From John Piper's Desiring God,
"We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak of what we value and celebrate what we love and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full. So if God loves us enough to make our joy full, He must not only give us Himself; He must also win from us the praise of our hearts--not because He needs to shore up some weakness in Himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because He loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising Him, the most magnificent of all Beings. If He truly is for us, He must be for Himself.
God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimately loving act. For Him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When He does all things "for the praise of His glory," He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world that can satisfy our longings. God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be for Himself." (emphasis mine)
He must be for Himself! That's the ticket!
ReplyDeleteI've been contemplating Piper / Edwards in response to my (and others) seeking immediate personal application of "the things of God", sermons, teaching to their life. I'm concluding that God is the end unto himself. If he did nothing for me, He is still worthy of praise and would satisfy. It's even more astounding then that he does do things for us andchose to love us.
ReplyDeleteThat last comment was mine by the way. Somehow got posted under Matt's account!! Kids - never let them on your lap top - ever.
ReplyDeleteYou said "I'm concluding that God is the end unto himself. If he did nothing for me, He is still worthy of praise and would satisfy. It's even more astounding then that he does do things for us and chose to love us."
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with ya. John Frame's book has pounded this point into my thick skull!
Go figure...the issue doesn't hinge on us!