where. Where
are we to pursue these eternal glories, these blessings? And
Paul tells us here, the place of our pursuit. These things
are where Christ is. And the Christian already knows
generally where Christ is, just as the angel declared to his
disciples, concerned as he was raised into the sky, This Jesus
has been taken up from you into heaven. We know that Christ is
in heaven. Jesus has gone to reside until
his second coming into that mysterious region above, the heavenly glories.
And because of this, the Christian’s thoughts and longings and focus
are to be heavenward, until which time we join him there. But rather
than just a general attention directed in a heavenward direction,
Paul provides an even more specific location for the Christians seeking
the things of God. They are to be found where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. It was such a fantastic
and important image. I want to take the time to savor
it a bit. And I was hoping that we might take a brief tour of
the New Testament on this particular subject. Would you turn first
to the Gospel of Luke into chapter 20? We could have gone to Matthew
because it’s there as well, but we’ll start in Luke chapter 20.
And for this particular image, for students of scripture, you
know that this is a familiar image used in the Bible. It’s
used more than 20 times in the New Testament alone, Christ at
the right hand of God. First of all, this is an image
that Jesus used even of himself. During one of his many interactions
with the Pharisees, he took opportunity to challenge their thinking.
The Jewish people were big into genealogy. They wanted to all
trace themselves back to Abraham, if at all possible. And so in
order to stir up a bit of a conversation about his own divine nature,
Jesus poses a very difficult question. Would you just scroll
down to verse 42? Luke 20, verse 42. What do you
think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, the son of
David. And he said to them, then how does David in the spirit
call him Lord? saying, the Lord said to my Lord,
sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. Jesus quotes there from Psalm
110, which the Jewish people knew regarded the Messiah. It was a messianic Psalm. But
Jesus is about to issue them a real conundrum. Look at verse
45. If David calls him Lord, how
is he his son? No one was able to answer him
a word, nor did anyone dare that day to ask him another question.
They were stumped. The panel was totally stumped.
Jesus’ point was that Jewish people were expecting no more
than a man, a descendant of David, King David. Jesus was indeed
that, but he was so much more. Jesus declares to them that he
is the one who would one day be seated at God’s right hand. And sitting at God’s right hand
was a place of ultimate honor and power and authority. As we
will see, would you turn two chapters to your right to chapter
22 and down to verse 66. Following Jesus’ betrayal during
his series of trials, Jesus is pressed about whether he is the
Messiah. And I think for the sake of time,
go to verse 67. If you are the Christ, and this
is a true, genuine if, if you are the Christ, tell us. But
he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe, and if
I ask a question, you will not answer. What’s the point? But
from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of
the power of God. And they said to him, and they
all said, you are the son of God then? And he said to them,
yes, I am. Would you please turn over to
the book of Acts and to chapter two? I just wanted to see how frequently
this image is used in the New Testament. And here we see that
Peter sees his hold of the same image and presents it once again
to the Jewish leaders. Glance down at verse 33, if you
would, where he speaks of Christ as having been exalted. Now he is seated next to his
heavenly father, having been exalted to the right hand of
God. And then he proceeds himself to cite Psalm 110. The Lord said
to my Lord, sit at my right hand. Please turn to chapter five of
Acts. Chapter five of Acts, I was telling somebody the other day,
this is my favorite sound in the world, is hearing people
turning their Bible pages. Immediately after springing Peter
and his friends from prison for preaching the gospel, God sends
them right back out to preach the gospel. And Peter begins
right where he left off, saying of Christ in Acts 5.31, he is
the one whom God exalted to his right hand as prince and savior
to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Turn,
if you would, to chapter 7. Chapter 7 of the book of Acts. You see, Peter was such a great
example that Stephen, in his only sermon before he was martyred,
proclaimed the same exact thing. Just prior to being stoned to
death, he declared in verse 56, Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Over,
please, one book to the right to Romans, chapter 8. Romans,
chapter 8. Christ uses this phrase of himself. He forecasts that he is the one. Peter declares that he is the
one. Stephen affirms it. Paul likewise
understood and proclaims this same important truth. Would you,
if you’re in chapter 8 of Romans, go down to verse 34. Christ Jesus
is he who died, yes, rather who is raised, who is at the right
hand of God. And notice what he’s doing, who
intercedes for us. The Savior, Paul shows, had a
special privilege in being exalted to God’s right hand. He intercedes
on our behalf. He prays for us. He appeals to
God the Father on our behalf. And wouldn’t you know it, Paul
employs this same image in the parallel letter of Colossians,
the book of Ephesians. Would you turn over there just
quickly? Ephesians, and when you get there,
go to chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20. There, Paul is speaking of the
greatness of God’s power, all that he had done in and through
Christ and all that he was doing through believers not only in
raising Christ from the dead, but also that He seated Him at
His right hand in the heavenly places. We don’t have time to go through
all of these, but the writer of Hebrews as well, Peter, in
his epistle also, the writer of Hebrews, four times makes
this same reference. I won’t I won’t take you to all
of them, but jot these down if you would. Hebrews 1-3, when
he had made purification of sin, he sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. Hebrews 8-1, we have such a high
priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne
of majesty in the heavens. Hebrews 10, 12, he, having suffered
one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand
of God. Hebrews 12, 2, he sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. And then Peter likewise
says of Christ that he is at the right hand of God. 1 Peter
3, 22. So this idea, all right, so that’s
our tour. Let’s pause, you can make your
way back to Colossians if you would. To be seated at God’s
right hand immediately elicits thoughts of a royal throne room. It’s a powerful image. God, of
course, is a spirit, so he has no physical hands, as we do. Paul is employing here what we
call an anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics to God.
And the Bible is full of these. They’re for us, so that we can
comprehend the incomprehensible God. It speaks of the hands of
God, the arm of God, the eyes of God. It’s just a poetic way
of referring to a place of honor, the very right hand of God. The
right hand is a place not only of honor, but authority as well.
As one pastor said, he wields the scepter of universal sovereignty. God has given him that position.
It’s a place of dignity and peace. Christ is there pictured as co-reigning
with his heavenly father. And in this, Christ is pictured
as reigning supreme. It’s not like he has to be voted
into office or has to consult with anyone else. To be seated
in this sense, in the sense used in all these passages, is intended
to indicate that Christ’s work is complete, it’s finished. His
atonement for sinners is accomplished and accepted by God. There’s
nothing left for Christ to do with regard to our redemption.
And if you note in most of these passages, it’s God himself who
seats Christ. Please be seated. It’s a means
of honoring the son for what he accomplished. God highly exalted
him. So the fact that Christ is seated
is motivation for his children to come to him. We don’t go before
a foreign dignitary. We don’t go before someone that
we are unfamiliar with. We go before one who loves us,
loved us from before the foundations of the world, who has bidden
us to come, invited us, commanded us to come into his presence.
to enter into his throne room and to seek whatever grace we
need. It’s our loving Lord. It’s our
beloved Savior to whom we come. So we come in this active pursuit
of eternal blessings since we have been raised up with Christ.
We come because we are renewed. We come seeking the things above. We’re no longer content with
the things of the world, the things of the earth, the temporal
things, the passing things. We look instead heavenward, where
our Savior and Lord are seated at the very right hand of God. Would you humble yourself before
him?