God Loves… Himself

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

At least, a great part of the moral rectitude of God, whereby he is disposed to every thing that is fit, suitable, and amiable in itself, consists in his having the highest regard to that which is in itself highest and best. The moral rectitude of God must consist in a due respect to things that are objects of moral respect; that is, to intelligent beings capable of moral actions and relations. And therefore it must chiefly consist in giving due respect to that Being to whom most is due; for God is infinitely the most worthy of regard. The worthiness of others is as nothing to his; so that to him belongs all possible respect. To him belongs the whole of the respect that any intelligent being is capable of. To him belongs ALL the heart. Therefore, if moral rectitude of heart consists in paying the respect of the heart which is due, or which fitness and suitableness requires, fitness requires infinitely the greatest regard to be paid to God, and the denying of supreme regard here would be a conduct infinitely the most unfit. Hence it will follow, that the moral rectitude of the disposition, inclination, or affection of God CHIEFLY consists in a regard to HIMSELF, infinitely above his regard to all other beings; in other words, his holiness consists in this. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

This paragraph, in the context of the book, but most of all in the context of Scripture and reality, sets out with power the God-centeredness of God. This is something like a worldview change or a totally different way of looking at things. It is not just another teaching that we can put in the corner and think we have it, this is one of the central teachings of Scripture and the only reason people do not see it is because of the depravity of man being full of pride and self. This is light and it is truth, not to mention that it is as important a doctrine that one can find in Scripture as it gets to the heart of the nature of God, the heart of God, and the nature of holiness for God and man.

In some ways the idea that God is God-centered is simply the basic idea of the true God. The true God cannot be man-centered or He would be exchanging love for Himself for the love of man. He would also be changing from what is right, true, and holy to what is not right, untrue, and unholiness. There must be a moral rectitude with God that flows from His inner being as well as men who must serve God from the heart as well. Men want to think of themselves as good if their outward actions are good and they try to apply that to God as well. Men want to think of themselves as loving if they do good things to others and if they don’t do harm to others. They also try to judge God by those attitudes as well. But again, those are nothing but the fallen man’s way of trying to make God like himself. It is nothing but the heart of the fall repeated when man wants to be like God but what man tries to do is to make God like himself.

Deuteronomy 4:35 “To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 39 “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

Isaiah 45:21 “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.

Any Being that is truly God and the only true God from whom all things came and come is the only true and living God. The only God worthy of worship is a God that is truly self-centered in His holiness and in His love and in all He does. If He alone is worthy of worship, then He alone is truly worthy of living in perfect love within the Trinity and doing all He does out of love for Himself and His own glory. If He alone is truly worthy of worship as the only Savior of human beings for the love and glory of God, then human sinners are saved for the glory of God and He saves them out of love for Himself as triune. If God is not self-existent and self-moved, then we can throw a true and free-grace out and be sure that there is a system of works after all. No, but instead the Gospel is the Gospel of the glory of God and it is the Gospel of free-grace alone. He saves for the sake of His own name and as such sinners are saved quite apart from all worth, merit, and works of their own.

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

At least, a great part of the moral rectitude of God, whereby he is disposed to every thing that is fit, suitable, and amiable in itself, consists in his having the highest regard to that which is in itself highest and best. The moral rectitude of God must consist in a due respect to things that are objects of moral respect; that is, to intelligent beings capable of moral actions and relations. And therefore it must chiefly consist in giving due respect to that Being to whom most is due; for God is infinitely the most worthy of regard. The worthiness of others is as nothing to his; so that to him belongs all possible respect. To him belongs the whole of the respect that any intelligent being is capable of. To him belongs ALL the heart. Therefore, if moral rectitude of heart consists in paying the respect of the heart which is due, or which fitness and suitableness requires, fitness requires infinitely the greatest regard to be paid to God, and the denying of supreme regard here would be a conduct infinitely the most unfit. Hence it will follow, that the moral rectitude of the disposition, inclination, or affection of God CHIEFLY consists in a regard to HIMSELF, infinitely above his regard to all other beings; in other words, his holiness consists in this. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

If the standard for man’s holiness is to be like God, to love God with all of our being, and to be His with all of our being, then we are driven to ask what the standard of holiness is for God. We are commanded to be holy as He is holy, so unless we know what it means for God to be holy we will never know what true holiness is. While some will set out the Ten Commandments as the standard of holiness, we can only say that those are not the standard (as such) that God follows.

Holiness is not just the outward actions, but instead it has to do with the disposition, inclination, and the affections. Holiness has to do with our motives and intents. Holiness as to do with our loving what is pure and holy for the right reasons. Well, then what are those things with God? What are His dispositions, inclinations, and affections? What are His motives and intents? What pure and holy things can we ascribe to His love? We can find no higher inclinations and affections for God other than Himself and His own glory. We can find no higher motives and intents than those that are with God. We can find no higher standard of holiness than Himself.

What, then, can we say this all teaches us or leads us to believe about God and His reasons for creation? Since God’s desires and affections are for Himself and He is the highest object of desires and affections, then we can know that God does all things for Himself and His own glory. It is out of love for Himself as triune that God created anything at all and all things. The universe declares something of His glory, but in creating man and the God-man taking human flesh, God has manifested His glory in the brightest way possible. Now He shines forth the glory of His grace and His self-sufficient love.

The fact that all of the dispositions and inclinations of God really and truly consists in His love for Himself, we can see no other conclusion than God’s very holiness is His doing nothing but what is out of love for Himself. If God did something where He was not supreme in His own love, inclinations, and motives, then He would not be holy. However, in this we see how we are to be holy. God is to be supreme in our love, inclinations, and motives. We are to receive from God (by grace alone) our love and as such our love then becomes His love and as such our love is really His love for Himself on display. In beholding our love for Himself which He has shared with us, God has manifested His glory. This is to be our love and our desire and that is for His glory to shine through us. Only then is He glorified.

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

At least, a great part of the moral rectitude of God, whereby he is disposed to every thing that is fit, suitable, and amiable in itself, consists in his having the highest regard to that which is in itself highest and best. The moral rectitude of God must consist in a due respect to things that are objects of moral respect; that is, to intelligent beings capable of moral actions and relations. And therefore it must chiefly consist in giving due respect to that Being to whom most is due; for God is infinitely the most worthy of regard. The worthiness of others is as nothing to his; so that to him belongs all possible respect. To him belongs the whole of the respect that any intelligent being is capable of. To him belongs ALL the heart. Therefore, if moral rectitude of heart consists in paying the respect of the heart which is due, or which fitness and suitableness requires, fitness requires infinitely the greatest regard to be paid to God, and the denying of supreme regard here would be a conduct infinitely the most unfit. Hence it will follow, that the moral rectitude of the disposition, inclination, or affection of God CHIEFLY consists in a regard to HIMSELF, infinitely above his regard to all other beings; in other words, his holiness consists in this. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

The Greatest Commandment is for men to love God with all of their being, that is, with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. However, if we think about it, holiness is to be like God. What, then, does God love with all of His Being? Is there a being in the universe that He should love more than Himself? Is there a being somewhere that He should have a higher regard for than Himself? We have to arrive at the conclusion that if God is disposed to that which is fittest, most suitable, and most amiable in and of itself He must be disposed to Himself. It is only right that God should love Himself with all of His own being. In fact, God as triune lives in love for Himself and it is out of that love for Himself that all things were created and that all things have a reason for being rather than not being. God rejoices in Himself as triune and His own glory.

Since the Greatest Commandment (love God with all of our being) is the highest moral standard for men, and there is no one greater than Himself that God could love, it should be obvious and clear that the moral rectitude of God must consists in love for Himself. Since there is no greater object of love and there is no one worthy of greater moral respect, God has respect for Himself in terms of morality and He is His own greatest love. It would be immoral for Him to have a higher love for another being rather than Himself.

It is also quite obvious and clear that there is no one more worthy of respect than God Himself. He alone exists in and of Himself and all things are in utter dependence upon Him. He is perfect in holiness, righteousness, justice, and love. He is absolutely perfect in all that He is and does. There cannot possibly be One who is more worthy of respect than God, though it could also be said that all respect to other beings should flow from a respect for Him. We cannot imagine to whom all respect of the heart and mind should belong to other than God. Therefore, if that is true, then His respect and love to and for Himself is of the highest moral rectitude.

What we must see is that God is centered upon Himself and in that He is utterly just and holy and loving to do so. In fact, He would be less than perfect if He were centered upon another or others than Himself. This simply changes everything. The Gospel is centered upon God and not man. The Gospel is all about God’s love for Himself and His own glory. The cross of Christ is all about God first and foremost. Somehow men must be turned to see that they are not the center of all things, that they are not the center of the Gospel, and they are not the center of the love of God. God is the center of all things and that is the basis for all creation and all theology.

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

That if God himself be, in any respect, properly capable of being his own end in the creation of the world, then it is reasonable to suppose that he had respect to himself, as his last and highest end, in this work; because he is worthy in himself to be so, being infinitely the greatest and best of beings. All things else, with regard to worthiness, importance, and excellence, are perfectly as nothing in comparison of him. And therefore, if God has respect to things according to their nature and proportions, he must necessarily have the greatest respect to himself. It would be against the perfection of his nature, his wisdom, holiness, and perfect rectitude, whereby he is disposed to do everything that is fit to be done, to suppose otherwise. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

This idea/concept/eternal truth also teaches us something vital and important in terms of the way we glorify God and the purposes for which we are to glorify God. It appears to be the common thought that we live to glorify God as if that is something we can do in our own strength. It also appears to be the common thought that we glorify God as if it is one of the higher commandments and we do it because we are commanded to do so. However, in order to glorify God we must receive all from Him as we can do nothing to glorify Him in our own strength.

We are to glorify God out of love for Him and glorify Him that He may behold His own glory in and through us. This should be repeated. We are to glorify God because we love Him and we want Him to behold His own glory in and through us. Doing all to the glory of God is not just a duty we perform, but instead it is a humbled and broken heart that has Christ dwelling in that soul and Christ manifesting Himself and the Father in and through that soul. Glorifying God is the work of God in and through the human soul. Glorifying God is not something we can do, it is only something God can do. We should seek Him to humble us and grant that He would glorify Himself in and through us.

The command to glorify God presupposes that He lives in us and through us. It is Christ Himself who is the very shining forth of the glory of God (Heb 1:3) and as such we must have Christ shine in and out of our hearts and lives if we are to glorify God. The command to glorify God is not given because we have the ability to do so, but in order that we would seek Him to work this in and through us. It may be that there is no other command that would show us our inability so clearly if we had eyes to see what it means to glorify Him.

It should also be made clear that when we glorify God this is to share in the Divine life (II Peter 1:3-5). This is to made partakers and sharers of His holiness (Heb 12:10). The God who loves Himself as triune and delights to behold His own glory manifested delights to pour out the love of Himself in the hearts of His children that they may share in His love for Himself and share in that Divine life of love in glorifying Him. Christianity is not just doctrine and morality, it is life. Not only is it life, but that life is to share in His life and that is eternal life which refers both to how long it is and the quality of what it is.

It goes without saying, though it should never go without saying, that sharing in this life of God is by free-grace alone. There is nothing that we can possibly do to move God to give Himself and share His life with us. There is nothing we can do to merit the slightest aspect of God working Himself and His glory in and through us. The life of God in the soul of man can only be explained by God’s desire to glorify Himself and nothing that man has done or can do. How beautiful to behold free-grace as one tastes and sees that the Lord is good by having this life in the soul.

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

That if God himself be, in any respect, properly capable of being his own end in the creation of the world, then it is reasonable to suppose that he had respect to himself, as his last and highest end, in this work; because he is worthy in himself to be so, being infinitely the greatest and best of beings. All things else, with regard to worthiness, importance, and excellence, are perfectly as nothing in comparison of him. And therefore, if God has respect to things according to their nature and proportions, he must necessarily have the greatest respect to himself. It would be against the perfection of his nature, his wisdom, holiness, and perfect rectitude, whereby he is disposed to do everything that is fit to be done, to suppose otherwise. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

This subject is of such a vital nature that it cannot be overemphasized, though it could be put in such a way that it becomes less than interesting. When we think of how this subject teaches us of the essence of the nature of God in many ways, it is quite astounding. The teaching that flows from this is that if God created all things for Himself and His own glory, then all that happens is for Himself and His own glory. It would appear that if He created the world in order to glorify Himself, then certainly His creation of the world was in order to manifest Himself through Christ. The Lord Jesus, after all, is how God manifests Himself.

If God created the world for Himself and His own glory, then this is the standard of all holiness and all morality. If God created all things as a way to manifest Himself, then morality and holiness are nothing but a name if in fact they do not glorify Him and are intended to glorify Him. Men have come up with all sorts of moral standards and of standards for holiness, yet if the glory of God is not their end then they are nothing short of being immoral and unholy and even ungodly. Again, the study of why God created the world brings these things into a sharp focus. It also brings this focus to us in an unrelenting way and we cannot and should not escape the light of it.

One great test for religion is if it is for the glory of God or not. We have Christianity which is the only way for God to manifest His glory while other religions leave things in the hands of men. This should not escape our notice since this shows us that the purpose of creation is the same as Christianity. The truths of Christianity versus the false views of it set out the sovereign God of all creation and the sovereign God who does all for His own glory. The Gospel is all about the glory of God instead of the glory of man. In fact, the dark background of sin is the very background on which the Gospel is set and that shows us the very nature of sin is that men do what they do in a way and with the intent where it is not for the glory of God. The God saves sinners for His own glory and then restores them to a way where they will live for His glory.

A Christianity (in name) that does not do all for the glory of God and does not take care to teach that all is for His glory is not true Christianity. The Bible does not know of anything but this great God who has created all things out of love for Himself and does all things for His own glory. The Gospel sets out a Gospel of His glory and how He manifests His glory in saving sinners. The Gospel is in perfect accord with why God created the world and all things in it for Himself and His own glory. The purpose for which God created the world teaches us about why He created all human beings, the nature of sin, and of His purpose in the Gospel. A version of Christianity that makes man the center of all things and even the center of what God does and why He does it, that is a false version of Christianity and a false view of God.

What other reason could God create other than out of a love for Himself and a desire to manifest His glory? What other reason could God have to save sinners other than a love for Himself and His own glory? In the fall man fell from a God-centered view of things to a man-centered view of self and all things. Man wants to be the center and man wants to trust in himself and have the final choice. This is for man to want to be as God and have self be the ruler and arbiter of all things. It is nothing but the height and epitome of sin. Man longs to do all for his own glory when in fact he is to live for and love God and His glory. We can see this in God’s purpose in creation all over the Bible if we are made willing to have our eyes opened and to seek Him for that very thing.

THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD

That if God himself be, in any respect, properly capable of being his own end in the creation of the world, then it is reasonable to suppose that he had respect to himself, as his last and highest end, in this work; because he is worthy in himself to be so, being infinitely the greatest and best of beings. All things else, with regard to worthiness, importance, and excellence, are perfectly as nothing in comparison of him. And therefore, if God has respect to things according to their nature and proportions, he must necessarily have the greatest respect to himself. It would be against the perfection of his nature, his wisdom, holiness, and perfect rectitude, whereby he is disposed to do everything that is fit to be done, to suppose otherwise. (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World)

If Edwards is right and that God must necessarily have the greatest respect to Himself, then everything should be viewed in that light. Unless we so self-centered that we think that God must have primary respect to “me” or us in all that He does, this is a self-evident truth. In the fall man desired to be like God and now all people are born in selfishness and self-centeredness. We fail to see that our self-centeredness is a hideous pride and that our hearts are at enmity with the sovereign God who is holy in His self-centeredness. We want to love ourselves and think that is the standard rather than bow to God who is the real standard.

Our proud hearts are full of self and use self as the standard for God in our own minds and desires, but we refuse to bow to the God who because of His perfections in all ways must be His own standard for love and action. Our hearts are so practiced in the art of self-love that we simply cannot imagine that God does not excuse our sin as we excuse it. Out of our hearts of self-love we rationalize our sin and out of that same heart we think that this is acceptable to God. We cannot imagine that He would find fault when we have such a good excuse. However, God is His own standard and is necessarily so. Not only is our action seen as sin, but our rationalization is idolatrous and wicked as well. In our rationalization we make ourselves the standard rather than Him. That is wicked.

God is perfect in all ways and as such He is perfect in all He does. Since He is perfect in wisdom, it would behoove men to bow to His wisdom rather than follow their own, but proud man prefers to follow the ways of self-love and self-interest. In this man is trying to be like God and do all things out of his own self-interest, but God is perfect and man is not. All things came from God and nothing but sin flows from sinful man. Why would a perfect God who is perfect in wisdom and holiness do things for any other reason than the glory of His name? Not only that, but wouldn’t it be a contradiction to His own perfect wisdom and character to do something for another reason? A God with perfect wisdom would follow that perfect wisdom or He would not be perfectly wise. A God of perfect wisdom would do all things for the greatest good and purposes, and of course that would be for His own glory.

The living and true God is holy, holy, holy. While men do not try to search the holiness of God out and indeed try to make His holiness be more like themselves, and at times try to make themselves the standard for God to follow, God is perfect in holiness. In light of the perfections of God and that no one has any greatness other than what they are given by Him, there is no greater in holiness and any other attribute than God and a perfect holiness would indeed make God the goal or end of all that He does. Men chafe at this, but it is from His perfect holiness that God makes Himself His own goal and end in all that He does. It is a contradiction to the essential nature and character of God to think that God has greater goals and purposes other than Himself and His own glory.

All that has been created has been created for the glory of God and is intended to glorify God as long as He is pleased to uphold it. There is no greater reason (nor any other reason at all) for Him to create and there is no greater reason for Him to uphold all things in existence. If He is pleased to give light to our minds, then we can behold His glory in His creation, but even more we can know that our own very purpose is for His own glory as well. While we may think that if we are religious and if we are outwardly moral we are doing what we can, we are dead wrong in that. People are religious and moral for their own sakes and for their own purposes which is completely opposite of true Christianity and true morality. We exist for His glory and we are to love Him (in truth) and do all we do for His glory by His grace. That is the heart of Christianity and that is the heart of holiness.