Advance His Glory

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Advance His Glory
Currently Reading
Thomas F. Torrance: An Intellectual Biography
By Alister E. McGrath
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The 20^th century theologian, Karl Barth, once said that there is not higher desire in the will of God than to be gracious.^¹ What do you make of that quote? Is that sound, biblical, theology? There is no greater, there is no higher desire in the will of God than to be gracious toward humanity.

Well, certainly, that sounds nice, doesn't it? I mean, it makes God out to be a kindly, gentle old grandfather. The kind of grandfather that has only one passion in like, spoiling his grandchildren. And to be sure, such a grandfather is an ideal grandfather for us. To be sure, a grandfather that all grandfathers ought to emulate!

But such a doctrine of God terrible misfires and does so in significant ways. In ways that are not only relevant to our understanding of the nature and the will of God, but also – more practically now – in ways that are relevant to how we live our lives as Christians.

According to John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards (and every Reformed theologian in between) the highest desire in the will of God is not to be gracious to us (although, no doubt, God does desire to be gracious!). But, rather, God's highest desire in his will is that He (he, not us) be glorified. So that as God decrees his will from all eternity, and as he carries out his will providentially today, his number one concern is that he be glorified, that his glory be manifested all throughout the earth. So,

WLC 12 God's decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of his will, whereby, from all eternity, he hath, for his own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time, especially concerning angels and men.

So, given this fact – that God's highest desire is that he be glorified – how do we then live as those who are Christians? John Calvin, in chapter 7 of book III of the Institutes, speaks about what he calls “The Sum of the Christian Life”, which for him is “denial of ourselves”. In other words, since God's highest desire is for his own glory, therefore the Christian must “seek not the things that are ours but those which are of the Lord's will and will serve to advance his glory” (Battles, 690-1). The Christian must so much desire the Glory of God above all that there is no place in the heart of the Christian for pride, arrogance, or self-love. And here Calvin quotes for us several helpful Bible texts:
Matthew 16:24-25 ²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

2 Timothy 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Matthew 6:2-16 ² "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. . . . ⁵ "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. . . . ¹⁶ "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

From these verses Calvin is able to conclude, “you can find no other remedy than in denying yourself and giving up concern for yourself, and in turning your mind wholly to seek after those things which the Lord requires of you, and to seek them only because they are pleasing to him” (Battles, 692).

Now, that last part should not be lost upon us, for it form s for us the motivation for giving all Glory to God and renouncing ourselves. We are to do it, and we are to do all we do, “because it is pleasing to him”.

You see, we are so accustomed to asking ourselves “Hmmm, would I like to do that?”, or telling ourselves “I don't think I would like to do that”. And that is where Jesus' call for his disciples to deny themselves comes in. Jesus says, deny yourself and follow him. Take up your cross. Now, don't misunderstand Jesus' words here. His cross is altogether unique. Only his cross atones for sins. No matter how many crosses you bear in your life for Jesus you can not even begin to satisfy for your sins. Only the cross of Christ can and does do that.
Nevertheless, as Christians we are called to deny what we want in life, reject self-glorification such that we do not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing, and we bear the burden Christ has called us to bear to advance the glory and the Kingdom of God, not our own Kingdom. Calvin warns us wisely when he writes, “Thus, each individual, by flattering himself, bears a kind of kingdom in his breast” (694). Meaning, we tend to make ourselves, our desires, our wants our own king and kingdom. We, by nature, tend to think better of ourselves than we ought. This is where the self-esteem movement in churches – to say nothing of the health and wealth gospel – runs contrary to what Christ demands of us. What these theologies all have in common is the belief that what Jesus wants us to do is to deny the cross, and take up ourselves. But that mentality does nothing but feed the sinful monster of pride and self-importance. Yet, Paul says in Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves”. Yet, as Calvin says again, “But there is no one who does not cherish within himself some opinion of his own pre-eminence” (694).
So, to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow Jesus, and to advance the Glory of God means first and foremost humility. Humility before God in such a way that we are willing at all times and in all places “Not my will be done, but yours, O Father”. But this humility towards God will also translate into humility before others. For we must regard others better than ourselves. In other words, there is no room for self-righteous judging. Notice that I did not say righteous evaluation or discernment! The Christ must, by the grace of God, always be discerning what is good and what is not. We must evaluate a man's doctrine against the standard to Scripture and evaluate his teaching on that basis as being either true doctrine or false doctrine. Further, if a brother sins, we must see that, recognize it, and bring the brother's sin to him calling him to repent. However, that is far different from self-righteous condemnation. That is, to condemn another person in such a way that you are exalting yourself: “well, he did only x, but I did x, y, or z”. Or, “so-and-so did this, well, I've never done that”.
1 Corinthians 4:7 ⁷ For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 ⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

This latter verse, especially, has been terribly misused in our day. It is often the staple text for a wedding. Usually a wedding between two unbelievers. But this text is not speaking about, first and foremost, romantic love between a husband and a wife. Although, it does contain principles which ought to be used between a husband and a wife! But its talking about the church and how Christians are to live in the church with one another. We are not to be boastful about ourselves (and not just act humble on the outside, but to be truly humble on the inside). Love, humble love, to one another is always gracious and charitable toward others. To evaluate others, in their doctrine and their life, with charity, assuming the best of others until proven otherwise.
No Triumphalism
Calvin, after speaking about love – humble love – toward our neighbor goes on to speak again about Matt 16:24 and what it means to bear the cross. And we are told that we “ought to prepare [ourselves] for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life . . . it is the Heavenly Father's will thus to exercise [us] so as to put his own children to a definite test”. In this way, by way of trials and tribulations, God conforms to Christ (Romans 8:29). After all tribulations produce patience and character (Romans 5:3-4). Through trials God gives us practice in bearing the cross as Jesus has called us to do (704). But, through it all, God promises to be with you, his people:
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Now, suffering, trials, and tribulations are not untied to the issue of denying self and living to advance the glory of God. No, for Calvin, suffering is for “you to be cleansed of your blind love of self that you may be made more nearly aware of your incapacity”, that you may “distrust yourself that you may transfer your trust to God”. So, afflictions in the Christian life ought not to be seen as necessarily being a bad thing, or being a sign of God's anger or judgment on us. No, as we talked about it last week, for the Christian suffering is never God's act of judgment, but of fatherly care. He does it to “test our patience and to instruct [us] in obedience” (704). This is because, “if everything went according to our own liking, [we] would not know what it is to follow God” (705). So, 1 Peter 1:6-7:

1 Peter 1:6-7 ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is God's fatherly hand restraining us from the evil we would perform. “He yet leaves no one free and untouched, because he knows that all, to a man, are diseased” (706). This is the purpose of suffering for the Christian. It is never in vain. It is always with purpose. Even so called “righteous suffering”. What happens when a believer is cast into prison in Eritrea for his faith? Is that God pouring out his wrath on that Christian? No, not at all! But it is a test and trial for the believer through which that believer's faith will be refined and bolstered. What of a Christian who suffers from cancer because of no fault of their own? Again, this is a way of God drawing that believer closer to him, that the believer would trust less in his own strength and the things of this world, and more so on their heavenly Father.
This is what God has promised for his church. A cross. By the cross he has justified them, and by a cross he will sanctify them. Any notion that the church is destined for earthly and worldly victory is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. To say that the church and that Christians are called to free from worldly concerns and ills is fundamentally wrongheaded. To teach that the church is called to dominate and take over geo-political institutions so that Christians my prosper in this present evil age is spiritually insidious.
Some Application
I think it may be wise at this point exhort us all, don't wait for God to get your attention and put you through times of affliction. Start now. Draw closer to him. Trust less (not at all) on yourself or the things of this world, and more upon him. Which means, in short, daily die to yourself and live more unto Christ. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. Not just externally, but in your heart as well. And in so doing, seek his glory. Seek to give glory to God. Seek to advance his glory, for the good the honor, and the glory of his praise.
The world's mantra is “live well”. The Christian's mantra is slightly less marketing savvy. It is “suffer well”. It is “die well”. That in our suffering and in our dieing we may there and then advance the glory of God. How will you suffer? How will you die? That is a very practical question – for both old and young alike. It is something we must all ask ourselves. It is something we must all prepare for. And not just when trials and tribulations come at the end our lives, but even before the end. When trials come at work, in your family, between husband and wife, in the church. How will you deal with them? How will you receive them? As judgments from God for which you will curse him, or as of the hand of loving heaven father?
1Quoted in McCormack, Karl Barth's Critical Realism, 460.