Studies in the book of Zecharia (Richard D Phillips, Zechariah, Reformed Expository Commentary, 2007, P&R Publishing, New Jersey)

1. Key phrase from Phillips’s book, page 13, “grace always characterizes the heart of our Savior God”. Phillips highlights the grace of God in the context of an exiled people’s return to their homeland. This return brings them face to face with the devastation of their sacked homeland, and especially tragic, the destroyed remains of their worship of God in the temple.
2. A human’s identity inevitably is reflected in what they worship. And every single human being worships. Even the urban dweller of New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, and Doha, worships something. Worship is about what’s mostly grabbing your attention and fascination. Where’s my focus and look generally? How to earn more? How to get into the good books of people? How to stand out with the greatest number of likes in my TikTok, Instagram and YouTube channel?
3. Human beings are always and continuously communicating their worship with their desires motivating their actions and lifestyle.
4. The human heart’s default is towards any Object that may give to it Acceptance & Acknowledgement of their existence. Approval (success) and Affection, and esteem (honor).
5. Scriptures record how the Creator God gave all of the above to humankind in communion with Himself in the paradise of the Garden of Eden. In spite of God’s expansive exhibition of man’s mission to be like God, and to represent Him to His creation, man instead chose to doubt God’s expansiveness by listening to the very first voice of doubt and suspicion.
6. Man chose to listen and heed the suggestion and proposal of another Voice from another created being instead of staying the course of the Original and Good Voice of God in His Being of expansiveness. The outcome was tragic. We are participators in this tragic story of forfeiting our calling to share in God’s glory by being duped into a lesser calling to share in a lesser glory far beneath our dignity of being created in His image and likeness.
7. The devil is also chasing after glory. The glory of having God’s created beings re-created to re-present the devil’s image of stealing God’s glory, and living a life of deceit, counterfeit glory, and madness of darkness of being our own gods. Instead, humans end up being the devil’s fools. And in a state of continuous rebellion against the true Owner of everything that is good and of light and life.
8. The garden paradise of heaven on earth was God’s habitat to commune with the crown of His creation. Read Psalm 8:4 & 5
   • What is man that You think of him,
   • And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
   • Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
   • And You crown him with glory and majesty!
9. God’s plan and purpose for man was for his continuous pleasure of having union with God Himself. And man enjoyed communion with God in the “cool of the day in the garden”, before falling for the devil’s trick of deposing man’s delegated “godness” over creation, which would mean that man is also with authority over the serpent who represents the devil.
10. The garden pointed to the eventual union of God with man through Jesus Christ, the Godman who would unite man in salvation, and back to the Triune Godhead.
11. Salvation is much, much more than a one-way ticket to “heaven”. When Jesus saves us by His blood and body which was broken at Calvary, and then, through His resurrection justified us forever in union with Him, God gave us Himself! We are Christ’s, the Scripture resounds repeatedly its good news. And Christ is ours.
12. With this, are given Acceptance, Approval, Affection, and Acknowledgement that comes from God Himself.
13. God calls us in Christ to be His “image and likeness”, and to Re-Present Him in His goodness and grace to all peoples. Evangelism and Mission are an overflow of our union with Christ. The benefit of our union with Christ is the “rivers of living water” flowing out of our inner most beings (John 7:37 & 38) to touch the ethnos (people groups) of the world.
14. His righteousness is given to us through the indwelling Spirit of Christ as the Gift and Promise of the Father to the Son for Him pouring out His life as an offering for the lost sons of God. In Christ, we have access by His grace to come before God’s throne of grace to ask for help and mercy in the time of need.
15. The Spirit clothes Himself with the Living LOGOS (John 1:1; 2 Cor 3:17 &18; Eph 5:18; Col 3:16) of God’s written word. “The Word is wherein the Spirit dresses Himself” (Luther’s response to Latomus, 16th century Europe).
16. To be “filled with the Spirit” is to let the Word of Christ dwell richly in us in all wisdom.
17. Our flesh resonates with everything that is “earthly, sensual and demonic” (James 3:13-18), and drains the New Creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) of the Spirit within.
18. Which is why we must continually “abide in Him”, and have His word abiding in us (John 15:1-8) to be continually replenished, revived, and renewed through our union with Christ through faith with His Spirit.
19. This is what it means to be both an Object and Agent for renewal through the gospel of Christ to the glory of God! Soli Deo Gloria!