"God is unique. He is utterly different from all others beings, and it is God's beauty, more than any other divine attribute, which sets him apart. This beauty is utterly different from all other beauty. So when the Christian sees this beauty in Christianity,he sees God in it. He sees the diving beauty which is the chief distinguishing feature of God. This gives the Christian a direct intuitive knowledge that Christ's gospel comes from God. He does not need to be convinced by long complicated arguments. The argument is simple: he grasps the truth of the gospel because he sees it divine beauty and glory.
Many of the most important truths of the gospel depend on its spiritual beauty. Since the natural man cannot see this beauty, it is little wonder he does not believe theses truths. Let me give some examples. Unless we see the beauty of holiness, we will be blind to the ugliness of sin. In consequence, we will not understand the way Scripture condemn sin. Nor will we understand what Scripture says about the terrible sinfulness of mankind. A person can only see and feel the desperate depravity of his own heart, if the Holy Spirit gives him this ability to taste the sweetness of holiness and the bitterness of sin. Only this convinces us that Scripture speaks truly about the corruption of human nature, man's need of a Savior, and God's mighty power to change and renew the human heart. It also convinces us that God is just in punishing sin so severely, and that man cannot atone for his own sin. This sense of spiritual beauty enables the soul to see the glory of Christ as Scripture reveals him. We understand the infinite value of his atonement and the excellence of the gospel way of salvation. We see that man's happiness consists in holiness, and we feel the indescribable glory of heaven. The truth of all these things appears to the soul, only when it receives that spiritual sense of divine beauty I have been speaking of."
-Johnathan Edwards in The Experience That Counts
No comments:
Post a Comment