Ineffably Excellent By George Lawson

Not too long ago I came across these words written by Jonathan Edwards who is considered by some to be the greatest Theologian America has ever produced. Read what he says (and you’ll have to pay attention or else you’ll miss it)...

Sometimes, only mentioning a single word caused my heart to burn within me; or only seeing the name of Christ, or the name of some attribute of God. And God has appeared glorious to me, on account of the Trinity. It has made me have exalting thoughts of God, that he subsists in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The sweetest joys and delights I have experienced, have not been those that have arisen from a hope of my own good estate; but in a direct view of the glorious things of the gospel....

Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737... I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as mediator between God and man, and His wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception — which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time, in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in Him; to live upon Him; to serve and follow Him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. (From the Personal Narrative of Jonathan Edwards)

Now for those of you who might think he’s describing some out of body experience or heavenly vision, he’s not. This was, in his own words, his time of contemplation and prayer.

It was his practice to spend time praying to God, and contemplating just how awesome and majestic the persons of the Trinity are. And the beauty of Christ was to Edwards ineffable, indescribable, and overwhelming, Christ appeared so excellent that thoughts of Him were great enough to swallow up all thought and conception (so his thoughts of Christ eclipsed anything else that may have been on his mind.)

Reading of Edward's experience causes me to ask myself a few questions that I think we'd all do well to ask ourselves:

• How far has the present day church been removed from this kind of view of Christ?
• Where have we lost our sense of awe?
• When did we replace the terrifying majesty of our Lord with a lord who is slightly above us but not too far out of reach?
• What has made us believe that Christ exists to make much of us? When, as John Piper says,“we exist to make much of Him”? May God forgive us for our abundance of pride that makes us think we’re the center of the universe when really, HE is.

In Christ Alone,
Pastor George