It was suggested to me that I include a 21st century interpretation of the Resolutions of Jonathan Edward that I post on a weekly basis. If I miss the mark on any one of the resolutions please correct me or include your own input. And hopefully some beneficial discussion will ensue.
First, Edwards resolves to "do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory." I think this piece is the fundamental basis for the rest of the resolution. And then he resolves to seek "my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence." This is all founded on God's glory. The greatest good that we can seek and the greatest profit and pleasure that we can desire will come when we strive to glorify God in all that we do and when we understand that the only good, the only profit, and the only pleasure there is comes through Christ.
Secondly, Edwards resolves to "do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general." Again, this is placed squarely on the glory of God. Our duty is to glorify God. This will benefit every area of our lives, including our interactions with others.
Finally, there is a resolution to keep the resolutions.
I see this first resolution firmly founded in the Great Commandment. And the second resolution founded in the second greatest commandment. Both are found in Matthew 22:34-40.
1 comment:
Huh...wonder where Piper came up with his whole "Christian hedonism" thing... :) dang i just used a punctuation smiley.
It's weird that few(?) other popular Bible teachers/ministries these days pick up on the connection between God's glory and our joy. We seem to fall into what the New Divinity movement called disinterested benevolence, that somehow serving God is pure duty, and it's antithetical to human happiness. So you're gonna suffer, just suck it up. But Paul comes along and describes himself as "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."
It's also interesting that Edwards typically rages against self-love, esteeming yourself, etc, but then in connection to joy in the glory of God he even goes so far as to say somewhere that the unbeliever doesn't love himself enough, or he'd choose what would bring him the most and ultimate satisfaction.
Brilliant idea to blog through the Resolutions, by the way. I'm super pumped for this.
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