Latest / Reformed Thinking / God's Wisdom in Christ's Substitution (Ephesians 3:10) | Jonathan Edwards

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God's Wisdom in Christ's Substitution (Ephesians 3:10) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. Today we are initiating a deep
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dive into the theological mechanics of your salvation, and
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we have an absolutely massive topic ahead of us.
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We're going to examine the inner workings of redemption, looking
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at the very logic of heaven. Our guide for this deep dive is
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Jonathan Edwards. He lived from seventeen O 3 to
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1758, an American congregational preacher from East Windsor, CT.
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If you study American history or theology, you know you already
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know that he is widely regarded as America's greatest
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evangelical theologian, famous for his preaching during the
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Great Awakening. But today we are looking at a
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specific piece of his writing titled God's Wisdom in Christ's
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Substitution. We are going to unpack his
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analysis of Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10.
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The goal of our deep dive is to walk through the sequential
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logic. Edwards lays out a six step
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progression, demonstrating how divine wisdom accomplished what
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no created mind could have ever conceived.
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We're going to look closely at the covenantal framework, the
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necessity of substitutionary atonement, the reality of Christ
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acting as mediator, and the hypostatic union.
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This is not about passive listening.
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I mean, this is about understanding the immense weight
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of what occurred to secure your standing before a holy God.
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That is a phenomenal starting point, and I want to set the
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premise right away by looking at the staggering concept presented
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in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10.
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The apostle Paul writes about the manifold wisdom of God being
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made known to the principalities and authorities in heavenly
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places. Now what is so mind bending here
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is the specific mechanism God uses for this education.
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The angels are not learning this wisdom by looking directly at
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the face of God, nor are they learning it by observing the
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stars or the mechanics of the universe.
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They are learning it by observing the church.
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They are looking at you. They are looking at redeemed
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humanity. So let us put this into its
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proper historical and cosmic context.
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According to Edward's timeline, for 4000 years, from the dawn of
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creation up until the historical moment of Christ's incarnation,
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these angelic beings, these massive, brilliant intellects
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have been studying God's works. They stood in the very presence
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of God. They witnessed the parting of
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the Red Sea, they saw the delivery of the moral law in
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Mount Sinai, and they observed the intricate designs of the
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cosmos. Yet in all of those 4 millennia,
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they'd never seen anything quite like the wisdom displayed in the
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salvation of fallen humanity. It was a completely
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unprecedented revelation of divine capability and intellect.
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Our deep dive today will thoroughly unpack the six
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specific steps Edwards lays out that left the angels absolutely
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astounded. That context changes everything
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about how you should view your own salvation.
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You are essentially the curriculum for the angels.
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When you realize that beings with intellects of vastly
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superior to ours are still taking notes on how God saved
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you, well, it frames your Monday morning a little differently.
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So let us move directly into the first major argument Edwards
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makes which deals with the choice of the person.
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We are talking about the specific requirements of a
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Redeemer. Edwards says that God pitched
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upon or determined his own only begotten Son.
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God's wisdom is put on display first and foremost, and choosing
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a fit person for the task. This was not a random selection.
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The plan required someone who met a highly specific set of
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criteria. The sheer difficulty of
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redeeming fallen humanity meant that virtually no one in the
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universe qualified. Edwards lists 8 distinct
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qualifications that prove why, according to Reformed theology,
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only a divine person was fit for this massive undertaking.
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I want to spend a lot of time here because understanding these
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qualifications helps you grasp the scale of your redemption.
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Let us start with the very first one.
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The Redeemer must be divine. Now, to play devil's advocate
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for a second, why could God not just use an Archangel?
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If Gabriel is sinless, why could Gabriel not be the substitute?
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That is the logical question human reasoning naturally asks.
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If we view this through the lens of the Westminster Confession,
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we understand the infinite gap between the Creator and the
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creature. The offense of sin is an
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infinite offense because it is committed against a God of
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infinite holiness and majesty. Think of it like a legal fine.
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The severity of a crime is often weighed against the authority of
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the one offended. Treason against a king carries a
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much heavier penalty than an insult directed at a peer.
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Because humanity rebelled against the infinite Creator,
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and infinite payment is required to satisfy divine justice.
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A finite creature, even a sinless Angel like Gabriel, is
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still finite. An Angel could only ever offer a
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finite payment. If an Angel tried to pay off an
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infinite debt, well, that Angel would be suffering in hell
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forever. Because a finite being can never
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finish paying an infinite sum, The math simply does not work.
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So the Redeemer absolutely must be a divine person capable of
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offering a payment of infinite value in a finite amount of
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time. And that leads directly into the
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second qualification Edwards list.
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The Redeemer must be infinitely holy.
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It's not enough to just be divine.
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The person stepping into the role of mediator must be
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entirely contrary to sin. If there were even a shadow of
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moral failure or deficiency in the Redeemer, he would need a
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Savior for himself. He could not stand as your
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federal head. I want to stop and unpack that
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term for a second. You use the phrase federal head,
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and that is a massive concept in reformed theology.
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For the person listening who might not be familiar with that
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terminology, what does covenantal headship actually
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mean in a practical sense? How does that relate to this
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requirement of infinite holiness?
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Federal headship is the idea of representation.
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Think of a political representative like an
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ambassador or a president. When the president signs a
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treaty, the entire nation is bound by that treaty.
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Even though you personally did not sign the paper, the leader
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acts on behalf of the group. In the biblical framework, all
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of humanity had a federal head in the Garden of Eden, which was
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Adam. Adam represented you under the
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covenant of works. God promised life for perfect
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obedience and death for disobedience.
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When Adam sinned, he broke the covenant, and because he was
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your representative, his failure was legally credited or imputed
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to you. You were born into a state of
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guilt and corruption because your representative failed.
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So to fix this catastrophic problem, God Institute's a new
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covenant, the Covenant of Grace, and assigns a new federal head,
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the last Adam, Jesus Christ. But for Christ to represent you
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successfully, he must possess A flawless, infinite holiness.
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He must succeed precisely where the first Adam failed.
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His perfect holiness provides the positive righteousness that
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will eventually be credited to your account.
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That makes perfect sense. So we have established the
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Redeemer has to be divine and he has to be infinitely holy to be
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a valid representative. But Edwards takes it a step
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further. It is not just about having a
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clean slate. The third qualification is
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infinite dignity and worthiness. The Redeemer needs to possess
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this infinite dignity so that he is capable of meriting infinite
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blessings for you. It is one thing to pay off a
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massive debt so that your bank account is back to zero.
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It is an entirely different thing to earn a massive fortune
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and deposit it into that account.
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The Redeemer must actually earn a positive inheritance, eternal
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life, and fellowship with the Father.
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Only a person of infinite worthiness can merit such an
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incomprehensible reward. And that naturally rolls into
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the 4th qualification, infinite Might and Wisdom.
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The sheer difficulty of the task demands someone possessing
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divine strength think about what the Redeemer is up against.
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He has to conquer death, defeat the authorities of hell, satisfy
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the unyielding demands of divine justice, and change the hardened
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hearts of rebellious creatures. If you tasked the greatest human
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military general with conquering death, they would fail.
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No human intellect or physical capability could achieve any of
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those things, let alone all of them simultaneously.
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It requires a person with a limitless capability to
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orchestrate and execute a flawless victory over cosmic
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forces. The scope of the enemies the
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Redeemer must face is staggering.
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He's not just fighting human armies.
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He's fighting spiritual authorities and the very curse
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of the law itself. But the 5th qualification,
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Edwards notes, shifts the focus from capability to relationship.
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And it is incredibly beautiful when you consider your own
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standing before God, The Redeemer must be infinitely dear
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to the Father. Christ is, as Ephesians chapter
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one, verse 6 calls Him, the Beloved.
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Why is this a strict requirement?
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Because the infinite value of the Son in the Father's eyes is
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required to balance out the massive offense of provocation
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caused by our sins. When you sin, it is a cosmic
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rebellion. The provocation against God's
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holiness is vast. It brings a righteous,
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terrifying anger. To satisfy that righteous anger
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against the rebellion, the Mediator standing in the gap
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must be someone the Father cherishes infinitely.
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The Father's love for the sun eclipses the wrath directed the
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rebellion of humanity. If God the Father did not
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infinitely love the Redeemer, the sacrifice would not hold the
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necessary way to appease the provocation of sin.
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Then we reached the 6th qualification.
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And this is where Edwards displays his brilliant
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theological logic. The Redeemer must act of his own
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absolute right. I read that phrase in the source
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material absolute right, and it felt a bit dense.
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Can we walk through an analogy to explain what Edwards means
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here? Because it seems like he is
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making a highly specific legal argument about who is allowed to
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pay a debt. Absolutely, it is a legal
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argument. Let's use an analogy regarding
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employment. If you work for a company, your
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hours on the clock belong to your employer.
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You owe them your labor by contract.
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If a Co worker falls behind on their tasks, you cannot use your
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standard working hours to do their work and claim you did
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something extra to cover for them because your boss already
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owned that time. You are bound by a contract.
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You are a subject. Now apply that to the angelic
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realm. An Angel is a subject to God.
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They owe God complete, unbroken obedience by the very nature of
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their created existence. If an Angel obeys God perfectly,
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they're only doing what is required of them.
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They generate no surplus merit. They have nothing extra in their
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account to give to you. A servant who only does what
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they are bound to do cannot merit anything for anyone else
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but the eternal Son of God. The second person of the Trinity
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is not a subject. He is coequal and Co eternal
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with the Father. He's the Creator, not the
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creature. Therefore, when he voluntarily
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decides to subject himself to the law, he is doing something
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he was not previously obligated to do.
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He owns himself because he acts of his own absolute right.
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The obedience he renders and the price he pays actually
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accumulate merit. It creates a surplus of
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righteousness that can legally be applied to you, the listener.
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That analogy of the Co worker is incredibly helpful.
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It completely shuts the door on any notion that salvation could
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be achieved by a created being, no matter how glorious they are.
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They simply do not have the legal standing to generate
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surplus merit. Let us look at the final two
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qualifications Edwards lists. The 7th is infinite mercy and
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love. We have talked about the legal
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requirements, but we have to acknowledge the horrific nature
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of the task itself. The task of redemption is
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gruesome. It involves suffering the
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undiluted wrath of God. No one else in the universe
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would ever undertake such an excruciating, agonizing task for
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a creature as unworthy and rebellious as fallen man.
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God is not saving innocent victims.
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He is saving active rebels. It requires a reservoir of mercy
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that simply does not exist in the created order.
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Finally, the 8th qualification is unchangeable, perfect truth
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and faithfulness. Why does this matter for you?
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Because your eternal destiny hangs entirely on this one
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transaction. You need to know that you can
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safely depend on the Redeemer in such a weighty matter.
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If there were any possibility of the Redeemer changing his mind,
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abandoning the mission when the suffering became too intense, or
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failing to keep his promises, your assurance of salvation
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would evaporate. You can rest confidently
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precisely because his faithfulness is perfect, steady,
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and unchangeable. When you synthesize all eight of
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those qualifications, divine nature, infinite holiness,
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infinite dignity, immense capability, being infinitely
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dear to the Father, acting of absolute right, possessing
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infinite mercy, and demonstrating unchangeable
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truth, you arrive at the inescapable conclusion that the
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only fit person in the entire universe is the eternal Son of
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God. And this leads to a massive
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theological irony, a display of divine brilliance that no
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created intellect could have ever anticipated.
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Think about the nature of the rebellion In the Garden of Eden.
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Humanity declared war on God. We aligned ourselves with the
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enemy of God. Human wisdom and even angelic
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wisdom would assume that the offended party would demand the
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absolute destruction of the rebels.
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In any human conflict. The offended king crushes the
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rebellion and executes the traitors instead.
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The very person offended by the rebellion, God himself, is the
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one who devises the plan to bear the cost for the enemies who
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wronged him. He provides the Mediator.
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No Angel observing the cosmic treason of humanity would ever
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deduce that the sovereign Creator would step down to pay
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the ransom for his own enemy. It defies all conventional logic
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of justice and retribution, establishing a new paradigm of
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grace that leaves the heavenly hosts astounded.
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It truly is a paradigm shift of cosmic proportions.
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The king pays the debt of the traitor, and that observation
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smoothly transitions our conversation from who was chosen
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to how this person was positioned in relation to
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humanity. This brings us to the second
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major progression of Edwards argument, the shock of
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substitution, or as Edwards phrases it, standing in our
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room, meaning in our place or in our stead.
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The first step was choosing the right person.
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The second step of divine wisdom is substituting this infinitely
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holy divine person into the position of guilty rebels.
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Try to visualize the reaction in the heavenly realms.
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If God had simply announced to the angels My Son will redeem
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humanity, the created intelligences would have been
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completely baffled about how he would accomplish it.
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The mechanics of it would be a total mystery.
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Then the revelation comes. The infinitely beloved Son of
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God is going to take the place of sinful humanity.
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He is going to stand as their substitute.
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The shock echoing through the heavenly authorities must have
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been palpable. They are watching the highest,
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most glorious being in existence willingly stepping into the
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lowest, most degraded position imaginable.
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To understand the mechanics of this shock, we have to look
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closely at the reformed concepts of the surety and the
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representative. We touched on federal headship
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earlier, but let us look at the legal language of a surety.
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When we say Christ acted as your surety, we are talking about
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someone who takes on the legal obligations and debts of another
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out of the covenant of works. Humanity owed God perfect
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perpetual obedience, and because we failed, we incurred an
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infinite debt of punishment due to our transgression.
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You, on your own, possess absolutely no capability to pay
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that debt. So Christ steps in as the
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surety. He becomes the legal guarantor
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of His people, representing them before the divine tribunal.
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But what does this substitution practically entail?
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It means the guilt of the Sinner is legally charged or imputed to
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him. This is the doctrine of
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imputation. He does not become inherently
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sinful. His nature remains perfectly
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holy, but the legal liability for your sin is transferred to
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his account. Imagine a Ledger book.
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Your massive infinite debt is crossed out under your name and
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written under his name. Furthermore, he is subjected to
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the exact same moral law that man was under.
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He must fulfill all of its positive commands to earn
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righteousness, and he must face all of its terrifying
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threatenings and penalties to satisfy justice.
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He stands in the direct path of the curse of the law.
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I think we often glaze over the phrase the wrath of God because
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we hear it so much in church contexts.
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But for the Eternal Son to willingly position himself to
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receive the concentrated, undiluted fury of design justice
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against sin, it is unthinkable. We are talking about the holy
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anger of the Creator poured out without restraint.
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And that unthinkable reality leads us straight into the third
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step. Edwards outlines the mystery of
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the Incarnation. We have established that the
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divine Son is the substitute, and he must face the penalties
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of the Law. But a massive logical problem
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remains. How can the eternal Jehovah, the
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creator of the universe, become a subject under the law?
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The Law was given to creatures. God is the law giver.
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How does the law giver become the law keeper?
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This is. Where we encounter the
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hypostatic Union. That sounds like a heavy
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academic phrase, but it is a central pillar of Orthodox
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Christology, heavily affirmed in the Westminster Confession, and
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essential for your salvation. The fun of God had to take on
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human nature. The Word became flesh.
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The hypostatic union means that in the one person of Jesus
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Christ there are two distinct natures, perfect deity and
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perfect humanity. The Council of Chalcedon gave us
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the framework for this, stating that these two natures are
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united without mixing together into a third thing, without
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changing into something else, without dividing into two
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separate persons, and without separating from each other.
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This brilliantly solves the logical problem that created
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wisdom could never puzzle out. By taking on a true human body
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and a reasonable soul, the Son of God could legitimately be
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born under the Law. He could stand as a true
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representative of humanity because he was truly, fully
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human. But He remained truly, fully
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divine, giving infinite value to His obedience and His suffering.
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Let us think about the implications of this for a
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moment. How does an eternally,
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unchangeably happy being, dwelling in the perpetual joy of
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the Trinity, suffer pain, thirst, betrayal, and eventually
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the Father's wrath? That is the exact question.
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If God cannot feel physical pain, how does a divine Redeemer
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suffer on a physical cross? I've heard theologians use the
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word impassable to describe God. Can we break down that term?
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What does it mean that God is impassable and how does the
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hypostatic union solve that issue?
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Impassibility means that God in His divine essence does not
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experience emotional fluctuations, suffering, or
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physical pain. He cannot be acted upon or
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harmed by outside forces. So the divine nature cannot
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suffer or die. It is impossible.
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But because the Divine Son assumed a human nature, he could
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experience the full spectrum of human suffering and the
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agonizing reality of physical death in his human nature.
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The person suffering on the cross is the infinite Son of
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God, but He is suffering according to His human nature.
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This is why the bloodshed on the cross has infinite value.
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It is not just the blood of a good man, it is the blood of the
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God man. The human nature provides the
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capacity to bleed, to feel the nails, and to die, while the
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divine nature provides the infinite worth required to
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satisfy the infinite debt we discussed earlier.
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Without the incarnation, substitution is functionally
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impossible. The sheer scale of that mystery
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is staggering, and Edwards captures it brilliantly.
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He provides this incredible list of astonishing contrast that
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display the mystery of the Incarnation.
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And I want to run through these because they highlight just how
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subversive this divine plan is. First, you have the infinite and
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unchangeable God becoming a finite, feeble man subject to
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sinless infirmities. The Creator who spoke galaxies
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into existence is now susceptible to exhaustion,
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hunger, and physical pain. He has to sleep.
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He gets thirsty. Second, the sovereign of heaven
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and earth becomes a worm of the dust.
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Edwards is referencing Psalm 22, verse six there.
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Now using the phrase worm of the dust sounds incredibly jarring
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to modern ears, but it highlights the sheer
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condescension of the sun. The one who sustains the
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universe by the word of his capability willingly occupies a
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position of utter lowliness and contempt.
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Third, the self existent original spirit is clothed in
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flesh and bore of a woman. The eternal God enters time and
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space through the womb of a creature he himself designed.
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And 4th, the independent, all sufficient God who needs
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absolutely nothing, suddenly needs food, has nowhere to lay
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his head, and relies on human charity for his daily
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maintenance. The God who owns the cattle on
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1000 Hills depends on the hospitality of his followers to
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eat a meal. When you lay out those
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contrasts, you clearly see why angels will be studying this
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intensely. It contradicts every human and
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angelic assumption about how supreme authority should
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operate. If an Angel were to design A
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rescue mission, they would likely send a legion of blazing
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seraphim to eradicate the enemies of God.
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They would not send the commander of the armies of
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heaven as a helpless infant. And his incarnation naturally
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leads into the 4th step Edwards outlines which examines how this
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God man actually lived out his days on earth.
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Edwards calls this the circumstances and the business
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of Christ's life. Let us investigate the
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circumstances first. Human wisdom, particularly the
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wisdom of the scribes, the Pharisees, and the rulers whom
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the apostle Paul calls the Princess of this world in First
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Corinthians chapter 2, had a highly specific expectation for
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the Messiah. They anticipated A conquering
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king arriving with massive, visible pomp, overwhelming
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wealth, and earthly grandeur. Israel was under Roman
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occupation. They expected a political
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revolutionary who would overthrow the Romans by force
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and establish an earthly empire of unparalleled luxury and
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military dominance. But divine wisdom orchestrated
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the exact opposite. God's wisdom chose a feeding
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through in a stable for a birthplace.
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He chose an obscure working class family in a backwater
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town. He chose lifelong poverty.
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When he finally made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem,
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he did not ride a War Horse. Surrounded by a gleaming royal
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guard, he made a lowly entrance riding on a donkey.
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Isaiah 53 perfectly prophesied this, calling him a route out of
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a dry ground, someone who had no majestic beauty to attract us to
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him, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
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Edwards makes a striking observation here.
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By choosing these specific circumstances, Christ poured
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contempt on worldly glory. He completely discredited the
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things that human beings spend their entire lives chasing
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wealth, status, political influence, and outward prestige.
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It really makes you stop and look at your own life, does it
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not? When you find yourself obsessing
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over a promotion, the neighborhood you live in, or the
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car you drive, and then you realize the Creator of the
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universe voluntarily chase a feeding through in a borrowed
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tomb. It shifts your perspective.
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By living in such humble conditions, He teaches you to
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despise the superficial allure of worldly grandeur and
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instructs you to be lonely in heart.
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That is a sharp, necessary conviction for all of us.
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The circumstances of his life were an active repudiation of
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human pride. Now, moving from the
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circumstances of his life to the actual work and business of his
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life, we bring in the Westminster perspective on
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Christ's active obedience. This is crucial for your
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standing before God. Christ did not just come to
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earth to wait around for 33 years before going to the cross.
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He was actively working every single day.
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Theologians often distinguish between his passive obedience,
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willingly receiving the penalty of the cross, and his active
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obedience. His active obedience means he
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perfectly obeyed the moral law. He kept every commandment in
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thought, word, and deed without a single falter.
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Furthermore, he subjected himself to the ceremonial law,
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which Edwards rightly describes as a heavy yoke of bondage.
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Think about all the intricate requirements of the Old
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Testament law, the festivals, the dietary restrictions, the
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sacrificial types. Christ fulfilled every single
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requirement representing the true Israel.
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And He did all of this under immense, relentless temptation
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for the devil, overcoming the combined forces of earth and
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hell. His obedience was tested in the
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Crucible of extreme suffering. Why is that distinction between
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active and passive obedience so critical for the listener?
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If his death on the cross pays the penalty for my sin, why does
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his 33 years of perfect law keeping matter to me personally?
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It matters because of the requirements of the courtroom.
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If a judge pardons a criminal, that criminal is no longer going
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to prison. Their debt to society is
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canceled. But that pardon does not
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automatically make them a celebrated citizen who deserves
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a massive financial reward from the state.
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It just means they are not guilty.
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If Christ only offered passive obedience by dying on the cross,
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your sins would be wiped away. You would have a blank slate.
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You would be innocent. But innocence is not the same
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thing as positive righteousness. The Covenant of Works demanded
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perfect obedience to earn eternal life.
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By living a life of perfect act of obedience, Christ earned the
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reward and through imputation that perfect record of law
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keeping is credited to you. You do not just get a cleared
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criminal record, you get the resume of the Son of God.
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Without His perfect life, you would not have the robe of
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perfect righteousness required to enter heaven and receive the
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inheritance. That act of obedience is the
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bedrock of our justification. It is an amazing reality to
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grasp. I also want to look at Christ's
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role as prophet and teacher during his earthly ministry
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because Edwards highlights this as part of his earthly business.
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Edwards points out that because Christ is a divine person, He's
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the very word of God from all eternity.
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His teachings carry supreme, unrivaled weight.
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When the prophets of the Old Testament spoke, they said, thus
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says the Lord, they were messengers delivering mail.
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But when Jesus taught, he said, truly, truly.
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I say to you, he spoke on his own inherent authority.
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But there is a deeply pastoral application here that Edwards
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draws out. Why did God ordain that the very
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person who would suffer and die for you would also be your
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primary prophet and teacher? Edwards argues that his
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instructions are endeared and sweetened to you specifically
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because of how much he suffered for you.
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Human nature dictates that we eagerly listen to and obey those
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who have proven their immense love for us.
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When you read the commands of Christ in the Gospels, you are
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not reading the cold dictates of a distant tyrant.
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You are reading the instruction of the Mediator who allowed his
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body to be broken to save your life.
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That reality changes how you receive His teaching.
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It changes your entire posture toward his commands.
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You move from begrudging compliance to joyful submission.
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You recognize that the one giving the orders loves you
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enough to die for you. And that submission brings us to
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the climax of Edwards progression in the 5th step, the
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Great Reversal which is the death of Christ.
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Edwards asserts with absolute certainty that no human or
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angelic wisdom would have ever devised this method of
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salvation. The cross is the ultimate
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stumbling block to human reasoning.
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The Apostle Paul talks about this in his letters.
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The cross is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to
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the Jews. The idea that the salvation of
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the cosmos would be achieved through the brutal, humiliating
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execution of the Incarnate God is staggering.
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Let us walk through the astonishing paradoxes of the
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crucifixion as Edwards lays them out, marveling at the sheer
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scale of the contrasts. First, consider the courtroom
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scene. You have the Supreme Lord and
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Judge of the universe, the one who will eventually judge the
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living and the dead willingly being arraigned and condemned to
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the judgement seat of mortal men.
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Pilot, a corrupt, cowardly Roman governor, sits in judgement over
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the Author of truth. The paradox is only intensify
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from there. You have the fountain of life,
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the one who breathed the breath of life into Adam in the garden,
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actively being put to death by his own creatures.
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The sheer audacity of the creation executing the Creator
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is terrifying. Then you see the object of
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angelic adoration, the person whom Seraphim cover their faces
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to worship, crying, holy, holy, holy, being mocked, beaten and
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spit upon by the vilest, mostly depraved men.
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You have infinite good and pure love, suffering the absolute
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greatest cruelty human minds could invent.
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The Romans perfected the art of agonizing death, maximizing
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physical and psychological torment, and they unleashed it
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on the Prince of Peace. And beyond the physical agony,
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we reached the deepest theological paradox, the core of
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substitutionary atonement. The infinitely Beloved of the
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Father, the Son who had enjoyed unbroken perfect fellowship with
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the Father from all eternity, is suddenly placed under the
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inexpressible anguish of the Father's wrath.
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As Christ hung on the cross, the sky went dark.
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He became the lightning rod for the divine fury against the sins
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of all His elect. The Father turned his face away,
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breaking that sense of fellowship, leading to that
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horrific cry. My God, my God, why have you
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forsaken me? He experienced the equivalent of
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hell in those hours on the cross.
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Finally, the sequence concludes with the King, whose throne is
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heaven and whose foot school of the earth being wrapped in
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burial linens and locked in the prison of the grave.
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The Author of Life lies dead in a tomb.
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When you survey that entire sequence of events, human logic
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recoils. How can defeat be a victory?
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But Edwards, looking through the lens of Reformed theology,
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reflects on how this sequence of events is neither unsuitable nor
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dishonorable to Christ. Rather, it is the absolute apex
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of divine wisdom. The cross is where the
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inflexible demands of God's justice and the immeasurable
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depths of God's mercy perfectly intersect.
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Sin is punished entirely, and the Sinner is saved entirely.
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The cross is the masterpiece of God's wisdom.
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It is the only place in the universe where justice and mercy
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meet without compromising either attribute.
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God remains just, and he becomes the justifier of the one who has
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faith in Jesus. And yet the story does not end
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in the tomb. Which brings us to the 6th and
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final step of Edward's progression, the logic of
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exaltation. The final step to procure and
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apply salvation is Christ's exaltation.
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He is raised from the dead, He ascends into heaven, and he
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takes a seat at the right hand of the Father.
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Edwards explains the brilliant logic behind this necessity.
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The same person who purchased salvation must be the one to
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bestow it. God the Father will only
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transact with fallen humanity through a mediator.
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Because humanity broke the covenant of works, we forfeited
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any right to direct unmediated fellowship with God.
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Any interaction with the Holy God outside of a Mediator would
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result built in our instant destruction, like a moth flying
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into a blast furnace. Therefore, the Mediator who
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secured the covenant promises through his blood must be the
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administrator of those promises. This logic provides immense,
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unshakable comfort to the Saints.
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Consider what this means for you personally.
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The absolute Disposer of all things, the Supreme Governor of
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the world, who currently sits the right Hand of the Father
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orchestrating human history, is the exact same person who
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willingly shed his blood for you.
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The final judge of all intelligent beings, the one who
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will evaluate your life, is your defense attorney who has already
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paid your penalty. You do not need to fear the
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judgement seat, because the judge is the very one who
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justified you. He's not going to condemn the
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person he died to save. Edwards reiterates the final
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wonder of this logic. The servant who died as a
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criminal, a malefactor strung up on a Roman cross outside the
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city gates, is now the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth.
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Every knee will bow to him. And crucially, as Edwards notes,
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this governing authority is given to him not just as God,
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but as the God man. This is a vital point and
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Reformed Christology that we cannot miss.
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Let us unpack that specifically. When we say He governs as the
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God man, we are saying he did not leave his human body behind
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in the clouds, right? Profusely, Christ did not shed
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his human nature when He ascended.
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He did not revert to simply being a localized spirit.
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Right now, there is a glorified physical human body sitting on
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the throne of the universe. The authority he wields is
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wielded by the God man. The book of Hebrews makes much
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of this, explaining that because he retains his human nature, he
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professionally sympathizes with our weaknesses.
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He knows what it is like to be tempted to be exhausted and to
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suffer. He governs the cosmos with
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infinite divine authority, but he administers that authority
30:13
with true human sympathy. The incarnation is permanent.
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That is an incredible reality to grasp.
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There is a man on the throne of the universe and he knows your
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name. As we move toward the end of our
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discussion and synthesize these 6 steps, we can clearly see the
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awe inspiring logic of the atonement Edwards has laid out.
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It is an airtight progression of divine wisdom.
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We started with the choice of a divine, infinitely wordy person
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who met 8 impossible qualifications.
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We moved to the shock of him becoming our substitute, taking
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on the legal debts of active rebels.
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We marvelled at the mystery of the Incarnation, the hypostatic
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union that allowed the Lawgiver to become the law keeper.
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We examine the subversive nature of his humble life and his act
30:54
of obedience to the moral law. We stared at the agonizing
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paradoxes of his substitutionary death on the cross, where the
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beloved face the wrath of the Father.
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And finally, we rejoiced in his exaltation where the God Man now
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rules as mediator and judge. When you trace that entire
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progression, you are brought right back to our original
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premise. Angels learning from the Church.
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The heavenly hosts watch this six step masterpiece unfold and
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they see a display of divine intellect, justice and mercy
31:21
that outshines everything they had witnessed in the previous
31:24
4000 years of creation. Synthesizing all of this leaves
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us with a necessary reflection. I want to leave you with a final
31:31
thought to Mull over something to consider long after this deep
31:34
dive concludes. We have established that the
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angelic beings, with their vast intellects, their unclouded
31:40
vision of reality, and their millennia of observing the
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cosmos, are still continually stunned and educated by the
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mechanics of your salvation. They look at your redemption and
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are staggered by the wisdom of God.
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If that is true for them, how might that shift the way you
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view your own daily standing as a participant in this divine
31:58
courtroom drama? If the angels were captivated by
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the grace applied to your life, how can you ever allow yourself
32:04
to become numb to the reality of the gospel you're standing
32:07
before? God is not a mundane theological
32:09
fact. It is the focal point of cosmic
32:11
wonder. That is a phenomenal question to
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carry with you. If angels are still marveling at
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it, we have no excuse to be bored by it.
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Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into the massive logic
32:21
of redemption guided by the sharp mind of Jonathan Edwards.
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We hope this has expanded your view of the Mediator and
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deepened your gratitude for the lengths to which divine wisdom
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to secure your salvation. Until next time, keep your eyes
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on the text and your mind engaged.
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Thank you for listening to Reformed Thinking.