SOMETHING GREATER THAN JONAH The following is an excerpt from an August 22, 2024, chapel presentation by Philip Miller. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/MillerAugust2024. Let's see how the book of Jonah points us to the Gospel, the mission, and the Christ. First, the Gospel. Jonah is for the Old Testament what the story of the prodigal son is to the New Testament. Do you see the parallels? In the first part of the book, Jonah is like the younger brother. In chapter four, he becomes the older brother, refusing to share God's heart of compassion for this repentant city. Jonah and the prodigal son show us there's two ways to reject God, not one. There's irreligious rejection of God, where we run away in rebellion and end up in misery. And there's religious rejection, where we trust in our self-righteousness to obligate God to bless us. We fool ourselves into thinking we don’t need grace because we're good. Either way, we are not looking to God for salvation, but ourselves. This is where the Gospel message is so beautiful, because no amount of goodness can ever get you in, and no amount of badness can ever keep you out, because salvation is by grace alone. Jonah announces God's unrelenting grace for undeserving people. Secondly, Jonah shows us God’s mission for the nations. We see this vision throughout the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the Old Testament is dominated by God's people failing in this missional calling. Yet this doesn't negate God's heart for the nations. God is on a mission to glorify His name by redeeming a people for Himself from every nation, tribe, and tongue who will come alive in joyous relationship with Him through the redemption of His beloved Son and by the power of His indwelling Spirit. All of history is moving toward this grand crescendo, the image of God restored. And only the glory of the crucified, risen, and exalted lamb can unite the nations in this way. Finally, the book of Jonah is pointing us to Christ. Jesus is the Jonah who should have been. He's the willing messenger who gladly chose to pursue His enemies in grace. He risked everything to bring God's lost children home. Jonah's Gospel presentation was all truth, no grace. Jesus comes with truth and grace together. He's the true, compassionate Redeemer. Jonah anticipates the coming of the true and greater Jonah so that we will see the glories of Christ incarnate. So Jonah shows us that God is on a mission to redeem for Himself a people, that God is unrelenting in His grace for undeserving people, and that He's inviting us to share in His heart and join Him on mission in our world. Howwill you join God on mission in your world? Everybody in this life wants to tell you that life is about you. God's inviting you into a much fuller, much richer life than that. He's inviting you into the greatest story the world has ever known. Philip Miller ’04 serves as the Senior Pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois. LIVING IN BABYLON CONFERENCE Cedarville students, faculty and staff, community members, and guests all came together for the Living in Babylon apologetics conference, hosted on Cedarville’s campus by Answers in Genesis, on September 9. Ken Ham and Martyn Iles brought the transformative, timeless truth of Scripture to life for our changing times. Along with the messages, all attendees shared a time of worship led by Jubilate. Watch the conference presentations at cedarville.edu/living-in-babylon. CHAPEL NOTES 24
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