“Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” Do you know the doxology? In the churches my family served, I grew up singing that great song, often right after the offering. It was a reminder that we were only giving back to God what he had so generously given to us.
At the end of a great theological section of Paul’s monumentally important letter to the Romans, he bursts forth in his own doxology. Of all the passages I have memorized in recent years, this is one of my very favorites! What do I love about Paul’s words? Where do I begin?
First, Paul shows us the majestic magnificence of our loving God. God is rich in wisdom and knowledge. One thing we know, if we really know God: he defies our comprehension. We are given finite capacities and God is infinite. How big is he? Bigger than we can imagine. God knows. You have a point of view and so do I. But God has view!
Second, God has been so good to us that he does not owe us anything. This abolishes all of our transactional approaches to God. He is not a cosmic game show host seeking to barter with us. Here is the deal: God is the deal. He is the whole deal. God is everything. So he does not owe me. We cannot put God in our debt no matter what we give or do. God gives us everything richly to enjoy. But our religion always goes wrong when we become self-centered. Worship and life are by definition theocentric – God-centered. God is both the Source and the Agent of our blessings. So of course he is the Reason for our blessings. Everything is for him.
It is hard to beat Eugene Peterson’s translation: “Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.”
