For as God is infinitely the greatest Being, so he is allowed to be infinitely the most beautiful and excellent: and all the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation, is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that Being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory. God’s beauty is infinitely more valuable than that of all other beings upon both those accounts mentioned, viz, the degree of his virtue and the greatness of his being, possessed of this virtue (Nature of True Virtue, 14-15).
As we try to take in this statement by Jonathan Edwards, our souls will balk at this and try to look in another direction if we do not grab ourselves by the collar and ask for grace to behold the brightness of the glory that shines. God is the greatest Being and as such He must be the most beautiful and excellent Being. Human beings (not myself or yourself or the combination of all selves) are not the most beautiful and in fact they have no beauty but what shines in and through them from God. It is in beholding His glory that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (II Corinthians 3:18) and not beholding our own glories or that of other human beings. Perhaps there is a bit of irony here in that human beings are guilty of looking at their own glory and in some way they are formed after that, but that is simply more ugliness and defilement rather than true beauty. Human beings are to behold the glory of God and be transformed by His work of grace rather than to behold self and other human beings, becoming more and more defiled with pride and self-centeredness.
Any beauty that exists in the entire creation (He created all things) is but a reflection of Himself who is full of beauty and glory. In other words, all true beauty in nature that can be beheld by a child or by a scientist is the beauty of God. When anyone denies the being of God, that person has done nothing but cut off what is truly beautiful from himself and perhaps others. In gazing into the sky and beholding the shining of the stars, the only true beauty that truly shines is God Himself. This is not to say that unbelievers do not see beauty, but they don’t recognize what is truly beautiful and ascribe the glory that is due to the Creator.
What we must see is that this statement has massive ramifications for us. God is infinitely full of brightness and glory. All He does manifests that glory in some way. When He created, therefore, He was manifesting that beauty and glory that He is infinitely full of. In all that He did and all that He does His glory shines forth whether human beings recognize it or not. His beauty and glory are what is truly worthy in this world and in all other places and realms. It is that glory that shines with such beauty that all human beings are to behold and cry out for grace so that His beauty and glory would shine in and through them. His beauty and glory are so great that it is a vile and wicked thing not to live and do all for His glory (I Cor 10:31 and Romans 3:23). When human beings do all for their own beauty and glory they are being just like the devil and show who their father really is. Sin is ugly and hideous because it is the image of the evil one who does all for himself rather than doing all for the glory of God. A human being that is living for self is a being that is doing all for self and for the glory and honor of self. That human is in a sense admiring his or her own beauty rather than the beauty and glory of God.
The Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ is when God restores the shining of His glory and beauty of holiness in the souls of human beings. The one who is unholy is all about self while true holiness is only found in those who love God and His glory is in them and shining through them. This happens because of the Gospel and of the God who can do nothing but manifest His beauty and glory. It is because the Gospel is all of God from the planning of it from eternity past to the carrying it out in Christ and then the application of it by the Holy Spirit that His beauty and glory shines through it. Because it is all of God and He can do nothing but manifest His glory in all that He does the Gospel is the shining forth of the glory of God in Christ.
All theology including Reformed theology is ugly and hideous when it does nothing but shine forth the intellect and morality in its teaching as it focuses on human beings. Theology must shine forth the glory of God or it is like the scientist that focuses on his study after the attempt to strip it of God. Theology can use the name of God while doing nothing to display His true beauty and glory. God can do nothing but display His beauty and glory so if we are preaching and doing theology in a way that is from Him His beauty and glory will shine forth to those with eyes to see. We live in a day of ugly preaching and theology. Let us pray that the Lord will shine His face on us that we may delight in His beauty and glory. If we do not repent of preaching Christ our own way and trying to make God look good, we will continue our descent into ugliness. It matters not how Reformed a person is in his or her external theology, apart from the beauty and glory of God shining in it that person, their preaching and theology is ugly. There is no true beauty apart from the God and that includes our preaching and our theology. That includes our preaching of Christ and our most orthodox statements. There is only one God and His beauty and glory shine through His triune being. If we miss that, we miss true beauty and fall into the most hideous and despicable ugliness even while we are orthodox and busy in the externals of religion. Our worship, our prayers, and our evangelism are despicably ugly apart from the beauty and glory of God. Even our works of righteousness are as filthy rags (menstrual cloths) if the beauty of His glory is not in them.
God Loves... Himself 
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