Reformed theology in history has been thoroughly centered upon God. In modern times it seems as if a slippage has occurred and we are not longer centered upon God. The problem, however, is that men speak highly of God and of Christ but do so in a man-centered way. What we must see is that all the attributes and glory of God are defined and set out by how they relate to God rather than to men. For example, we smile when we hear a worldly person say that a God of love would not send anyone to hell. However, when we speak of the love of God as if it is defined by His love for sinners, we are essentially doing the same thing. We are defining the love of God in a man-centered or man-measured way. As an infinite God, His love can only be measured by infinity. We can see signs of His love toward human beings, but until we see His love as measured only by His love for Himself we will not understand the cross of Christ either.
When we measure the love of God by human beings, we have just set out standards for how God is to love us. We have put limits on His love by our own understanding. We think that if hard trials come then God does not love us when in fact true love will bring hard trials because they are good for the soul. When we define love by ourselves that is a reason that we will not see the love of God and will lead to great misunderstandings and disappointments. Many people have lost loved ones in some form of crime or “accident” and immediately said that they would never serve God or go to church again. Our theology has suffered the same type of train wreck in that we look upon God through human centered lenses. Modern theology, which includes Reformed types as well, is not prepared to deal with the true and living God because they do not see that God loves Himself as triune and does all for His own glory. The very beauty of God is His love for Himself as triune, which is His holiness. If we adjust our theology to make God’s love focus on men, we have not only adjusted a doctrine but have entered into idolatry.
We tend to look upon men like John Calvin or Jonathan Edwards as too severe. The reason is that they did not look at God as man-centered but instead said that God was God and as such He was God-centered. God appears severe when the fallen mind looks upon Him and judges Him by fallen human standards. But when God is seen in the light of His glory, which is His own God-centeredness, what appeared as severe has the glow of divine beauty. Many recoil at the teaching of the wrath of God and of the doctrine of hell, but that is because they see things from a man-centered focus. Scripture tells us that as the smoke of the torments of the damned rise the saints of God praise Him (Revelation 18:20-19:6). When people begin to see God as God-centered and that His justice and love are focused on Himself, it changes everything. Fallen man as a result of being fallen is focused upon himself as the center of all things and wants to judge all things by himself. When fallen man looks at the biblical teachings of God, fallen man hates them because they teach a God that is centered upon Himself and not man. This leads to various forms of theology that are man-centered because the biblical teachings are adjusted to fit with the self-centeredness of man. Reformed and conservative theology that is not thoroughly God-centered will do this too.
We are told that God is a perfectly blessed or happy Being. We are told that Jesus the Christ is His Beloved Son. We are also told that Christ is the very outshining of the glory of God (Heb 1:3). We are also told that when a person loves and believes in Christ that person can have unspeakable joy that is full of glory (I Peter 1:8). What we must see is that it is in beholding the Son as He shines forth the glory of God that God Himself has great joy in. God the Father beholds Himself as He shines forth or images forth His glory in the Son and He is utter delight, joy, and love in this. The Son is ravished by the glory that He shares with the Father and loves and delights in the Father. A theology that is going to deal with God honestly and biblically is a theology that has to deal with those things as absolute facts and as the absolute and unalterable truth. Any theology that does not have God focused on God as God and loving God supremely as God is a theology that is not dealing with the truth of God.
Reformed theology in our day is dealt with by technical theologians and historians. What we need, so to speak, is someone skilled in theological aesthetics. What we need are people who behold the beauty of God to write on God Himself. What we don’t need is more and more of the man-centered drivel that is pouring forth from the presses. Some of that drivel comes to us in the guise of Reformed theology. We must be broken from our self in order to follow Christ who is the shining forth of the God-centeredness of God. We must be broken from our man-centeredness in order to preach and teach with a clarion call of the God who loves Himself and therefore there is a Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone. Apart from a God who loves Himself and His holiness consisting in that, there is no true foundation for the Gospel at all regardless if the person is Reformed or not.
God Loves... Himself 
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