Philosophical Reasons [brackets are my words, otherwise it is Edward’s words]:
- If the creature gets its ALL from the Creator (entirely and perfectly), how is it possible that it should add anything God -- does God now become dependent upon his creation.- God has respect to things according to their nature and proportions, he must necessarily have the greatest respect to himself. The moral rectitude of the disposition [to approve of what/who is best], inclination, or affection of God chiefly consists in a regard to himself, infinitely above his regard to all other beings; or, in other words, his holiness consists in this.
- If it be an infinitely amiable thing in God, that he should have a supreme regard to himself, then it is an amiable thing that he should act as having a chief regard to himself.
[If God regarded someone (their interests, needs, desires) more highly than himself, then he would not be God, that thing or person would be.]
- That a disposition in God, as an original property of his nature, to an emanation of his own infinite fulness, was what excited him to create the world; and so, that the emanation itself was aimed at by him as a last end of the creation.
- God did not love angels in the strictest sense, but in consequence of his intending to create them, and so having an idea of future existing angels. Therefore his love to them was not properly what excited him to intend to create them.
[Doesn’t this make him selfish?]
But if God be indeed so great, and so excellent, that all other beings are as nothing to him, and all other excellency be as nothing, and less than noting and vanity, in comparison to his; and God be omniscient and infallible, and perfectly knows that he is infinitely the most valuable being; then it is fit that his heart should be agreeable to this--which is indeed the true nature and proportion of things, and agreeable to this infallible and all-comprehending understanding which he has of them, and that perfectly clear light in which he views them--and that he should value himself infinitely more than his creatures.
[In short, part of God’s moral goodness is that he approves/esteems what is best. God, being God, is the best there is, so he must esteem himself above everything else.]
Scriptural Reasons:
God is the first and the last - the beginning and the end (Is 44.6, 48.12, Rev 1.8, 11, 17, 21.6, 22.13)
When God is so often spoken of as the last as well as the first, the end as well as the beginning, it is implied, that as he is the first, efficient cause and fountain, from whence all things originate; so, he is the last, final cause for which they are made; the final term to which they all tend in their ultimate issue.
See Rom 11.36, Col 1.16, Heb 2.10, Pro 16.4
God’s glory is an ultimate end in creation
1. The way in which God makes himself his end is in making his glory his end. - Is 48.11, Rom 11.362. The glory of God is spoken of as the end for which those parts of the moral world that are good were made - Is 60.21, 61.3; Is 43.1-7; eph 1.5
3. Goodness of the moral part of creation [previous one focused on the creation, this focuses on the works of that moral creation] - Phil 1.10-11; 1 Pet 4.11; faith - Rom 4.20; repentance - Josh 6.19; charity - 2 Cor 8.19; praise and thanksgiving - Luke 7.18, Ps 50.23 - the end of all religion is to glorify God. - 1 Cor 6.20
4. Men and women are required to seek God’s glory - 1 Cor 10.30, 1 Pet 4.11
5. The glory of God is the earnest desire and delight of God’s moral creation when they are rightly related to God. [ie - people in scripture expressing or asking that God be glorified] - Rom 11.36, 16.27; Gal 1.4-5; 2 Tim 4.18; 2 Pet 3.18; Jude 25; 1 Chron 16.28-29; Ps 115.1
6. Christ sought God’s glory as the highest end - John 7.18, 12.27-28, 17.1
7. God’s glory is the end of the work of redemption - [Christ’s prayer in John 12 shows that when he seeks his own glory and the glory of the Father, he seeks it as the end of the great work that he has come to do (see vs. 12.4-5)] - John 13.31-32 [just after Judas had left to go betray him] - Luke 2.14, [this song of the angels had to be based on what they knew of the purpose of Christ’s arrival on earth] - Phil 2.6-11; Eph 1.3ff; 2 Cor 4.14-15
8. The glory of God is the last end of his moral government -
God created the world for his name, to make his perfections known, and that he made it for his praise
God’s name is the object of his regard - 1 Sam 12.22; Ezk 20.9, 14, 22; Ezk 36.21-23; Is 48.9-10; the judgments God executes on the wicked are spoken of as being for his name’s sake - Ex 9.16; Neh 9.10
[He then goes on to explain how ‘the glory of God’, ‘the name of God’, and numerous other terms and phrases are all pointing to the same thing. So in concluding his work he says...]
The ultimate end of creation is not manifold, but one.
It may be looking at this one object from different angles or in a different light, but it is all bound up in the phrase - the glory of God.
The emanation and true external expression of God’s internal glory and fulness.
It is described in a variety of ways because of the difficulty we as humans have in understanding all that it means in merely one word or one phrase. It includes the exercise of his perfections, the manifestation of his internal glory, the communication of his fulness to the creature
The fulness of the Godhead is the fulness of his understanding, consisting in his knowledge; and the fulness of his will consisting in his virtue and happiness. And therefore, the external glory of God consists i the communication of these. The communication of his knowledge is chiefly in giving the knowledge of himself: for this is the knowledge in which the fulness of God’s understanding chiefly consists. And thus we see how the manifestation of God’s glory to created understandings, and their seeing and knowing it, is not distinct from an emanation or communication of God’s fulness, but clearly implied in it. Again, the communication of God’s virtue or holiness, is principally in communicating the love of himself. And thus we see how, not only the creature’s seeing and knowing God’s excellence, but also supremely esteeming and loving him, belongs to the communication of God’s fulness. And the communication of God’s joy and happiness, consists chiefly in communicating to the creature that happiness and joy which consists in rejoicing in God, and in his glorious excellency; for in such joy God’s own happiness does principally consist. And in these things, knowing God’s excellency, loving God for it, and rejoicing in it, and in the exercise and expression of these, consists God’s honour and praise.
[Because God’s joy is found in himself and pursuing his happiness, when we find our joy in him and his happiness that is supremely glorifying to him.
The focus in our salvation was and is God, not man. This answers many of the questions that may have been raised over the last weeks. The challenge is for us to be as God-centred as God is. Much more could be said, but I'll leave that to you to chat it over with your friends.]
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