Finding your Story in God’s Story (part 4)
By Jay Wegter
I. Why did God make a Universe and place People in it?
God has a boundless propensity to share Himself—it is why He formed us. Only God knows how wonderful, delightful, awe-inspiring, majestic and beautiful He is (Ps 33; 34). As His very image and likeness, the virtues that we esteem most highly are all found in Christ: love, meekness, sacrifice, honor, fidelity to principle, gentleness, courage, righteousness, honesty, truthfulness, and the list goes on and on. We were created to ‘run on God’—to find our highest joy and purpose in Him (Ps 16:11).
But, since the fall of our race into sin, mankind has lived with its back to God, in fear, superstition, unbelief, and hatred of Him. The very attributes of God which are meant to delight the soul of man now disturb, agitate and arrest the sinner—exposing his corrupt heart and ways. How humbling it is to come to that point in which we are convinced God is so right and we are so wrong. Man’s pride and rebellion won’t permit him to go there apart from the Spirit’s work. The means of illuminating our darkness is the gospel; the divine plan of grace in which the Son binds Himself to suffer the wrath due His people. He glorifies God in doing so. In voluntarily taking this on, He exhibits and displays the Father’s love. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10). Christ’s love for His sheep makes the salvation of the sheep His reward. To receive the reward of His obedience is to have His obedience put on their account (imputed to them—2 Corinthians 5:21). Think of it, the eternal Son of God in His obedience to the Father, undergoes a grievous ‘crushing’ by becoming a guilt offering—He does so that He might gain a ‘seed’ or offspring (Is 53:10-12). Paul refers to this gracious marvel of Christ purchasing a people for His own possession as, “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:18b; see also Titus 2:14). To behold such a wonder so as to be deeply moved by it requires that the “eyes of our hearts be enlightened” by the Holy Spirit, and that “we be strengthened with power in the inner man by His Spirit” (Eph 1:18; 3:16).
The Son of God assuming our human nature was a master piece of wisdom and a monument of free grace. He took our flesh upon Him that He might take our sins upon Him and so appease God’s wrath. Whoever is our Advocate must also be our propitiation to pacify God (1 Jn 2:1; 4:10). Angels cannot be our propitiation; therefore, they cannot be our advocates (Watson). He took our flesh that He might make human nature appear lovely to God and the divine nature appear lovely to man. Upon our fall from God in Adam, our nature became as odious to God as vermin (rats and roaches) would be to us. Our sinful flesh was like a decaying corpse, loathsome to behold. God could not endure to look upon us. Christ taking our flesh makes this human nature appear lovely to God. Christ being clothed with our flesh makes the divine nature appear lovely to man.
In Christ, the divine and human nature are bonded together forever in one Person. This union of God and man equips Christ to accomplish through redemption, both God’s glory, and our eternal good. There is boundless glory to be investigated in His Person and work as our Mediator.
God has taken the initiative in our restoration to Him. And, this reconciling work of God is depicted historically in a particular piece of ‘furniture’ known as an altar. An altar is a place where a sacrifice was consumed by fire and its smoke ascended skyward as an offering. An altar is a meeting place between the sinner and God. An altar is necessary because vile, corrupt man cannot have contact with God apart from an atonement which covers man’s sin. Therefore, an altar must stand between our holy God and ourselves.
In terms of God’s original purpose to share Himself and extend His glory, we assert that this original purpose is now revealed in conjunction with the plan of redemption. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:8-10).
II. Why was the ‘Guilt-exchange’ at Calvary the only way God could bring Sinners back to Himself?
In order for God to share Himself with depraved creatures, made in His image, there must be a judgment of our guilt and the conquering of our spiritual darkness in order for us to come to know God. And, God is known by how He saves, how He bridges the infinite gap between His holy nature and the polluted sinner—how He bridges the gap between our finitude and His transcendence, between His truth and light, and our love of darkness and ignorance. “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Tim 2:5-6).Therefore, we could summarize God’s work by means of the gospel as follows: God wills to be known by the satisfaction of His unchanging standard of righteousness by means of a suffering substitute whom He Himself appoints. There is no saving knowledge of God unless this truth of salvation through substitution is heartily received in the new birth. Now the glorious truth is that Christ is that suffering substitute who voluntarily took on that task of affecting a guilt exchange on behalf of God’s glory and our salvation. The exclusivity of this message was clearly proclaimed by our Savior: no one comes to the Father, but by Christ, no one knows God but by Christ (Jn 14:6).
That crude altar of grey rocks which Abraham constructed, and upon which a ram, or male sheep was sacrificed is a picture of Christ, albeit a shadowy one (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). For, we as sinners cannot have contact with God apart from an atoning sacrifice which covers our sin. All of those centuries of animal sacrifice from the blood offered on Abel’s altar until the final sacrifice in the Jewish temple prior to Christ’s death—all of these were pointing to the perfect sacrifice which Christ would accomplish. Christ is our ‘altar’, our meeting place with God; He provided a once-for-all atonement which covers the sins of all believers. Think of the billions of people around the world in Asia and Africa, and the Americas who are seeking to provide their own meeting place with God. It is heart-breaking, for all of their incense, shrines, offerings, temples and rituals cannot beckon God down from heaven to meet with them. As David Wells has said so succinctly, ‘God respects no sacred spaces other than the ones He creates’. And, praise God, He has created the perfect meeting place for us; it is Christ crucified and risen, our altar, sacrifice, and High Priest. God’s vision to share Himself will eventually reach its consummation in a City called the New Jerusalem. This is what Edmund Clowney referred to as God’s unfolding mystery—namely that what began as Abraham’s crude altar of rocks spattered with animal blood as the appointed meeting place with God would someday take the form of a majestic city. Revelation chapters 21 and 22 describe a cube-shaped city, 3 and 1/3 cubic billion miles in size coming down out of heaven. In terms of square footage, this city is larger than India. This is beyond our imagination; a city 600,000 stories high, a cube of precious gemstone layers 1500 miles on one edge of the cube— filled with people who love Him from every tribe, tongue and nation. Think of it, in terms of God’s progressive self-revelation, the knowledge God is giving of Himself in His Word is cumulative through history—from a 3-foot altar of grey rocks on Mt. Moriah, to the Tabernacle, to Solomon’s temple, to the post-exilic temple, to Mt. Calvary, to the New Jerusalem. But what we must not miss for a moment is this. When Christ gave up His spirit on that cruel cross, at that instant the veil to the holy of holies in the Jerusalem temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This signaled the end of animal blood offered upon an altar. Those animal sacrifices had served their purpose by pointing to Christ, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice which only needed to be offered once (Heb 10:10; 14).
That fabric veil of separation which God tore in half was a powerful symbol that sinful man is shut out from God’s presence by reason of sin—God Himself must provide the way of approach. But, the rending of the veil at the moment of Christ’s death announced that God had fully received Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, and that a new and living way had been opened up providing access to God (Heb 10:19-25).
But in the New Jerusalem, Christ, the Lamb is the light of the city, the temple of the city—He is the eternal altar and meeting place who brings us as close to God as is possible for the creature (Rev 21:22-23). In the New Jerusalem and in the New Heavens and the New Earth, God’s vision to share Himself reaches its fulfillment—a climax of plotlines that is beyond what we could think up or possibly imagine. In our next point we will investigate why it is fascinating beyond words that heaven is described as a city.
In Revelation chapter 21, God announces that His eternal habitation and dwelling place is with people, with redeemed mankind. What a marvel this is, that the uncreated, self-existent, eternal, transcendent God of the universe has chosen to dwell forever in very close proximity in the New Jerusalem with creatures made of dust: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true’” (Rev 21:3-5).
Let’s think together for a moment about the concept of city. Do you know why in our present existence on earth a metropolis, or large city is a kind of culture-making machine? In other words, by culture-making, I mean that there are musicians, artists, inventors, playwrights, interior decorators, architects, and museums, fine cuisine, concerts, dramas, symphonies, parks, galleries, and a vast tapestry of ethnic traditions, etc.
What makes this culture-making at all possible is gifted people in close proximity exchanging creative ideas and goals while being surrounded (at one’s finger tips) by an endless variety of goods and services. After all, if you lived on a farm 100’s of miles away from a city, you would have to do many things yourself, such as grow your own food, build your own sheds and barns, make many of your own clothes, fix your own vehicles, etc. There would not be much time left over for culture-making activities.
Now, what makes big cities desirable places to live (the very near availability of goods and services as well as culture, fine dining, and entertainment) can also makes large cities unpleasant places to live: congestion, crime, impersonal crowds, pollution, noise, ugliness, decay, smells, etc. So, you might be thinking, wouldn’t heaven be better described as a new Garden of Eden rather than a great city?
Here is the answer: imagine a city of unrivaled beauty (Singapore lotus lake, etc.). So pure that God is dwelling there (where nothing defiles). It is a city which your dwelling or residency there as one of its citizens is placed near the dwellings of those you love fervently (Jn 14:2). The communion and fellowship possible when each citizen of this city is like Christ in love and holiness, and possesses shared life in Christ is beyond our comprehension. We know from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 in describing the Body of Christ that when love, and holiness, and diversity meet, there will be deep community produced by the Holy Spirit. Imagine the experience of sharing and giving out of our uniqueness in a context of mutuality, all while living as members of one another through Christ.
III. Did you know that you are actually craving the Kingdom?
Yes, we actually disguise and conceal our hunger for the Kingdom, but it is always there— even if directed at temporal things. I know that sounds confusing, but follow this biblical line of reasoning. One of the greatest blessings of our salvation is sonship; our adoption, the gift of being able to call the God of the universe our Heavenly Father (His ‘new covenant Name’) (2 Cor 6:14-18; Gal 3:24-29; 1 Jn 3:1). To be an adopted child of God is to be a member of God’s ‘forever family’.
Now here is where our kingdom craving kicks in. All of the things that things which comprise the blessings of family: belonging, respect, love, deference, order, discipline, dignity, security, joy, usefulness, appreciation, trust, tenderness, etc.—all of those things fill the longings of your heart (they make life worth living). This is one of the reasons we cry at funerals; because a family is coming apart. And, we cry at weddings, because a family is forming.
So, what we must see here is that these longings for this kind of family are only met in God’s forever family known as the Kingdom of God. Every relationship on earth is touched by change; they are all transitory in this life. But, the Kingdom of God is about an immutable family that cannot experience sorrow, tears, bereavement, betrayal, rejection, misunderstanding, loss, or offense. How great is this God-given craving in us for an immutable family! In his book, Come Home Forever, author Tom Wells speaks of the inevitable pain and agony we experience here as family changes pain us. Wells urges his Christian readers to consolidate their hope in God’s immutable family—for that is our true home, that is our true family, that is where we will be home forever. Your longing for permanence of family can only be met by the coming Kingdom of God. When Jesus promised life abundant, He was alluding to the overflow of joy in relationships that endure forever (Jn 10:10).
Has ‘Kingdom’ hunger and Kingdom consciousness captured and laid hold of the affections of your heart? Have you been knocked sideways, rocked, staggered by these spiritual realities? Believers are therefore called to ‘theologize’—to speak of these things, and thereby to be purveyors of Kingdom consciousness—to stir up one another to love, and hope, and good deeds (Heb 4:13-14; 10:23-25).
Being blessed with the spiritual vision to be thrilled by these truths is never by accident. Clarity of spiritual sight doesn’t visit the apathetic in the middle of the night. Vivid spiritual sight is a byproduct of dwelling upon, desiring, and applying to oneself the great truths of Christ’s glory and His coming Kingdom (Col 3:1ff.).
This message of Kingdom hope is a love story to overshadow all other love stories. For, Christ voluntarily assumes our nature in order to assume all the liabilities of His bride: her alienation, wrath, guilt, death, condemnation and suffering. This incredible vicarious work on her behalf is the measure of His love for her and the infinite price necessary to make her His forever (Eph 5:25-27; 1 Jn 4:10; Rev 1:5). The divine ‘glory story’ of a crucified and risen Savior is how Christ reveals God to blinded sinners, restoring their ability to behold glory. It is how the sinner is disarmed of his hostility toward God (Col 1:19-20).
This glory story is an ‘unfinished love poem’ which will not be complete until the Bride of Christ is in the nuptial chamber with her loving King. The transforming power of this glory story works on a man or woman from the inside out—it is the abundant life spoken of in John 10:10—the fountain in the soul springing up unto eternal life (Jn 4:14)|.
Dear friend, has this glory story been indelibly written upon your heart by the Spirit? Do you long to have this glory story written there in a more captivating way? Do you find your spiritual eyes straining to see this vision more clearly? Do you bring this story to your imagination and your affections? Do you meditate upon this glory story and stand in awe and delight that God has placed you in His plot (1 Pet 1:3-9)?
This kind of response is necessary if you are to make it through this life without being hamstrung by the iron-fisted idols of this world. Do you desire to have a deeper impression of this glory story etched upon your own heart? Then, your loyalty to Christ must go deeper—beholding His glory must become your vocation (2 Cor 3:18). Pray for a spirit of wisdom and understanding in regard to Him (Eph 1:17-18). Dare to draw near through the ‘new and living way’—through the flesh of Christ offered for you (Heb 10:19-22). Take joy in obedience and make no provision for sin in regard to its lusts (Rom 13:14). Pant after God— believing He desires to meet with you (Ps 42:1). Long for greater views of the King in His beauty (Ps 24; 45; Is 33:17). Do not settle for anything less than an entranced vision of God. For, nothing less than beholding the glory of the Lord has the power to transform you and transport you. Refuse to settle for spiritual stagnancy and unfruitfulness.
God’s glory story; His redemptive plot must capture and fire the imagination if our desire for His glory is to control us. But, we are not used to bringing imagination to the holy things of God; created things more easily captivate our thoughts. We tend to bring our imagination to movies, books, drama, romance, sports, travel, and video games. But, a vivid imagination is in fact employed when we meditate on Scripture. Your imagination has the power to project on the screen of the mind the worthiness of an object of desire. For example, when the Word commands us to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ (Heb 12:2), we are being exhorted to dwell upon the superlative example of Christ’s obedience to the Father—an obedience involving the most intense suffering—an obedience that purchased our salvation (Heb 12:3-5). God’s redemptive plot is a love story like no other. There are dimensions of love in this plot which require that the imagination be exercised and stretched. “Reckoning” the truth of redemption so that one’s affections are engaged requires the use of the mind’s eye. Believers are to squarely and thoughtfully place themselves in God’s glory story, in His redemptive plot so that their hearts are enlarged in love, and in eagerness for Christ’s return. “. . . looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Tit 2:13). Have you ever explained to your own soul that what Christ has done, who He is toward you by His obedience to His Father is your right to live in the holy city forever?
IV. Why are so many Believers walking around with half of a Story?
Perhaps you have heard it said by solid Bible teachers that if you trust a gospel that only stresses what you are saved from, and not also what you are saved to—you are dealing with a half gospel. In terms of what Christ has done and will do, the saint lives between the cross and the resurrection. In other words, by saying we live in between the two events we are stressing that both hold sway over his or life. The cross marks not only our forgiveness by Christ’s blood, but also our death to the ruling power of sin (Rom 6:3-7). The resurrection to come is about our hope or glory, our new bodies, our deliverance from the presence of sin, and most of all, our eagerly anticipated eternal presence with the Lord (Rom 8:23-25; 1 Cor 15:42-44).
As such, the hope of the resurrection exerts a purifying power in our lives. “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 Jn 3:2-3).
True believers are living in sync.’ with God’s story, and therefore they long to have their personal stories ever more defined by God’s story. This leads us to our next point, that you must be made like Christ, fully conformed to Him in order to enjoy and experience heaven. It has been said that for the believer, the Lord’s presence there is what makes heaven a place of bliss. But the false hope of the unbeliever ponders a fictitious heaven in which the glory of God and His burning holiness and immutable law are absent.
Dear friends, God’s moral majesty is brighter than 10,000 suns. In order for us to gaze upon Him and abide in His presence we must be made like Him in holiness (1 Pet 1:13-19). And, as we have stated earlier, that promise of conformity to Christ is the infinite gift that comes with the gift of Christ (Rom 8:29-30).
V. Why must we behold the Glory of the King in order to comprehend the Glory of His Kingdom?
Why do we have to be made like Christ in order to experience and enjoy heaven? The saints are not just detached observers of God’s glory; for God not only displays His glory to them, but communicates His glory to them so that they become vessels of that glory. “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:13-14). The Son is glorified in the creature by communicating Himself to the creature —so we are ultimately made like Him in holiness (Biehl).
The Bride will find her completeness in Christ—her perfections are communicated to her by her Savior so that ultimately, she has not spot or wrinkle (Eph 5:27). This is the great goal for which Christ gave Himself for her. “. . . just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph 5:25-27).
When we behold the glory of the Lord, it sharpens our focus on the destiny of the church. Through the act of beholding His glory, Christ’s purpose of cleansing, sanctifying, perfecting, and presenting the church to Himself will increasingly animate our affections (Eph 5:26-27). It will renew us and consolidate our energies in the direction of our sanctification so that Christ’s goal for His people will increasingly become our goal (a church “without spot or wrinkle”). Beholding His glory motivates His people to holy living (see also 2 Pet 3:14-18).
Let us consider further what these words mean that Christ gave Himself to glorify His church, “[so that she will have] no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless?” (5:27). Or, in the wording of another NT text, “. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him, in love” (Eph 1:4). This blameless state is known as ‘gaining the glory of Christ’ (2 Thess 2:14).
What does it mean that the church shall be ‘holy and blameless’? The sheer weight of this promise of Christlikeness is beyond our comprehension. For, the redeemed in heaven will have become vessels for the communicable attributes of God. The saints have to be glorified in order to experience the unbroken communication of God’s glory to them. Being glorified, means that having these virtues (or communicable attributes) through Christ is the only way to enjoy God perfectly in glory (Biehl). The communicable attributes of God include: love, joy, peace, knowledge, wisdom, purity, holiness, perfection, righteousness, etc.
By way of illustrating the greatness of this change which we must undergo in order to become be vessels of Christ’s glory, consider the following. What would have to take place in order for a terrorist to become a medical missionary? Or, for a ruthless slave trader to become a hymn writer? Well, in the second example, it did take place! What a testimony to the grace and glory of Christ that slave trader, John Newton became the author of the hymn, Amazing Grace. We are seeing that God’s plan to extend His glory by giving Himself to sinners through Christ is a plan filled with boundless riches. For, believers are constantly renewed out of the experience of enjoying and possessing God. Enjoying God has a transforming effect. The veritable power of God is demonstrated in initially making man like Himself (Genesis 1:27). But, those who dwell together in the holy companionship of the new covenant grow like each other. This is a deep mystery. It has caused God’s gift of Himself to us to assume even the form of the incarnation, in which He became flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones—so also in the opposite direction; it makes us believers partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:3)—putting upon our souls God’s image and superscription (2 Thess 2:13-14) (Vos, p.
- In opening this truth further, we affirm in the gospel that in the incarnation, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ becomes like us, except for sin. But, as stated—this goes in both directions, for in the work of redemption, by transformation and glorification, we become like Jesus (Rom 8:29-30). Oh, wonder of wonders, the church’s eternal, perfect, unbroken communion with God arises out the Son being made like us, and us being made like the Son (Eph 3:14-21; 5:25-27). Christ assumed the perfect image of God in order to redeem us (Col 1:15). His glory is linked to His being made like us, that we might ultimately be made like Him. Christ, our completeness (Col 2:10) ‘calibrates’ us to God; He fits us for life with God; He recovers the creational order inverted by the fall—all is carried out ‘in Him’—in Him we sit, walk, stand, war, witness, and worship. God has determined (another ‘fiat’) that Christ shall have first place in everything (Col 1:18).
Jonathan Edwards offers the scriptural insight that true spirituality is knowing, tasting, and seeing the beauty and glory of God’s holiness. As we behold the glory of Christ we become increasingly acquainted with Christ’s righteousness which has been imputed to us; our ‘wardrobe of grace’ (Thomas Goodwin). What sets the saint apart from all others is that he sees the glory or beauty of divine things. The Bible speaks of this glory as the central thing that makes God and His ways attractive—that lures humans in love to Him. This is the light that makes the Person of Christ so ravishingly beautiful, that He has drawn the hearts of millions to Himself for the last two millennia. This is the brightness that all saints see—in comparison to which, their own hearts appear filthy. Thus, the greatest gift to believers is that Christ is designated: “the Lord our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6) (G. R. McDermott, “Jonathan Edwards on Revival, Spiritual Discernment, and God’s Beauty,” Reformation & Revival 6:1 Winter 1997). Only those who are committed to beholding the glory of Christ now are truly pressing on to that perfect view of the glory of Christ in heaven. If heaven is not your whole business here, the question remains about heaven being your actual destination. Believers who are delighted to behold the glory of Christ experience Christ’s transforming power now. Those who make it their full purpose of heart to behold His glory will be changed into His image (2 Cor 3:18).
What is this transformation? Answer: when our trust in Christ is constantly exercised, virtue proceeds from Christ to purify our hearts, increase our holiness, strengthen our graces, and fill us with joy—at times, “joy inexpressible filled with glory” (1 Pet 1:8). Christ’s glory beheld quickens the understanding at the same time as His love is communicated to the heart.
VI. Are you in touch with Reality? How much does God’s Story control your Thoughts, Affections, and Goals?
God’s ‘fiats’ are the solid rock foundation of reality—He is making all things new; He is going to make a new Heavens and Earth where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:9-14). Are you ordering your life by what is real? Are you in touch with reality? Would the Lord of the universe say that you are? Are you operating by reality in terms of facing what it will cost you to bring to harvest? To run with endurance; to finish well?
The greatest missionary who ever lived was regarded as a fool, a madman, and a real ‘pest’ by the ruling authorities of the day (Acts 24:5; 1 Cor 4:10)—are you willing to take the reproach meant for Christ (Heb 13:13)? Brethren, we won’t suffer hardship and make sacrifices for a remote, vague, distant idea. This lively picture of God’s glory story is what is to animate your story. To finish well, to hear “well done” from the King of Kings, you will have to be deliberate about your story, you will have to steward your goals in view of vanishing ‘on loan’ time that is rapidly slipping away (Ps 90). For those who know Christ, God is going to write the final chapter of their stories, it will be a chapter that will never end—it is the Kingdom of Heaven.
ADDENDUM: This world system, this present darkness is tricking people into hell—a recent poll revealed that most individuals among the rising generation would rather be famous than good. The ‘fear of man’ is the ruling desire to have fellow sinners serve as the primary evaluators and validators of your story (illusive ‘fame’). There is a huge difference between squatting with the chickens and flying with the eagles—eagles practice the spiritual disciplines as a major part of their loyalty and worship of their King. The Bible refers to unbelievers as the cowardly (Rev 21:7-8).