The Majesty of God

"Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”

Calvin, Institutes. I.I.III

I Want This

Marsden, commenting on the glories of God revealed to Edwards...

"The new sensibilities grew during the spring. As he wandered in the fields, woods, and hills near New Haven for his meditations he repeatedly saw the glory and beauty of God's love in Christ. He experienced an 'inward sweet sense' of Christ's love expressed in 'the work of redemption, and the glorious way of salvation by him.' He spent much time reading the love poetry of the Canticles or Song of Songs

..."The words seemed to me, sweetly to represent the loveliness and beauty of Jesus Christ." Such contemplations would carry him away 'from all the concerns of the world' into 'a kind of vision...sweetly conversing with Christ, and wrapped and swallowed up in God.' This new sense of divine things 'would often of a sudden as it were, kindle up a sweet buying in my heart; an ardor of my soul, that i know not how to express.'

What overwhelmed him was two seemingly opposite attributes of the triune God "in a sweet conjunction: majesty and meekness joined together: it was a sweet and gentle, and holy majesty; and also a majestic meekness; an awful sweetness; a high, and great, and holy gentleness."


...I'll have what he's having.

Stott: The Heart of the Cross of Christ

"Moved by the perfection of his holy love, God in Christ substituted himself for us sinners."

Recipe for Worship

1) Attempt to understand the unfathomable holiness of God.

2) Understand how utterly far we are from reaching that holiness (and once we think we know how bad we are, in reality we are WAY worse than we know)

3) Mix those. Result: Ephesians 2 deadness.

4) Enter Jesus. Examine God's relentless pursuit of us sinners through the person and work of Christ.

5) Combine all other steps with the cross. The cross is where God's holiness and wrath meet his compassion and mercy. What he demands from us (holiness) he provides for us in Christ. Once we realize 1) how holy God really is and 2) how really really unholy we are, the work of Jesus and the agony he experienced is heightened and vivified.

6) Justification--------> Repentance---------->Worship