Here Edwards distinguished between what has been called God's necessary work and God's free work. It is necessary for God the Father to beget the Son and exist on the high order of Trinity in order to delight in himself. Otherwise God would not be God. But God needs nothing outside of himself in order to be completely happy with who he is.
Can you guess the sentence? "But God needs nothing outside of himself in order to be completely happy with who he is." Can you guess what phrase? To be happy.
I guess I really never thought of God being happy before. God seems like he would be glad, or appreciative, or admiring. But happy? God seems more dignified than that.
Then I remember verses like Zephaniah 3:17, which, come to think of it, is our room verse.
The Lord your God is in your midst,A mighty one who will save;He will rejoice over you with gladness;He will quiet you with his love;He will exult over you with loud singing.
God is glad, yes, but not a dignified sort of glad. He rejoices - a verb that implies excitement. And then look at that last phrase, my favorite. Loud singing!
When you think of God, put away the refined picture in your head. Paint a new one, a God who sings loudly, rejoices, and is happy.
2 comments:
Have you ever read much of John Piper? He was heavily influenced by Jonathan Edwards.
I read this finally and found it very awesome indeed. I love trying to stretch my image of God, since I put him in such a tiny box.
Why do you think that is?
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