Monday, March 9, 2026

Is God an Unsatisfied Redeemer?

In Acts 17:25, it says that God is not "served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." We see in Philippians 1:6 "that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." God does not need us, and He is completing His good work in us till the day of Christ. Does this mean that God is unsatisfied with the work He is doing in our lives?

You might be asking where is there coming from? This is actually from Paul Tripp's devotional New Morning Mercies. Tripp began with this statement:

If you are not full formed into the image of Jesus, your Redeemer is neither satisfied nor finished, and neither should you be.

I understand that meaning of us want to grow in our sanctification, but the idea that God is not satisfied means He is left wanting to do more or His is not sufficient in all of His work. Does need to accomplish the good work in us? No. Yes, He did promise, but He would have been content with leaving us in our sin, yet God is not ungracious. He did promise a Messiah to redeem from our sins and since we are saved, we are being conformed into the image of His Son. This does not mean God is unsatisfied. 

Tripp continues:

Your Redeemer is zealous for one goal- the final renewal of all things. Ultimate salvation from all that sin is and all that sin has broken is his unrelenting pursuit. He will continue to unleash his power to accomplish redemption and he will not be satisfied until the last enemy is under his feet and the final kingdom has come. Yes, there is great and eternal hope for you in the dissatisfaction of your Redeemer.

This makes it sound like God is all about us. Our salvation was to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). Does this imply that God has needs and He needs to be satisfied to complete His good work in us. When God created the world, he saw that it was good (Genesis 1) not He was unsatisfied. 

Tripp indicating God is an unsatisfied redeemer means that He is a God who is lacking. A God who is in need of us which we all know is not biblical. God has no unsatisfaction because He is self-sufficient. 

Recommended Reading:

God Doesn't Try by Jim Osman and Dave Rich

No comments:

Post a Comment

ShareThis