The supremacy of Christ
Obviously, there were many people who saw Jesus but did not see the glory of God, they saw a food buff and a wine drinker (Mt 11:19), they saw Beelzebul, the prince of demons (Mt 10:25; 12:24) and an imposter. (Mt 27. 63). ” See, don’t you see; and when they hear, they don’t hear? (Mt 13. 13). The glory of God, in the life and ministry of Jesus, was not the blinding glory that we see when Jesus comes, for the second time, with?His face?bright?like the sun on his strength?(Ap 1. 16; Lk 9:29) The glory of Jesus, at his first coming, was an incomparably extraordinary set of spirituality, moral, intellectual, verbal and practical perfections that manifested themselves in a kind of humble, miraculous and indisputable teaching, as well as in humble attitudes that separated Jesus. of all men.
- What I try to express is that the glory of Christ manifested among us was not only one attribute or another.
- One action or another.
- But Jonathan Edwards called “an admirable conjunction of various excellences.
- “In a sermon titled “The Excellence of Christ.
- ” Edwards used Revelation 5:5-6 as a text.
- Comparing Christ to a lion and a lamb.
- Edwards’ main argument was that Christ’s unique glory was such that various excellences (the lion and the lamb) were united in him.
- These excellences are so diverse that they “would have seemed totally incompatible on the same subject.
- “In other words:.
? We admire Christ for his glory, but we admire him much more because his glory is mixed with humility;
? We admire Christ for his transcendence, but we admire him much more because his transcendence is accompanied by condescension;
? We admire Christ for his uncompromising righteousness, but we admire Him much more because his righteousness is tempered with humility;
? We admire Christ for his majesty, but we admire him much more because he is a majesty clothed in humility;
? We admire Christ for his equality with God; however, we admire him much more because, although he is equal to God, he has a deep reverence for God;
? We admire Christ because he was worthy of all good, but we admire him more because he was accompanied by prodigious patience in the suffering of evil;
? We admire Christ for his sovereign rule over the world, yet we admire him much more because this government is clothed in a spirit of obedience and submission;
? We admire Christ because, through his wisdom, he embarrassed the proud scribes, but we love him so much more because it was simple enough to love and spend time with the children;
? We admired Christ because he used his power to calm the storm, yet we admired him much more because he refused to use such power to hurt the Samaritans (Lk 9. 54-55), with the fire of heaven, and refused to use his power. to get rid of falling from the cross.
The list could grow even more. However, this is enough to illustrate that the beauty of Christ is not simple, it is complex; is the union, in the same Person, of a perfect balance and proportion of extremely diverse qualities; this is what makes Jesus Christ particularly glorious. excellent and admirable. The human heart was created to remain astonished by this excellence. Were we created to admire Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ?John Piper
From “Deus e o Evangelho”, by John Piper, published by Editora Fiel.