Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in Christ Jesus (Revelation 5:5-6) | Jonathan Edwards

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The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in Christ Jesus (Revelation 5:5-6) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking. I I want to jump right into a
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thought experiment with you today.
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Picture yourself trapped in a fortress, just completely
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surrounded by an enemy you cannot possibly defeat.
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You have no supplies, no weapons, and you know,
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absolutely no hope. The walls are closing in.
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But then you get a message. A rescue is coming.
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A fierce, conquering lion has been dispatched to save you.
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Oh. Wow.
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Yeah, so you are told to expect the King of the Beast, a
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creature of just immense muscle, terrifying mind, and absolute
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authority. You brace yourself for the roar
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that will shake the foundations of your prison.
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The heavy iron doors begin to creak open and you look down,
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expecting to see this massive predator.
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But instead, walking through the dust in the rubble is a lamb.
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And not a pristine, untouched lamb, but a wounded one.
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A lamb bearing the brutal marks of a recent slaughter.
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Your mind would probably stall, right?
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You would wonder if a mistake had been made.
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How is this fragile, bleeding creature supposed to execute a
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rescue mission that requires overwhelming strength?
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That is, that's a staggering mental image, and it perfectly
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captures the shock of the text we are going to walk through.
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Today we are looking at a brilliant piece of historical
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source material from the 18th century.
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It's a sermon by the Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards
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titled The Admirable Conjunction of Diverse Excellencies in
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Christ Jesus. He bases his entire message on a
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highly specific scene from the Book of Revelation, chapter 5,
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verses 5 and 6. Right.
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So the scene opens with the apostle John, who has been given
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a vision of heaven. But John is not rejoicing.
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He is actually weeping bitterly. He is surrounded by the glory of
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heaven, yet he is totally devastated.
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To understand why, we have to grasp the precise setting.
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Here. John sees a scroll or a book in
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the right hand of God who is seated on the throne.
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This scroll represents God's sovereign decrees.
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In Reformed theology. We hold that God has
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foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
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He's not making of history as he goes along.
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His decrees are fixed, perfect and comprehensive.
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They determine the course of all human events, the rise and fall
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of nations, and the final salvation of His people.
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So this scroll holds the literal blueprint for the destiny of the
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universe. It contains the final resolution
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of all the pain, the injustice and the suffering we see on
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Earth. But there is a massive problem
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here, isn't there? Precisely.
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The scroll is sealed tight. It has seven seals.
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In biblical literature, you know the number 7 represents
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perfection and completion. This indicates that the future
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events of God's Providence are perfectly hidden and locked away
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from all created beings. An Angel proclaims with a loud
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voice asking who is worthy to open the scroll and break its
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seals. And the terrifying realization
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hits John. No one is worthy, no human being
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and matter how righteous, no Angel, no matter how strong, no
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created being in heaven or on earth has the moral authority or
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the legal right to execute God's perfect plan.
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The completion of history seems permanently stalled if that
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scroll stays sealed. Justice is never executed in
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evil wins. That is why John is weeping so
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violently. But then one of the 24 elders
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surrounding the throne leans over to John and tells him to
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stop crying. The elder makes a massive
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announcement. He says, Behold, the lion of the
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tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the
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book. And this is where the massive
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twist happens. The elder announces the arrival
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of a lion. John wipes his tears, turns his
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head, and totally expects to see that magnificent roaring
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predator striding toward the throne.
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But what does he actually see? He sees a lamb standing in the
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center of the throne, looking as though it had been slain.
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This is the entire premise of our deep dive.
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Today we are going to investigate how these two
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incredibly different concepts, the terrifying might of a lion
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and the supreme meekness of a slaughtered lamb, combined
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perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ.
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Understanding this paradox changes absolutely everything
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about how you, the listener, relate to Him on a daily basis.
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Yeah, and Edwards argues that Christ possesses traits that, to
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our finite human minds, seem wildly contradictory.
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The first pairing he brings up is Infinite Highness combined
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with infinite condescension. We are talking about the creator
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of the cosmos, a being who possesses absolute knowledge,
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endless sovereignty and total authority.
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He dictates the movement of galaxies, yet he takes notice of
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beggars. The contrast there is just
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immense. I mean, Christ is infinitely
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higher than the greatest archangels, yet he Stoops down
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to interact with the absolute lowest ranks of human society.
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He seeks out little children whom society often ignored back
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then. He seeks out people from
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despised nations. Edwards specifically mentions
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the Barbarians and the Scythians, groups that the
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civilized Roman world considered uncultured savages.
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Absolutely. And to highlight how shocking
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this is, Edwards uses a very blunt analogy about human
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nature. He compares us to worms.
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He says that if one human worm is elevated even slightly over
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another, maybe they managed to claim a slightly larger dunghill
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for themselves. That person immediately demands
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distance. Let's bring that analogy into
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the modern world, because it is so painfully accurate.
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Think about the corporate ladder.
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You have someone who gets a slight promotion to middle
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management. Suddenly they need a better
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parking spot. They stop eating in the communal
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break room. They stop talking to the
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interns. Or think about minor Internet
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celebrities who get a tiny bit of fame and immediately demand
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VIP treatment and look down on everyday people.
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When human beings are given a tiny scrap of authority or
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wealth, our default posture is arrogance.
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We use our new status to build walls and shield ourselves from
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people we deem beneath us. That is the direct opposite of
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what Christ does. He possesses actual infinite
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authority over the entire cosmos.
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He holds the universe together by the word of His mouth.
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Yet He does not use His infinite status to build walls.
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He used it to watch the filthy dust covered feet of His
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disciples. He allows himself to be mocked,
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to be spit upon by Roman soldiers, and to be subjected to
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a shameful public execution on behalf of rebels who hated him.
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He does not keep his distance from the lowly.
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He enters entirely into their lowliness.
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OK, let me stop you there and push back a little.
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The next pairing Edwards mentions is strict justice and
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immense grace. I think a lot of people hear the
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word justice and they like the sound of it, but when they hear
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grace they think it just means God deciding to let things
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slide. But if we are talking about a
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perfectly holy God, isn't there a massive contradiction here?
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If a human judge is overseeing the trial of a guilty murderer,
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and the judge just decides to forgive the criminal because he
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feels gracious that day, we wouldn't call that judge
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merciful. We would call him corrupt.
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How does Christ offer this immense grace without violating
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the strict justice you were talking about?
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That is the crucial question, and it is entirely why the cross
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had to happen. We have to view this through the
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theological lens of the Westminster Confession, which is
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resolute on this point. God is infinitely holy and
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strictly just. He cannot simply acquit the
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guilty. He cannot sweep sin under the
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rug or pretend it never happened.
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Every single breach of the moral law, every sinful thought, word
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or action you have ever committed requires a just
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answer. God's strict justice demands
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with theologians called condign punishment.
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Let's unpack Condign punishment so we don't lose anyone.
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What does that actually mean in a courtroom setting?
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It means punishment that perfectly fits the severity of
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the crime, and because the crime is committed against an
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infinitely holy and majestic Creator, the required punishment
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is infinite. Therefore, Christ, acting as the
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Judge of the world, possesses and upholds this strict justice.
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He does not lower the standard, but meeting that strict justice
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is His immense, infinite grace. And to answer your question
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about how He does this without being a corrupt judge, His grace
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is not a mild pity or generic feeling of goodwill that just
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ignores the law. His grace led Him to step out
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from behind the judge's bench, walk over to the defendants
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table, and take the punishment upon Himself, To bestow all good
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upon the absolute chief of sinners without violating His
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justice. He had to suffer.
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He did not simply suffer the physical pain of crucifixion.
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He suffered extremely in his soul, bearing the direct,
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unmitigated wrath of God against sin.
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If you are driving to work right now or folding laundry, I really
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want you to pause and consider the weight of that.
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He bears divine wrath to bestow. All good on the very people who
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deserve that wrath. Look at the human authority
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figures in your life. Look at politics.
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Look at your workplace. Look at your community.
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Human authority is so frequently corrupted by self-interest.
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Leaders constantly use their status to avoid suffering and
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force the consequences of their mistakes onto the people below
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them. But Christ is a sovereign leader
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whose authority is matched entirely by His humility.
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He uses his infinite status to absorb suffering for your sake.
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This leads us into the theological mechanism of how
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these incompatible traits can actually meet in one single
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individual. How could one person be both the
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infinite God and a suffering servant?
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We are talking about the doctrine of the hypostatic
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union. That is a massive seminary term.
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Let's break the hypostatic union down so it makes practical
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sense. We are saying Jesus is one
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person, but he has two distinct natures, correct?
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Precisely. The hypostatic union is the core
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doctrine explaining the Incarnation.
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Jesus Christ is one single person, but He possesses 2
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complete and distinct natures, a fully divine nature and a fully
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human nature. The early Church councils,
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specifically at Chalcedon, labored over this definition.
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They stated that these two natures are united without
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confusion, without change, without division, and without
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separation. He's in half God and half man.
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He isn't a human who is elevated to godhood, nor is he God simply
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wearing a humane suit. He is truly God and truly man.
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This doctrine is the absolute key to understanding how these
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diverse excellencies meet in Him.
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So let's test that against the next paradox.
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Edwards brings up glory and humility, because on the
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surface, that sounds impossible. How can a being of infinite
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glory be humble? It is a brilliant point.
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Humility, by its very definition, is a creaturely
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virtue. It requires a recognition of
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your own lowliness, your dependence, and your submission
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to a higher authority. Therefore, God the Father,
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existing only in the divine nature, cannot technically be
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humble. In that specific sense, He's
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supreme. He depends on nothing.
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There is no one above him to whom he should submit.
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But in the hypostatic union, God the Son takes on human nature.
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Because He is God, He possesses equal divine honor and glory
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with the Father, but because He is also a man, He exhibits the
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greatest, most perfect humility ever witnessed.
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The Creator of the universe lives for 30 years in a poor
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carpenter's home in Nazareth, working with wood and stone,
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completely content in obscurity. You see the same shocking
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contrast with majesty and meekness as the divine Son.
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He is the God described in Psalm 45.
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He is the one whose presence makes the earthquake, who
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rebukes the raging sea, who melts the hills like wax.
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He possesses A terrifying majesty that causes angels to
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cover their faces. Yet in his human nature, he
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models transcendent weakness. When he finally declares himself
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as king and rides into Jerusalem, he doesn't ride a
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massive warhorse surrounded by an armed cavalry.
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He rides on a borrowed donkey. And days later, when he is
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surrounded by a ring of mocking, violent soldiers tearing his
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beard and spitting in his face, he remains completely silent.
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He goes like a lamb to the slaughter.
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He doesn't call down legions of angels or fire from heaven to
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consume his tormentors, even though he has the absolute
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undeniable right and the might to do so.
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We see another vivid pairing in His reverence toward God and His
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equality with God. Picture the scene in the Gospel
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of Luke, chapter 22. Christ is kneeling down on the
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dirt to pray. Think about the theological
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weight of what is happening there.
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In His divine nature, He is completely equal to the Father.
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He shares the same divine essence, the same uncreated
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glory, the same majesty. But in His human nature, He
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models perfect, flawless reverence.
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He bows his head before the Father.
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These traits, absolute equality with God and total submissive
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reverence toward God, meet in no other person in the universe.
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And that submission comes to a terrifying climax in the Garden
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of Gethsemane. Edwards highlights the pairing
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of dominion and obedience, or sovereignty and resignation.
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Christ is the Lord of all things.
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By his natural right as God, he dictates all works of
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Providence. Every single atom in the
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universe holds together by His command.
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Yet in the garden we see Him under such intense agony that He
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is sweating drops of blood. He is staring into the cup of
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God's wrath, knowing the horror what it contains.
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And He says, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
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He exhibits complete resignation to the Father's plan.
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That scene in Gethsemane perfectly highlights the
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contrast between his divine self-sufficiency and his human
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reliance on God as a divine person.
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Christ is self-sufficient. He needs nothing.
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He depends on no one. He is the source of all life,
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but as the God man facing the cross, he models complete
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desperate reliance. He trusts the Father implicitly
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of visually committing his spirit into the Father's hands
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as he dies. Now we have to ask a basic
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question here. Why?
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Why did God arrange salvation in this incredibly specific, highly
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paradoxical way? Why the incarnation?
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Why the hypostatic union at all? Why not just declare mankind
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forgiven from heaven? Yes, absolutely.
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I mean, if God is sovereign, couldn't he just decree that the
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debt is cancelled and be done with it?
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Why go through the agonizing process of becoming a human,
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living in poverty and dying on a cross?
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Edwards answers this by pointing to the aesthetic beauty of God's
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plan. God did this to show that virtue
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is most striking when it is joined with infinite greatness.
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Goodness is an excellent trait in anyone.
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If you meet a genuinely good, kind person, you admire them.
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But when infinite goodness is joined with infinite greatness,
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it creates an adorable, breathtaking beauty that
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captivates the human soul. God didn't just want to save us
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legally. He wanted to capture our hearts
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by displaying a kind of beauty that exists nowhere else.
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I really appreciate that perspective.
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It makes salvation so much more than a cold legal transaction.
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But we do need to talk about the legal reality because it is the
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framework for all of this. How do these diverse traits
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actually exercise themselves toward humanity?
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Edwards points to a fascinating verse, Psalm 85, verse 10, which
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says mercy and truth are met together.
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Righteousness and peace have kissed each other on a human
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level. Strict righteousness and mercy
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really kiss. They usually fight.
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If you have strict truth demanding a penalty, mercy
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usually has to leave the room. So how do they meet here?
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To understand this meaning, we have to look back at the very
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beginning of human history to what Reformed theology calls the
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Covenant of Works. In the Garden of Eden, God
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established a covenant with Adam, and Adam wasn't just
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acting for himself, he was acting as the federal head for
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all humanity. Let's use an analogy for Federal
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Head so it is crystal clear. Think of Adam like an ambassador
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for a nation or the captain of a sports team.
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When he stepped onto the field in Eden, he wasn't playing a
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solo game. He represented the entire human
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race. If he won, we all won.
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But when he committed a foul, the penalty fell on all of us.
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That is a highly effective way to understand it.
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The terms of that covenant that were incredibly clear.
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Perfect obedience yields eternal life, but disobedience brings a
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curse. The law made a specific threat,
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which is that the wages of sin is death.
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Now, because God is immutable, meaning His character cannot
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change, His truth required that this threat be fulfilled.
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God cannot lie. He cannot make a solemn threat
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of death for sin and then simply decide to ignore it when
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humanity fails. The penalty of the law must be
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executed, truth and justice demanded.
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If God just forgave sin without a penalty being paid, He would
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be compromising his own truth and his own justice.
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He would cease to be a just God. And that creates the ultimate
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terrifying dilemma for you and me.
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The law has been broken. We are guilty.
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God's truth says we must die. So how can we possibly receive
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mercy? This is where Christ's sacrifice
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becomes the brilliant, perfect solution.
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The penalty of the law isn't ignored.
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It is poured out entirely on the sun.
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He steps into our place on the team when He suffers on the
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cross. The immutable truth of God is
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completely satisfied. The threat of death is
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fulfilled. Justice is executed perfectly
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because truth and justice have received their complete due in
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the person of Christ. God can now turn to you, the
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listener, and offer promises of eternal life freely.
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Mercy and grace can be extended to you because the bill was paid
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in full by someone else. We need to investigate the sheer
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magnitude of that payment. Reformed theology often wrestles
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with a terrifying reality regarding the nature of hell.
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The punishment for sin is eternal because a finite
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creature is attempting to pay an infinite debt against an
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infinitely holy God. A finite being limited by time
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and capacity can never finish paying an infinite debt.
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The math simply does not work. Therefore the punishment goes on
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forever. But Christ is not a finite
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creature. He is an infinite person because
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he possesses infinite worth, infinite dignity, and infinite
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capacity. As the Son of God, He could
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absorb the totality of that eternal wrath in a matter of
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hours on the cross. Let that sink in.
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What would take you and me an eternity of suffering to pay,
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and we would never finish? He paid entirely in an
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afternoon. His infinite nature meant that
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his temporary suffering held infinite value.
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It proves his boundless worth. It proves his immense love.
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He satisfied the full requirement of the law in a
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concentrated period period of unimaginable agony.
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Having established that theological bedrock, let's walk
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through how Edwards maps this conjunction of the Lion and the
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Lamb onto the actual timeline of Christ's earthly life.
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We start right at the incarnation.
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When you look at the circumstances of his birth, you
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see the ultimate lamb like fragility.
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He is born to a young, extremely poor virgin.
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When Mary goes to the temple for her purification ritual after
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the birth, she brings a pair of turtledoes.
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If you look back at the book of Leviticus, that is the specific
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offering allowed for the destitute.
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It was a concession made for people who are too impoverished
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to afford a lamb for the sacrifice.
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So the true Lamb of God is born into a family that cannot even
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afford a physical lamb. He is born in a stable,
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surrounded by dirt and animals and laid in a feeding through
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because the local inn was full of people considered far more
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important than him. He enters the world in absolute
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poverty, fragility and obscurity.
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Yet right alongside that crushing poverty we see the line
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like entrance. He is conceived by the Holy
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Ghost, meaning He is born entirely without the stain of
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original sin that infects the rest of humanity.
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His arrival is not just a quiet, ignored event in the spiritual
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realm, it is announced by massive shining hosts of
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heavenly angels singing of His glory to the shepherds.
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And his specific stated purpose in arriving as a fragile infant
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was to conquer and triumph over Satan, whom the Apostle Peter
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describes as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
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Christ came to subdue the mighty authorities of darkness.
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So even while lying helpless in the Manger, the line of the
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tribe of Judah is actively beginning his conquest.
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And as we follow his earthly life, that pattern of extremes
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continues day-to-day. He lives in deep humility.
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He depends on the charity of his followers for food.
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He states himself that foxes have holes and birds have nests.
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But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
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He possesses no real estate, no wealth, no political
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connections. He doesn't hold himself aloof
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from his disciples. He treats these uneducated
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fishermen like close companions. He eats meals with tax
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collectors and notorious sinners, ruining his reputation
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among the religious elite. He bears the constant biting
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insults of the Pharisees with incredible patients.
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He walks the dusty roads of Judea as a gentle, meek lamb.
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But you must overlay that daily, grueling humility with His
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absolute command over nature. He routinely arrests the laws of
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physics. He walks in the raging waves of
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the sea in the middle of a violent storm, demonstrating
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that he is the Creator who laid the foundations of the deep.
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He commands the chaotic wind to be still, and it instantly obeys
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His voice. He opens the eyes of the blind
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and raises the rotting dead from the grave, acting as the very
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fountain of life. He casts out an entire legion of
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violent demons with a single word, showing his absolute
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dominance over the spiritual realm.
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He demonstrates divine omniscience by knowing the
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secret, unspoken thoughts of the men plotting to murder him.
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And then you have the Mount of Transfiguration.
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The veil of His humble human flesh is briefly thrown back,
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and His disciples fall on their faces, completely blinded by the
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sheer radiant majesty of the Son of God.
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He is constantly flashing between the vulnerability of the
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Lamb and the supreme authority of the Lion.
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This brings us to the climax of His earthly ministry and the
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absolute pinnacle of this paradox, the Cross.
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Edwards places immense heavyweight on the crucifixion
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because it is the greatest manifestation of this
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conjunction. It is the ultimate paradox in
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human history. On the cross, Christ is at his
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absolute lowest state of humiliation.
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He is stripped naked in public. He is physically tortured until
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he is barely recognizable. He is mocked by the crowds, the
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religious leaders, and even the criminals dying next to him.
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He is forsaken by his closest friends, and most terrifying of
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all, He is forsaken by God the Father.
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Yet this exact moment of supreme crushing humiliation is His most
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glorious act. It is the specific act that the
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angels of Heaven will sing about and praise for all eternity.
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Let's break down the conflicting realities happening
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simultaneously on the cross. First, Christ is showing the
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greatest possible love to God the Father through absolute,
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resolute obedience. He is submitting entirely to the
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Father's plan, drinking the cup of wrath down to the dregs.
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But at the very same moment he's showing the greatest possible
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love to God's enemies, he's shedding his blood for the very
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rebels who despise him. Second, he defends the honor of
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God's strict justice. How does he do that?
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By becoming the direct target of it.
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He doesn't defend justice by pointing a sword at us, he
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defends it by stepping in front of the sword.
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Edwards uses highly striking physical descriptions here to
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represent the spiritual reality. He talks about Christ's blood
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turning to water and suggests his heart physically broke under
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the pressure. Now, whether you take that as
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literal medical Physiology or poetic metaphor, the point is
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that these intense physical agonies are simply the outward
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manifestation of a soul bearing the infinite, crushing weight of
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divine wrath. We must also consider the
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contrast in His Holiness. He's perfectly innocent.
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He's the only truly holy human being to ever live upon the
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earth. Yet he is treated as the vilest
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malefactor in the Roman Empire. He's crucified between two
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common criminals, suffering the most shameful, degrading
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execution ever invented by mankind.
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He suffers intensely from the Father's wrath, and he suffers
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intensely from the betrayal and cowardice of his own disciples.
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Yet every single action he takes on the cross is driven entirely
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by His love for them, even uses his failing breath to pray for
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the forgiveness of the Roman soldiers who are actively
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driving nails through his flesh. I want to transition to how this
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event functions as the defeat of Satan because Edwards uses
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several crucial metaphors here that are just brilliant.
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The first metaphor he uses is the story of David and Goliath.
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Goliath was a giant who brought a massive, terrifying sword to
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the battlefield, fully intending to destroy the young shepherd
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boy David with it. But after David strikes Goliath
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with the stone, he takes Goliath's own sword and uses it
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to cut off the giant's head. Edwards argues that the cross
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was Satan's weapon. Satan orchestrated the betrayal,
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the false trials, and the crucifixion.
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Satan thought that by orchestrating the death of the
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Son of God, he was securing his ultimate victory.
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But Christ used the cross, Satan's own weapon, to
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completely disarm and defeat the.
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Devil Edwards also brings up the story of Jonah.
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The great fish swallows Jonah, assuming it has successfully
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consumed its prey. But Jonah becomes a deadly
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poison in the belly of the beast, eventually forcing the
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fish to vomit him out onto dry land.
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The grave swallowed Christ. Death thought it had consumed
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him. But Christ could not be digested
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by the grave. He broke the domain of deaths
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from the inside out, turning the tomb into a mere waiting room
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for resurrection. And my absolute favorite
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metaphor Edwards uses is the story of Samson.
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Samson is captured by his enemies, the Philistines.
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They blind him. They bind him in brass pedals,
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and they bring him into the massive temple of their false
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God, Dagon. They bring him there to be
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mocked during a great feast. You can imagine the smell of the
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food, the deafening sound of thousands of enemies laughing at
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him, throwing things at him. He looks completely defeated.
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He is a blind captive slave. But in that moment of apparent
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total weakness, Samson asks to lean against the central pillars
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of the temple. He pushes with all his might,
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and he pulls the entire massive stone structure down upon the
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heads of the Philistine Lords, destroying more enemies in his
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death than he did in his entire life.
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That is a phenomenal parallel to what Christ accomplished in His
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greatest moment of apparent weakness, hanging naked and
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bleeding, looking like a helpless lamb caught in the jaws
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of the roaring lion of hell. He reaches out and grabs the
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central pillars of Satan's Kingdom, and he pulls the entire
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spiritual architecture of darkness down upon the heads of
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demonic authorities. He destroys the destroyer.
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He turns the instrument of public shame into the instrument
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of final cosmic victory. He was a lamb slaughter by his
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enemies, but in that very act of dying, he was the Lion of Judah,
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conquering the authorities of darkness.
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So we have traced this paradox from a humble dirty Manger to
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the absolute horror of the Roman cross.
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But the story obviously doesn't end in a garden tomb in
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Jerusalem. When we look at where Christ is
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right now seated in heaven, does this lion lamb dynamic still
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apply? Or did he leave the lamb aspect
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behind when he ascended? That is a vital question, and
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the answer is that the paradox remains.
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Currently, Christ is in a state of supreme, unmatched
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exaltation. He's seated at the right hand of
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God the Father. He's the undisputed King of
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heaven, the Lord of the universe.
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Every single Angel bows before him.
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But the incredible, often overlooked truth is that he
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retains his human nature. He did not discard his humanity
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like an old coat after the resurrection.
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Because he remains a Man United to human flesh forever.
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He remains the most humble being in heaven.
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Even seated on the throne of the cosmos, He is still the Lamb.
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I love looking at the imagery in Revelation Chapter 7 for this.
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It describes the eternal state of the believers.
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It describes Christ as the Shepherd who leads his flock to
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living fountains of water. But the text specifically says
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the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them.
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He is the shepherd leading the flock, but he is also a Lamb
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himself. We know from the resurrection
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accounts that he still bears the physical marks of his wounds.
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He has not forgotten what human affliction feels like.
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He hasn't forgotten the gnawing ache of hunger, the sting of
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betrayal, the weight of sorrow, the agony of physical pain.
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Because of this, he actively pities and comforts you and your
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daily struggles. He knows your frame because he
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wore it, and he still wears it. But we also have to look ahead
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to the Last Judgement. This is where the lion aspect
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becomes absolutely terrifying for those who remain wicked and
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unrepentant. Edwards notes that when Christ
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returns in the glory of the Father, the earth will literally
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tremble. The mountains will melt like
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wax. The Book of Revelation says that
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the kings of the earth, the rich man, the captains, and the
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mighty men will be filled with such staggering, paralyzing
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terror that they will run into the caves and beg the rocks to
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fall on them. They want the mountains to crush
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them in order to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb.
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That phrase itself is a terrifying paradox.
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A lamb is not normally a creature of wrath.
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You don't run from a lamb, but the wrath of this divine Lamb is
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an expression of His strict justice against those who have
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trampled upon His blood and rejected His grace.
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I want to contrast that terror with his posture toward the
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Saints, toward the believers. If you are listening to this and
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you have placed your trust in him, he will not appear terrible
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to you on that day. To you he will appear holy,
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clothed in sweetness and endearment.
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He will receive you not just as a subject, but as a friend and a
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brother. He will invite the church, his
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bride, to a spectacular, eternal wedding day.
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The day of dread and destruction for His enemies is the exact
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same day of absolute joy, vindication, and union for his
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people. So why does all of this matter
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to you? Let's bring this vast
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theological reality down to ground level and look at the
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practical application for your daily life first.
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Understanding this conjunction of diverse traits helps us read
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Scripture properly. Have you ever noticed how the
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Bible uses an incredibly wide, almost confusing variety of
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metaphors to describe Jesus? Yes, absolutely.
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The Bible calls him a son, but also a morning star.
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He is called a rock, a man of war, the captain of salvation.
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But in other places he's called a Pearl, a rose, a Lily, a
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bridegroom. If you don't understand the
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paradox, it gives you theological whiplash.
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Wildly different imagery. It is because no single human
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metaphor can possibly capture him.
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You need the fierce, unyielding, hard imagery of a rock and a
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warrior to understand his line like strength and his strict
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justice. But you also need the delicate,
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beautiful, fragrant imagery of a rose and a Lily to understand
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his lamb like meekness and his approach ability.
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It takes all these contrasting pictures stacked on top of each
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other to even begin to describe his diverse excellencies.
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Jonathan Edwards possessed a highly pastoral heart, and his
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goal in preaching this sermon is not just to give a theology
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lecture. His goal was to extend a warm,
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urgent invitation to trust. He wants the listener to
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recognize their true objective condition outside of Christ.
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By nature, fallen humans are weak.
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We are polluted by our own sin. We are destitute, bankrupt
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before the law, but Christ is infinitely strong, completely
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worthy, and perfectly holy. He has completely fulfilled the
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righteous requirements of the law that we broke.
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I want to speak directly to your doubts right now.
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What is keeping you from trusting Him fully?
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Are you afraid He isn't strong enough to save you?
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Are you worried that your specific sins are too great, or
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that the habits and addictions holding your soul are too
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powerful? Look at the Lion.
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He is the Almighty God. The entire universe bows to Him.
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He has sufficient might and authority to conquer any
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darkness, any failure, any enemy in your life.
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Maybe that isn't your fear. Maybe your fear is the opposite.
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Maybe you are afraid He won't stoop to your level.
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You feel too broken, too messy, too unworthy for the King of
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Heaven to even notice you. If that is you.
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Look at the Lamb. Look at Him taking spits of the
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face from soldiers. Look at Him kneeling in the dirt
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to wash dirty feet. He has already proven that He
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will go to the lowest possible depths for His people.
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Do you fear the Father will reject Him on your behalf?
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Impossible. The Father delights in the Son
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eternally. His sacrifice was perfectly
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accepted. Consider the gentle, persistent
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invitations he offers throughout scripture.
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Look at Isaiah chapter 55. He says ho everyone that
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thirsteth come, eat to the waters.
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He invites those who have absolutely no money to come and
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buy wine and milk without price. He offers the abundant provision
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of salvation as a completely free gift.
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You cannot earn it, you simply receive it.
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Or look at Revelation chapter 3, verse 20.
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The king of the universe says, behold, I stand at the door and
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knock. Think about the staggering
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condescension in that single action.
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He does not send a cosmic police officer to kick the door down
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and seize the rebel by violent force.
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He stands outside the door of your heart and he knocks, asking
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to come in and dine with you as a friend.
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That brings us to the concept of the ultimate friendship.
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We all have a natural human desire for a friend who is
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incredibly great because being associated with someone great
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honors us and makes us feel secure.
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But we also want a friend who is incredibly good, kind, and
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accessible so we can actually relate to them and share our
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lives with them. Finding both in a human being is
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nearly impossible. Christ fulfills both desires
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perfectly. He is the King of kings,
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possessing unimaginable glory and might, yet He became a human
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brother. He took on physical flesh so
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that you could converse with Him, relate to Him, and bring
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your deepest sorrows to Him without being instantly
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incinerated by the infinite distance and holiness of the
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divine nature. And this friendship dictates the
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entire reality of the eternal state for the believer.
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Heaven is not going to be a place of awestruck, distant
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terror. You won't be standing millions
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of miles away from a terrifying throne, afraid to speak.
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Christ calls his disciples friends.
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He invites them to a banqueting house.
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He promises to seat them at his own table and serve them.
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Because of the hypostatic union and his finished work on the
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cross, the Church is actually adopted into the Society of
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Blessed Trinity. The Apostle Paul says we are
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given the Spirit of the sun crying ABBA Father, we get to
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share in the sons own sonship. We are brought into the intimate
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inner circle of divine Love. That is just breathtaking.
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To recap what we have walked through in this deep dive, we
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have investigated the striking beauty of the Lion and the Lamb.
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We have seen how the blend of infinite majesty and lowly
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meekness meets perfectly in one person.
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His absolute authority combined with his willing sacrifice makes
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him not only the perfect Savior who can satisfy God's strict
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justice, but the perfect friend who intimately understands your
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frailty. Right.
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And the Cross proves once and for all that His strict justice
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and His infinite grace are not at odds.
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They are perfectly resolved in His substitutionary atonement.
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He bore the terrifying penalty of the law so that you could
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receive the internal promise of grace.
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I want to leave you with a final thought to Mull over as you go
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about your week. We established today that
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Christ's absolute greatest glory was manifested not in his
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moments of dazzling victory or earthly triumph, but in his
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moments of deepest suffering, humiliation, and apparent
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weakness on the cross. If that is true for the Savior
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of the world, what does that mean for the painful,
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contradictory, or seemingly weak chapters of your own life?
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Could it be that the places where you feel most crushed,
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most defeated, or most obscured are precisely the places where
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His line, like might, and His Lamb, like grace, are being most
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fully forged within you? Thank you for joining us today
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for Reform Thinking. We wish you well, and we look
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forward to sitting down with you for our next deep dive.