Kristen
Childs
Missions and the Glory of God
...Behold, a great multitude which no one could
count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm
branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”[1]
As
a result of Edwards’s high view (and as it were, biblical view) of God,
missions and evangelism become crucial to the exaltation and honor of God as
through the proclamation of his excellencies people come to revel in his
glories. Misisons brings the entirety of the children of God into the corporate
worship that characterizes the Church. This is the end for which God created the
world -- that his Bride might magnify his excellencies as exhibited in creation
and recreation. The gathering of worshippers is the purpose of missions. As
Edwards said, “God is glorified... by his glory’s... being rejoiced
in.”[2] Missions rejoices in God and is crucial to the
Christian life, as the Christian takes up his cross to follow Christ, who
“for the joy set before him endured the cross...” (Hebrews 12:2),
and who commanded his followers to follow him as an example of Christian ministry
(John 13:15-16). Edwards’s view of God’s commitment to himself,
however, has met with various forms of opposition, and in this overview of what
Edwards means by missions, and what the end of missions is, I wish to dispel
both universalist tendencies and hypercalvinist tendencies.
Perhaps
the most compelling of Edwards’s works regarding the relationship between
the Christian and the proclamation of God’s magnificence is his Dissertation
on the End for which God Created the World. Edwards argues clearly from Scripture that God acts consistently
on behalf of his own glory, that wrath and mercy, creation and redemption are
all acts in which God declares his own greatness, that it might be marveled in,
rejoiced in, and thus, he might be magnified. Edwards argues from Scripture
that everything God engages himself in is clearly done on behalf of his own
name, and not the name of any other. Therefore, the reason that God spent an
infinite period of time alone before creation was to the glory of his name. And
when he purposed to make the universe, the world, the individual creatures, and
especially man, he acted in all of this for the sole purpose of his own
magnification. Isaiah 48:11 reads, “For my own sake, even for my own
sake, will I do it. For how should my name be polluted; and I will not give my
glory to another.”[3] God’s creation culminated in the
formation of man, and in His own image He made them. It is here,
differentiating between his final creation and the preceding acts, that Edwards
makes an important distinction between intelligent and moral agents (humanity)
and unintelligent and amoral agents (the rest of the created order). The
distinction sets the intelligent, moral creatures on a different relational
plane with their Creator, as they are “capable of knowing their Creator,
and the end for which He made them, and capable of actively complying with his
design in creation, and promoting it... And seeing they are capable of knowing
the end for which their author has made them, it is doubtless their duty to fall
in with it.”[4]
Edwards uses the language of duty in this passage, but it is clear that his
understanding of man’s right relationship with God consists in a joyful
and glad and savoring relationship with Him.[5]
Therefore, intelligent creation, namely humanity, must seek wholeheartedly the
glory of God. Adam and Eve, however, were shortsighted, created as finite human
beings, and they settled for less than true joy and sought not the
magnification of God’s glory. Instead, they sought autonomy, and ate of
the forbidden fruit. Thenceforth, humanity was characterized as having weak
affections. Since the Fall, mankind has lusted after the base things of this
world, and not after the satisfying glories of God. But the fall, to Edwards,
was also a piece in the greater puzzle of God’s glory. It was clear that
in some way, the fall of humanity would result in more glory to the Creator.
Edwards considers God’s recreation of the human heart through redemption
to be an even greater accomplishment and the most worthy reason to glorify God,
who exhibited much wisdom in the salvation of man. He writes,
God hath exceedingly glorified his power in [the
work of redemption]... To produce
the new creature is a more glorious effect, than merely to produce a creature.
-- Making a holy creature, a creature in the spiritual image of God, in the
image of the divine excellencies, and a partaker of the divine nature -- is a
greater effect that merely to give being.[6]
Again,
God is worthy of the greatest glory and honor, and His purpose in the
redemption of his creation is to magnify that glory and honor in the praises of
his people, in the delight of his children. Throughout Edwards’s
discussion on the creation and recreation, or regeneration, of man, he argues
for the benefits man receives in a life surrendered to God. “He loved
sinful men so as... to give his own Son, and not only to give him to be their possession and enjoyment, but to give him as their sacrifice... God hath
loved them so, that hereby he purchased for them deliverance from eternal
misery, and the possession of immortal glory.”[7] The
“possession” and “enjoyment” of Christ’s
excellencies must be the driving force behind Edwards’s perspective on
missions. Clearly he understands man’s enjoyment of God to be crucial in the
magnification of God’s glory, and while men are engaged in the weak and
pitiful pleasures this world has to offer them, there must be need to share
with them the beauty of God, the glory of God, and beseech them to rejoice in
and grasp hold of the treasure that is also God’s end in creation and
recreation.
The
treasure we receive through redemption is Jesus Christ, and all his
excellencies. Edwards portrays Christ’s splendor in The Excellency of
Christ, an exposition on
Revelation 5:5-6:
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not:
behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to
open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in
the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
elders, stood a Lam as it had been slain ---.[8]
In
Christ there is “infinite highness and infinite condescension,”
“infinite justice and infinite grace,” “infinite glory and
lowest humility,” “infinite majesty and transcendent
meekness,” “deepest reverence towards God and equality with
God,” “infinite worthiness of good, and the greatest patience under
sufferings of evil,” “an exceeding spirit of obedience, with
supreme dominion over heaven and earth,” absolute sovereignty and perfect
resignation,” and “self-sufficiency, and an entire trust and
reliance on God.”[9] Each set of manifest excellencies in Christ is,
as Edwards says, a gift to humanity, “such diverse excellencies are
expressed in him towards men...”[10] And they are
expressed through his intricate character of Lion and Lamb. As a Lion, Christ
portrays himself as powerful, as mighty, as a conqueror. He triumphs over
Satan, “to subdue the mighty powers of darkness... to restore peace on
earth, and to manifest God’s good-will towards men, and to bring glory to
God in the highest.”[11] As a Lamb, Christ is meek, gentle, friend of
sinners, the spotless sacrifice to restore right relationship between man and
God, for “Christ never so much appeared a lamb, as when he was
slain.”[12] But what of these excellencies? They are such
that affect man, and must be proclaimed, as Peter says, “...you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own
possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light.”[13] The
excellencies of Christ beckon the unbeliever and challenge the believer.
Edwards writes:
Let the consideration of this wonderful meeting
of diverse excellencies in Christ induce you to accept of him, and close with
him as your Savious. As all manner of excellencies meet in him, so there are
concurring in him all manner of arguments and motives, to move you to shoode
him for your Savior, and every thing that tends to encourage poor sinners to
come and put their trust in him: his fulness and all-suffienct as a Savioiur
gloriously appear in that variety of excellencies...[14]
Edwards
exhorts his audience to savor Christ, to revel in his excellencies and rejoice
in his glories, as he understands the adoration of these excellencies to be the
satisfying purpose of humanity, and thus God’s end, his being made much
of in the affections and delight of his creation, is fulfilled. This
God-entranced, majestic vision must be for the joy of people everywhere, thus
the Christian, God’s follower and disciple is commanded to “go into
all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,”[15] to “tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the people... say among the nations, ‘the
LORD reigns,”[16] in order that God’s elect might indeed be
brought together to “taste and see that the LORD is good.”[17] Christ, in all his excellency, becomes the
focal point of the Christian walk, as we exult in him and declare the wonder of
his ways.
With
Christ as the focal point, Edwards also wants to maintain that not only do we
rejoice in what God has done for us, but we also act in obedience, taking up
our own crosses and following the example Jesus has laid forth. Christ spoke to
his disciples, saying, “For I have given you an example, that he should
as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater that than he that sent
him.”[18] Similarly, Christ said, “as the Father
has sent me, I also send you.”[19] In The Excellency
of Christ, Edwards shows the
suffering taken on by the Lamb for the benefit of humanity. Now in Christ
the Example of Ministers,
Edwards shows what following Christ entails:
[Christians] should also be of the same spirit
of zeal, diligence, and self-denial for the glory of God, and advancement of
his kingdom, and for the good of mankind; for which things’ sake Christ
went through the greatest labours, and endured the most extreme sufferings.[20]
Christ
took on the pitiful and pathetic state of humanity to engage in the most
profound ministry. He left his home above to minister to the fallen race and to
redeem man unto himself for the glory of his name. Paul exhorts the Philippians
to have the same attitude of ministry and humility that Christ exhibited,
“who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross.”[21] Just as Christ was animated in his work by the
salvation of men and the glory of God, “ministers should be animated in
this work by a great love to the souls of men, and should be ready to spend and
be spent for them; for Christ loved them, and gave himself for them: he loved
them with a love stronger than death.”[22]
The
apostle Paul’s life clearly had been ready to spend and be spent for the
salvation of many and the glory of God. Edwards highlights Paul’s life as
an example for those who minister.[23] Paul himself wrote
that his life was an imitation of Christ’s, his Lord,[24] and as he imaged forth the same
self-sacrificial mindest and attitude that is found in Christ so should we
imitate that lifestyle of submission. He endured sufferings of many kinds,
hardship, persecutions, loss, and yet continued to proclaim Christ, whether
that proclamation be made through his life or his death. The same sacrifice is
required of us. Just as Christ sacrificed his life for the glory of God and the
salvation of many, and just as Paul surrendered his life to that service, so
also are we called and exhorted to take up our crosses for the sake of Christ,
to live confidently as though life is Christ and death is truly gain, to count all as loss in view of the surpassing value of
knowing Christ Jesus. In this manner will God receive the glory and honor due
his name, and will mankind benefit from the excellencies that they might now
rejoice in and treasure.
Edwards
makes it clear, however, that not all mankind will “taste and see that
the LORD is good.”[25] And he makes it equally clear that the limited
scope of redemption is that which glorifies God the best. It is just and right
that God save only some and condemn others to hell, and that condemnation of
some is wholly in accordance with his main goal, his end, namely his own glory.
God has not chosen to save everyone, but instead is glorified in the damnation
of impenitent sinners. Edwards’s defined doctrine, “It is just with
God eternally to cast off and destroy sinners,”[26]
clearly shows that Edwards considers it to the greater glory of God to cast
sinners into eternal damnation than to otherwise rescue them, and he is
perfectly just in doing so. Similarly, Edwards claims that the infinite wisdom
of God is evident through the redemption of some and the condemnation of
others. God is most glorified when his justice and mercy are manifest to the
world in starkly contrasted ways. Edwards states that “the justice of God
is exceedingly glorified in [redemption],” and, “God has
exceedingly glorified his mercy and love in this work.”[27] As Edwards laid forth in The Excellency of
Christ, Jesus magnifies himself
and the Father through a diversity of attributes. The same diversity is key in
the redemption of many and the damnation of others since this also portrays
Christ in all his excellencies. To save all would be a manifestation of His
power, but would diminish the penetrating effect of Christ’s mercy, as
well as his justice and other such attributes. Therefore, “many are
called, but few are chosen.”[28] Edwards also states
that “it becomes more sensible and remarkable, that [men] are dependent
on the sovereign power and grace of God for salvation, and that it is his work,
that their redemption is owing only to him... It the more commands
notice” when salvation comes only to some.[29] And
“that which is rare is more taken notive of, and looked upon as more
wonderful... By reason of there being so few saved, the grace and love of God
towards those that are saved will be the more valued and admired,” and
thus will God be most glorified.[30]
Regarding
the elect, and God’s sovereignty in the salvation of men, many in the
Reformed tradition have claimed that election nullifies the need for mission
work, because God has already chosen his children before the foundations of the
world. What purpose, therefore, does missions have if everything is decided and
man’s salvation depends solely on God. Edwards rejected this notion of
hypercalvinism. He acknowledged the importance of the monergistic work of God
and man’s absolute dependence upon God for salvation, but also stressed
the importance of the proclamation of the gospel. Edwards states, “that
there is such a thing as s spiritual and divine light, immediately imparted to
the soul by God, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural
means.”[31] Edwards understands salvation to come through
faith, and that faith is an affection, an inclination towards the things of
God. God must give man a taste for Himself before man can truly understand the
beauty of who God is. In the same way, one must taste honey to fully experience
the sensation of sweetness and beauty it brings. That taste must be, for
Edwards, imparted solely by God without secondary means. Honey is experienced
fully only when it makes contact with one’s tastebuds. But the question
remains, what role does missions play? Edwards, in keeping with his honey
metaphor, would say that missions and evangelism is necessary, not only because
it was commanded by the Lord, and not only because we are to follow after the
examples of Christ and Paul, but also because the proclamation of the gospel
prepares its hearers for the impartation of the supernatural light. We tell
others what honey tastes like in order that, when they do eventually tase
honey, they will know that it is honey. We proclaim who Christ is, what God has
done, so that when God gives that person, or that tribe, or that nation a true
taste of who He is, they will rejoice in the reality of that which before they
had only heard of. They now experience the affection, the taste, the sense,
which before they had only been told of. But Edwards would also say that there
is much more to missions than preparing the way. Missions, as seen above, is
proclaiming the excellencies of Christ, something which should come naturally
to one whose heart has been changed. We rejoice in who Christ is, and simply
desire to share that with others who may not yet know the glories of His name.
And in rejoicing in who Christ is, we minister best to sinful hearts, for what
they desperately need is Christ, an affection for him and his transforming
power. We care for the souls of men when we shout out the good news. And God is
glorified as we “shout for joy, all... who are upright in heart.”[32]
That
is the challenge Edwards ventures forth for his readers, to proclaim those
excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous
light, to shout for joy so that the nations may join in the chorus and praise
and worship the Father. The supremacy of God, the God-entranced vision of all
things, the glory of God drives Edwards to understand missions as crucial to
the Christian life, as the believer takes up the cross of Christ to bear it before
the world, as he imitates Christ in his sacrifice and suffering for the good of
all peoples and the glory of God, and as he imitates Paul, the great
missionary, who imitates his Lord. Indeed, missions brings God’s
children, God’s elect, into great and glorious praise and adoration of
who He is, and thus great delight and pleasure and affection as the world
beholds the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God, perfect in all his excellencies,
worthy of all glory.
“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth,
Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”[33]
Works Cited
Edwards,
Jonathan. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 2 Vols. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
2003.
The
Holy Bible. New American Standard Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House. 1995.
[1] Revelation 7:9-10 NASB[2]1 Miscellany #448 quoted by John Piper in God’s
Passion for His Glory.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. p.75[3] quoted in Edwards, Jonathan. Works: Vol. 1. The End for
Which God Created the World (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson) p. 107[4] Edwards, Jonathan. Works: Vol. 1. The End for Which
God Created the World (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson) p. 107[5] Edwards speaks of this delight in God, this affection,
this taste as an essential factor in one’s relationship with God. This is
especially evident in his treatise On Religious Affections, where he claims “if the
great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the
heart.” Works Vol. 1. On Religious Affections. p. 243. He also says,
“God made the world that he might communicate, and the creature receive,
his glory; but that it might [be] received both by the mind and heart. He that
testifies his having an idea of God’s glory [doesn’t] glorify God
so much as he that testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in
it.” Miscellany #448 quoted by John Piper in God’s Passion for
His Glory.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. p.75[6] Works, Vol. 2. The Wisdom of God, Displayed in the
Way of Salvation.
p. 144[7] Ibid. p.145 (italics added)[8] Works, Vol.1. The Excellency of Christ. p.680[14] The Excellency of Christ. p. 686[18] John 13:15-16 quoted in Works, Vol.2. Christ the
Example of Ministers.
p. 960[20] Christ the Example of Ministers. p. 961[21] Philippians 2:6-8 NASB[22] Christ the Example of Ministers. p. 963[23] Works, Vol. 2. The Character of Paul as an Example
to Christians.
Edwards writes: “[Paul] was a man of a most public spirit; he was greatly
concerned for the prosperity of Christ’s kingdom, and the good of his
Church. We see a great many men wholly engaged in pursuit of their worldly
interests: many who are earnest in the pursuit of their carnal pleasures, many
who are eager in the pursuit of honours, and many who are violent in the
pursuit of gain; but we probably never saw any man more engaged to advance his
estate, not more taken up with his pleasures, nor more greedy of honour, than
the apostle Paul was about the flourishing of Christ’s kingdom, and the
good of the souls of men.” p. 861[24] “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of
Christ.” I Corinthians 11:1 NASB[26] Works. Vol. 1. The Justice of God in the Damnation
of Sinners.
p.669[27] Works. Vol. 2. The Wisdom of God Displayed in the
Way of Salvation.
p. 144-45[31] Works. Vol. 2. A Divine and Supernatural Light,
Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God. p.13