Clint Eastwood Theology
Romans 11:33-36
May 31, 2009
I want to talk about Clint Eastwood theology. Eastwood plays the role of Harry Callahan, aka “Dirty Harry”, and he speaks great theological truth at the end of “Magnum Force” when, as the car carrying his adversary explodes before his eyes, he opines, “Man’s got to know his limitations”. Those words are fitting in this context, interestingly enough, for there is truth in this: man’s got to know his limitations when it comes to understanding the depth of God.
This passage is transitional in nature, a break for praise in between 11 chapters on doctrine and 5 on practical Christian living. What a tremendous way to transition! Paul’s transition involves praise. Paul’s praise is for God in general, but also for God as He has initiated and revealed His plan for the salvation of mankind. God redeems us through Jesus Christ, to the point and to the degree that He adopts us as His children and sees us like through the lens of grandparents…what? You know: in the eyes of grandparents, grandkids never can do anything wrong! That’s the way God sees us, as though we’ve never once committed a single sin, because when we are regenerated by the Spirit through our faith in Christ, God sees the righteousness of His only begotten, perfect Son, Who died in your place and mine as our Substitute, our Sacrifice for sin. I don’t want God to see my deeds, good, bad, or otherwise; I want Him to see Jesus when He looks at me! And that’s just the plan for which Paul now praises God so profusely.
My outline today is taken from the thoughts of John Stott; all the mistakes in the message are my own!
I. An astonished exclamation – :33
:33 – “Depth of riches” –What are some examples of the riches of God?
• The riches of God’s “kindness, tolerance, and patience” – 2:4
• The riches of His glory – 9:3
• The riches which Jesus bestows on all who call on Him – :10:12
• God is “rich in mercy” – Ephesians 2:4
• Christ is spoken of as possessing “inexhaustible riches” – Ephesians 3:8,16
“Depth of His wisdom/knowledge” – This wisdom is hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:2) and was displayed on the cross; the wisdom of God is folly to this world, for sure, but it equates to salvation for us. Isaiah teaches us that God’s ways are far higher than our ways, His mind far deeper than our own.
God’s insight into the true nature of things is perfect—unlike our own. As much as I might believe I know someone or something, I do not know it nearly with the fullness and depth of understanding that God does. God’s “ways” are “inscrutable”. The Greek word there literally refers to footprints that are untrackable, the exact idea expressed by the Psalmist in Psalm 77:19, when he wrote, “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.”
Here’s a question, though: does Paul mean to suggest that we can know nothing God, or so little as to be of no real benefit? Of course not! Though the natural man cannot really understand the things of God unless God’s Holy Spirit grants him understanding (I Corinthians 2:14), God nevertheless makes it clear that people who seek Him with all their hearts will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Studying the Word to understand it and thus to know God better is absolutely critical for the Christ-follower (II Timothy 3:16-17). God has given us more truth about Himself that we can understand than we will understand in a lifetime of study and growth, but there is so much more that we cannot possibly grasp about Him (Psalm 139:6). Next, Paul asks
II. A rhetorical question or three – :34-35
We cannot know the fullness of the mind of the Lord; we cannot pretend to teach Him anything; we cannot give Him any advice that He needs to take.
How can we possibly repay God? The opposite is true: what do we owe God? Everything.
III. A theological affirmation – :36a
God answers the where, how, and why questions about our existence.
• Where did we come from? From God, the Source
• How did we get here? Through God, the Means
• Why are we here? For His glory, the Goal
“I Am Who I Am”, the name God gave Himself when He appeared to Moses at the burning bush in the wilderness, speaks of His eternal self-existence. Ultimately, something is eternal; the Darwinist might claim knowledge of means, but he must stop at such things as meanings, and he must confess at the end of the day to believe that matter just always was, with no obvious beginning.
Contrast that with the Bible’s picture: everything comes from God (out of nothing, He created, the only truly “creative” being Who ever existed); He spoke it into being, and thus everything comes through Him. And it is all for Him as well; He pronounced “good” His entire creation. Colossians 1:16,17 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
IV. A final ascription – :36b
“To Him be the glory forever!” This is why pride is so offensive to God, the root sin, the sin to which every sin can ultimately be traced. Pride arrogates to ourselves the glory that is due to Him alone; every sinful act is an act of defiance, an act whereby we say, “what I want is more important than what God wants; my glory, or my desires, or my gain, is more important than God getting what He alone deserves. No, Paul makes it abundantly plain: to Him be the glory forever. Period!
What a way to wrap up his section on theology, with praise to God. I want to consider as we conclude today just a few practical thoughts with relation to the message:
Points to Ponder
• Think you’ve got God figured out? Think again. We ought to hold all of our detailed theological positions with humility, recognizing the limitations of our ability to understand and speak with complete authority about God and His ways. Man’s got to know his limitations.
• Can you live with the “why’s”? Faith entails trusting God even when we don’t understand—and here, Paul is saying that there is a whole lot about God that we cannot, do not, and will not understand. Surely, some of those things entail God’s working, God’s timing, God’s reasons—for the things that in His sovereignty He allows. There will be a lot of “why’s” in this life that we will never answer this side of eternity; can you handle that? Man’s got to know his limitations.
• There’s a place for argumentation—and a place for praise.
• That said, there can be no real praise without truth, no doxology without doctrine. Remember the old song, “let’s just praise the Lord”? Let’s not just praise the Lord! As Stott says, “worship without theology is bound to degenerate into idolatry”.
• At the same time, there should be no theology without worship. A cold, detached look at the great truths of the Bible—without praise to the One Who inspired those truths, and Who is the Ultimate Reality—is way, way out of place as well. Mind and heart are joined in the life of the Christ-follower, or they ought to be. Kent Hughes makes the point that theology properly understood and internalized ought to result in great joy—as it does with Paul.
• God’s grace is not compensation to anyone. He doesn’t owe you a thing.
Man’s just got to know His limitations, doesn’t he? And so, because of Who God is, a fitting way to end the message is
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
