Lucid Theology

“It is the glory and beauty of his love to us, polluted sinners,
that is an infinitely pure love. And it is the peculiar sweetness and
endearment of holiness, that it has its most glorious manifestation in
such an act of love to us. All the excellencies of Christ, both divine
and human, have their highest manifestation in this wonderful act
of his love to men—his offering up himself a sacrifice for us,
under these extreme sufferings. . . . He suffered that we might be
delivered. His soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, to take
away the sting of sorrow, and to impart everlasting consolation. He
was oppressed and afflicted, that we might be supported. He
was overwhelmed in the darkness of death, that we might have the light
of life. He was cast into the furnace of God’s wrath,
that we might drink of the rivers of his pleasures. His soul
was overwhelmed with a flood of sorrow, that our hearts might
be overwhelmed with a flood of eternal joy.”

- Jonathan Edwards

These words penned by who many consider to be the greatest preacher in American history reveal the glorious truth of the gospel. Christ underwent an excruciating death (both in the physical and spiritual realm) on the cross, as Edwards put it, because of His “infinite hatred of sin and his infinite love to sinners”. Edwards wrote this on Nov. 28, 1751, to a lady by the name of Mary Pepperrell who had recently lost her son. Edwards wrote her a letter and midway through it he focused on Christ and His work on the cross. How grand it is when we are able to gain a proper perspective of our trials when we consider what our Lord went through to save us. Surely if all else is removed from me in this life—be it family or goods—I pray that I am content, for I am my Savior’s and my Savior is mine.

———————

Johnathan Edwards biography by the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University

“What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact that underlies it—the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands; I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends of His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him because He first knew me and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend. . . . There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery can now disillusion Him about me.”

- J.I. Packer

I came across this quote by J.I. Packer a while ago in his classic Knowing God and it has resonated with me ever since. What great comfort it is to know that God knows me. He knows me as I am. He knows my constant wayward heart. He knows my ever-failing obedience. He knows me as no individual would ever be able to know me (including my mom). He sees my every sin. And you know what the amazing part is? Despite His perfect knowledge of me, God, in His sheer mercy and grace laid down His life on the cross for men such as I to crucify Him with the nails of our sins.

Whenever I read 1 John in my quiet times, I cannot help but stop and linger on, “We love, because he first loved us” (4:19). Our love for God and others is based on His initial love for us. I am always dumbfounded by this statement. What a glorious truth to ponder!

Richard Phillips (author of the recent book, Jesus the Evangelist) posted this recently on the Reformation21 blog:

If we are fascinated or excited about anything more than the fact that the Son of God voluntarily suffered in our place, bearing the guilt our sins deserved, then we are in big trouble. I get the impression that many today — both in the broadly evangelical world and in the Reformed world — are rather bored with the cross of Christ and the justification of sinners through faith alone. But there is no greater mystery and no more glorious theme than this. Do we get bored hearing the “same old gospel?” If so, our ministries and our lives are heading for big trouble. In my opinion, there would be no more powerful influence in our lives and our churches than for us sincerely to exclaim with Paul: May I never boast except in the cross of Christ Jesus my Lord.

These are very wise and convicting words by a man who like me understands how easy it is for one to lose sight of the cross. I remember growing up as a young boy always wanting to buy some new toy. My grandma would buy it for me, I would play with it for a few weeks, then I would jump to the next “big” thing. Things haven’t changed much since then. Last year I was able to buy (with my own money) a Dell E1505 Inspiron laptop; after years of a rugged old desktop with dial-up internet, I was able to zoom on the internet and do all my assignments in half the time with half the stress. I remember being so passionate about my new laptop—taking it everywhere. It didn’t take long for me to get over it.

But when it comes to the cross—the cornerstone of our faith—why do we lose the passion? I’d venture to say that we lose the passion for the cross because we lose sight of the cross. When we stop looking at Calvary where our Savior laid down His life for us, that is where we begin looking at ourselves and our wants and our plans and our good deeds. We lose passion because we get bored with the gospel. But may it never be! The great reformer Martin Luther once said that he felt as though Christ had died yesterday. Every day of our lives we should feel as though Christ had only died but yesterday.

The way is the by the cross. How are we saved? By the cross. How are we sustained? By the cross. Everything in our Christian lives flows out of the work of Christ on the cross. It is there where we have been justified and delivered from our sin.

Are you bored with the cross?

John MacArthur, in preaching on the subject of the cross, gave this final exhortation in one of his sermons:

I would encourage you to look in your own heart this morning; do you glory in the flesh? Do you think that in your own strength, on your own merit, by your own credentials and religious efforts and activities and ethics and morality you’re going to enter God’s kingdom and His eternal heaven? Are you outside the gate negotiating your own price or have you come realizing God has established the way in Jesus Christ? And kneeling at the foot of the cross do you confess your sin and embrace the savior? It’s your choice. Empowered by the Spirit of God may you make the right choice.