In the last post I gave a quote from Jonathan Edwards regarding the beauty of God. “His infinite beauty is his infinite mutual love of himself.” This quote, if true, is a massive paradigm shift from what we hear in our day. If it was indeed the paradigm in days past, it also shows what a massive paradigm shift we have had previous to our day and one that has brought destruction and judgment to the professing Church. If we do not truly see the beauty of God until we see to some degree His infinite mutual love of Himself, then we are blind to the beauty of God in our day. This includes orthodox theology and modern versions of Reformed theology as well.
Reformed theology in the modern day is highly exegetical in some circles and highly logical in others. It is focused on by some historians and by professional theologians. But where are those who are speaking of God as if He is truly beautiful to the soul in the manifestation of His glory now? Reformed theology appears to have been mostly captured and trapped by an intellectual alone version of it. This type of theology can appear rationally beautiful in some ways but still miss the essence of Christianity and of the Gospel. If we do nothing but speak of God as if He is bound to proper hermeneutical rules as we exegete the text, we have God bound to rules of human invention and origin. If we bind God and speak of Him only as if He worked in history and write treatises on historical issues, we have nothing but things that happened in the past. While what was true in the past about God is also true today, we must get beyond history to God Himself. We can set forth historical truths about God and simply miss who He is in His beauty and glory today. We can only give information about history, but what we must do is strive in prayer and speaking to see God in His beauty and glory today. If we are blinded to the truth of God by history and orthodoxy, what will bring light to our souls?
It will not do to simply repeat the maxim by Edwards in speaking of God that “His infinite beauty is his infinite mutual love of himself.” It is a fact that Edwards said that. It is a fact that I believe that Edwards was right. We can repeat this statement ad nausea and yet no one will really understand what he meant and no one will understand what is meant by the statement. In order for the hearts of people to see and understand the manifestation of the glory of God, this statement must be explained. But even more, the sheer beauty and glory of God must shine in the souls of people. Until a person sees something of what the statement truly means and God opens his or her eyes to it, this statement will not be understood. But we do not hear of things like this in our day. We believe that the glory of God is seen in His focus on human beings. Let me put this bluntly, though I am sure it is offensive to many as well. If God is in truth as He is presented and talked about in modern America (and that includes the Reformed), then God is as idolatrous as human beings are. If I am correct in that statement, then chills should sweep up and down our spines as He has hardened our hearts and delivered us into the power of our sins. He has hidden His face from us and we are serving false gods in the name of orthodoxy.
Let me try to explain this for the rest of this blog and then in future blogs as well. We all know that something is wrong. We try to explain it in our own lack of something, or perhaps we blame others. What we must see is that when there is a problem in the professing Church, the problem is that God is judging it. When the professing Church awakens to that, it will see that as always the real problem is its view of God. The professing Church in modern America has a frightening view of God in regards to how it views God as essentially a servant of human beings. It pictures God as looking upon those poor people who fell and then, out of nothing but concern for them, planned a way to rescue all of those poor people. It goes out and tells people that God loves them so much that He gave His own Son to die for them and He would have done so for one person alone. They then tell the people that all they need to do is to pray a prayer or exercise a choice and the God who loves them more than they can imagine will save them. Again, sad to say, this is also practiced by people who profess to be Reformed.
The view of God that is presented in the above statements is one of a God who is focused on human beings more than Himself. I say that is idolatry and is a vicious view of God. If we saw a professing believer who focused on the “good” of human beings without a supreme love for God we would consider that person an idolater. If we saw a professing believer who “loved” and wept over human beings without a specific focus on God we would consider that person an idolater as well. Why, then, do we preach and teach about a god that is focused on human beings with all of his love and might and does not focus on himself with all of his love and might? Any professing God who does not love Himself more than all human beings in accordance with the Greatest Commandment has fallen short of His own glory. That would not be a true God, but a pretend one. It also leaves us without a Savior.
God Loves... Himself 
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