Theology as Doxology:
Pursuing God’s Unending Glory
By John Fanella
“The greater spiritual discoveries and affections the true Christian has, the more does he become an earnest beggar for grace, and spiritual food, that he may grow; and the more earnestly does he pursue after it, in the use of proper means and endeavors.” - Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections
God’s law begins with God’s demand to be ultimate. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex.20:3). Our greatest love is reserved for God and God alone. It isn’t good enough to worship God. God must be worshipped as the ultimate God. An authentic relationship with God begins with the basic premise that God is ultimate, and besides Him there is no other. The study of theology is the means by which we discover the ultimate supremacy of God. Theology is doxology in the making.
Jonathan Edwards, New England Congregational Pastor and Theologian, addressed this topic at great length during the eighteenth century. He asked the question “What is the truest expression of relationship between man and God?” In his hallmark book, The Religious Affections, Edwards suggests that a true relationship with God is centered in the “affections.” By “affections” Edwards means the innermost desire of man. True spirituality is ultimate desire for the person of God in Himself. Far more than simply emotionalism, Christian desire is informed by the truth of Scripture and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
God wants to be pursued, because through our pursuit of God we show forth our delight in God. The more aggressively something is pursued, the more delight is revealed. The more intensely something is sought, the more the value is magnified. Pursuing God, then, is the highest form of delighting in Him and magnifying the worth of His glory.
GOD IS AN INFINITE TREASURE
God is a never-ending treasure of grace and glory. The full extent of God’s worth can never fully be perceived because it has no end. The glory of God is infinite. Only God in His endless perfection knows the absolute value and extent of His own worth. For us, there is always more of God and more to God than what we have currently apprehended. He is a treasure chest that is never exhausted. Each new treasure that we pick up only compounds his worth and value in our hearts. Each new discovery of God’s beauty, each new apprehension of His perfection transforms us and moves us from “glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). The Christian life is a pursuit of attaining the glory of God and being transformed into God’s image.
“Pursue” is a hunting term, indicating diligent searching and seeking, ardent and active interest, and an unusual desire reserved only for the most valuable treasure. Although the extent of God’s value can never be fully realized, it is progressively perceived with each new discovery of Him and will grow through all of eternity.
God delights in revealing the extent of His worth to mankind. As we pursue God’s infinite worth, He is faithful to reveal Himself more and more. And as we become enamored by each degree of His worth and respond accordingly, God is pleased. The desire for man to realize and respond to the magnitude of God’s worth is what has driven His action in history, in both creation and redemption—all for the sake of His delight and pleasure.
SATISFIEED OR DISSATISFIED IN GOD?
Man’s desire to purse God can never be satisfied. Every new degree of knowledge, love, and holiness that we achieve simply opens the door to see more and to experience more of the same. The nature of our pursuit of God is that we will never be able to exhaust Him, never uncover all that He is. There is always more of God.
Jonathan Edwards drew this theme out again and again. For example, he wrote:
“The greatest eminency that the saints arrive to in this world, has no tendency to satiety, or to abate their desires after more; but, on the contrary, makes them more eager to press forwards; as is evident by the apostle’s words, Phil. 3:13-15, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark. — Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.”
Similarly he wrote,
“The greater spiritual discoveries and affections the true Christian has, the more does he become an earnest beggar for grace, and spiritual food, that he may grow; and the more earnestly does he pursue after it, in the use of proper means and endeavors.”
And again,
“But these things (reasons to be generally satisfied in God) do not argue that a soul has no appetite excited after more of the same, that has tasted a little; or that his appetite will not increase, the more he tastes, until he comes to fullness of enjoyment: as bodies that are attracted to the globe of the earth, tend to it more strongly, the nearer they come to the attracting body, and are not at rest out of the center. Spiritual good is of a satisfying nature; and for that very reason, the soul that tastes, and knows its nature, will thirst after it, and a fullness of it, that it may be satisfied. And the more he experiences, and the more he knows this excellent, unparalleled, exquisite, and satisfying sweetness, the more earnestly will he hunger and thirst for more, until he comes to perfection. And therefore this is the nature of spiritual affections, that the greater they be, the greater the appetite and longing is, after grace and holiness.”
This is perhaps the single most important aspect of theology that we need to realize: Although the Christian is generally satisfied with God, he can never be wholly satisfied with what he has of God. The Christian should always want more knowledge of Him, more love of Him, and more apprehension of His worth and glory.
John Piper, a respected writer and pastor, has summarized the theology of Edwards as follows: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Although this statement is true generally, it is not true absolutely; for God is most glorified in us when we pursue more of Him—that is to say when we are dissatisfied. That is not to say that we are generally dissatisfied with God or what we know of Him, but that we are particularly dissatisfied with what we do not know or have of Him. And it is that holy dissatisfaction that pleases God, as it reveals the infinite extent of His worth and glory, and the affectionate desire we have to know Him more and more.
If man ever becomes totally satisfied with what he has of God, it would mean that God had been exhausted, that the fullness of His glory had been realized. But an infinite Being with an infinite degree of glory cannot be exhausted. Rather, every realized degree of His glory gives way to greater degrees of glory. God is an ever-springing ocean that never runs dry but keeps spilling over us with His waves of grace and glory.
Think of a child opening the final gift on Christmas morning. He or she has received all they are going to receive and are satisfied. But with God, there is no final gift. The gifts are infinite; they never cease. And although we are generally happy with every gift God gives, we eagerly tear into the next present, and the next, and the next. And as we so eagerly pursue the next gift (apprehension of glory), He is pleased. For the gift of God to us is Himself. He is the treasure; He is the source of our greatest joy and delight. He is our pursuit!
DESIRING GOD OR PURSUING GOD?
For Jonathan Edwards, the Christian life is not merely an emotional “desiring” of God’s glory. As central as Edwards makes desire of God, he clearly notes that unexpressed desire is not much better than no desire at all. It is a misunderstanding of Jonathan Edwards’ doctrine of religious affections to say that spiritual desire is the sum total of what delights God. It is more accurate to say that Edwards strives toward expressed desire, ambitious desire, violent desire. And that expression and ambition is to take the form of increasing degrees of loving God and personal holiness. In The Religious Affections, Edwards wrote:
“Neither a longing [desire] after great discoveries, or after great tastes of the love of God, nor longing to be in heaven nor longing to die, are in any measure so distinguishing marks of true saints, as longing after a more holy heart, and living a more holy life.”
For Edwards, holiness crowns and authenticates desire. To talk simply about desiring God, panting after God, and longing for God can lead one to a frustrating mysticism—the kind we see in so much of contemporary theology and worship music. At some point, we must ask, “What does it mean to desire God? How do I know if I desire Him?” Edwards’ answer is that to the degree to which you pursue personal transformation into Christ’s image is the degree to which you desire God.
God’s presence, glory, and character are always transformational. You cannot know more of God and not be changed. Every new apprehension of the beauty and character of God changes us, transforms us, and conforms us to his image.
Further, holiness is what increases one's relish for the glory and holiness of God and the desire to pursue Him further. Unholy people—people who do not love and strive after practical holiness in their own life—will find the overwhelming holiness of God to be unappealing and not worth their ardent pursuit. But those who strive after perfection, even though they will never attain it in this life, are those most enflamed with a passion for God's holiness and glory. He is to the infinite degree what the imperfect Christian is to a finite degree.
PURSUING GOD VIOLENTLY
The nature of man’s pursuit of God is “violent” (Mt.11:12)—that is to say aggressive and ambitious. God does not desire us to journey to heaven quietly and patiently, as if we could live with or without him. He wishes for us to “press into his kingdom” (Lk. 16:16; Phil 3:12, 14); “to take it by force” (Mt. 11:12); “to run with perseverance” (Heb.12:1). He desires such pursuit from us not because our pursuit earns our place in heaven, but because it is what demonstrates His worth along the way. And our earnest pursuit, our holy action, is the basis for assurance of salvation. As Edwards said, “Assurance is not to be obtained so much by self-examination as by action” (Jonathan Edwards, Sermon on 1 Cor. 9:26).
Although an ardent life of works can never earn the merit of God for the believer, yet the grace that God gives freely is not a fruitless grace. The kind of grace that God extends to His elect is comprised of both faith and works, not faith without works or works without faith. Jonathan Edwards said:
“Though it is not needful that we do anything to merit salvation, which Christ has fully merited for all who believe in him, yet God for wise and holy ends has appointed that we should come to final salvation in no other way but that of good works done by us” (Jonathan Edwards, The Manner in Which the Salvation of the Soul is to be Sought).
In the same essay, Edwards said:
“There are many wise ends to be answered by the establishment of works as pre-requisite to salvation. The glory of God requires it. For although God stands in no need of anything that men do to recommend them to his saving mercy, yet it would reflect much on the glory of God’s wisdom and holiness to bestow salvation on men in such a way as tends to encourage them in sloth and wickedness; or in any other way than that which tends to promote diligence and holiness. Man was made capable of action, with many powers, both body and mind, fitting him for it. He was made for business and not idleness; and the main business for which he was made was that of religion. Therefore it becomes the wisdom of God to bestow salvation and happiness on man in such a way as tends most to promote his end in this respect, and to stir him up to a diligent use of his faculties and talents” (Jonathan Edwards, The Manner in Which the Salvation of the Soul is to be Sought)
The nature of evangelical grace is that it produces abundant fruit. It produces both faith (Eph.2:8,9) and works (James 2:24). Only faith saves a person, as that is what unites him with Christ, but that faith is accompanied by an abundance of works. A faithful soul is disposed toward painstaking obedience, both outwardly and inwardly, to every known law of God. Even though our obedience will be imperfect in this life, still a faithful person will strive with all diligence to obtain perfection. This careful and ardent striving after perfection expresses our violent pursuit of God.
The Bible speaks often of God’s desire for us to pursue Him violently. It often uses the phrase “Seeking God” to describe this violent pursuit. In almost every passage that describes God's desire to be sought, it refers to a strenuous seeking not a casual one. It is not the leisurely seeking of a tourist in an uninteresting town. It is the diligent seeking of a hunter after his prey, or of a treasure-seeker pursuing His find.
For example we read in Deut. 4:29,
“But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”
Or in Heb 11:6 we read,
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
In reflecting on these and other similar passages, Edwards states:
“There is a work or business which men must enter upon and accomplish, in order of their salvation. Men have no reason to expect to be saved in idleness, or to go to heaven in a way of doing nothing. No, in order to it, there is a great work which must be not only begun, but finished...It is the work of seeking salvation in a way of constant observance of all the duty to which God directs us in his word. If we would be saved, we must seek salvation” (Jonathan Edwards, The Manner in Which the Salvation of the Soul is to be Sought).
The Bible often speaks of pursuing God violently with other language, but with equal force. We are to run, strive, agonize, wrestle, press on, etc. In almost every instance in Scripture where such demands are made of us, it is directed toward Christians after their conversion. So that our striving and seeking is not only to find justification, but is to be the pattern of our entire life as Christians. Jonathan Edwards commented on this reality:
“Almost all that is said in the New Testament, of men’s watching, giving earnest heed to themselves, running the race that is set before them, striving, and agonizing, wrestling not with flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, fighting, putting on the whole armor of God, and standing, having done all to stand, pressing forward, reaching forth, continuing instant in prayer, crying to God day and night; I say, almost all that is said in the New Testament of these things, is spoken of, and directed to the saints. Where these things are applied to sinners’ seeking conversion once, they are spoken of the saints’ prosecution of the great business of their high calling ten times. But many in these days have got into a strange anti-scriptural way, of having all their striving and wrestling over before they are converted; and so having an easy time of it afterwards, to sit down and enjoy their sloth and indolence; as those that now have a supply of their wants, and are become rich and full. But when the Lord fills the hungry with good things, these rich are like to be sent away empty, Luke 1:53” (Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections).
Violently, then, is the manner in which God desires us to pursue Him. The Christian life is to be one of ardent striving toward apprehending God. We are to strive after God in our knowledge of him, love for him, and conformity to him.
PURSUING GOD’S WRATH
Pursuing God does not only concern Christians. God’s enemies are also pursuing Him, but they are pursuing Him in his wrath rather than in His grace. Just as every day of a believer’s life is another day of pursuing God’s infinite grace, every day of the unbeliever’s life is a pursuit of His vengeful wrath.
Each day that an unbeliever breathes air without acknowledging it as God’s gift, he pursues God’s wrath. Every time an unbeliever makes money or power or passion his ultimate aim, rather than God’s glory, he desires God’s wrath. Each second that an unbeliever avoids God’s presence and violates His commands, he welcomes God’s wrath. Every time an unbeliever rejects Jesus’ free offer of salvation, he runs after God’s wrath. Upon death, God will simply allow the wicked to continue their diligent pursuit of God’s wrath for all of eternity, as they become not only the pursuers of His wrath but the objects of it. In the day of reckoning, when God levels his eternal wrath against his enemies, no unbeliever will be able to accuse God of being unfair. He will merely give them what they have so earnestly pursued in this life. His judgment and wrath will be the reward of their greatest desire—which is to reject God and despise His grace and glory. But God will uphold the infinite worth of His glory by pouring out His vengeance on any and all who despise it.
Further, those condemned will not cease to pursue God’s wrath, as their flagrant rebellion against Him will not cease. Just like God’s holiness and perfection are infinite, so the sinfulness of man is infinite and can never be exhausted without the regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit. God’s enemies will never run out of sinful ambition, grow tired of sinning, or experience remorse for sinning. For all eternity, they will burn with desire for new, more, and greater degrees of sin and will pursue sin’s fulfillment to its ultimate degree even as they suffer torment for it at the hand of God. Jonathan Edwards put it like this:
“The reality and greatness of the depravity of man’s nature appears in this—that he has a prevailing propensity to be continually sinning against God (Jonathan Edwards, On Original Sin).
Even though all men will be forced to bow to the Lordship of Jesus, including His enemies who will become His footstool, God’s enemies will only do so out of force. The moment they arise from their bow, they will curse the Lord, defy his authority, accuse Him of injustice, mock His wisdom, scorn His exclusive method of redemption through Jesus Christ, and continue their sin and rebellion for all eternity. And thereby their pursuit of God’s wrath will be infinite because the extent of their sinfulness will be infinite.
PURSUING GOD IN HEAVEN
For the earnest Christian, heaven will be spent violently pursuing the infinite treasure of God. Although sin will be removed in heaven, redeemed humanity will not possess the divine attributes of God, and therefore will be unable to perceive the infinity of God’s glory. Jonathan Edwards said:
“Although the whole world will then [on the day of judgment] be present— all mankind of all generations gathered in one vast assembly, with all the angelic nature, both elect and fallen angels— yet we need not suppose that every one will have a distinct and particular knowledge of each individual of the whole assembled multitude, which will undoubtedly consist of millions of millions. Though it is probable that men’s capacities will be much greater than in their present state, yet they will not be infinite. Though their understanding and comprehension will be vastly extended, yet men will not be deified.” (Jonathan Edwards: Farewell Sermon).
Because man will not be deified (turned into God), he will lack the ability to all at once apprehend the extent of God’s worth and glory in His character and in His works. Only God knows the extent of His worth. We, as the creation of His hands, can only pursue the extent, never realize it. And this is by design. God is far more glorified as His people strive to apprehend Him than if He simply granted them His fullness all at once. Our pursuit reveals the intensity of His glory.
Therefore, heaven will be the eternal pursuit of God in His grace, glory, and works. Eternity will be spent advancing in degrees of knowledge of and delight in the glory of God. Eternal life will not be spent in idleness, but will be spent uncovering the infinite worth of God. In Miscellany 755 Edwards said:
“How soon do earthly lovers come to an end of their discoveries of each other’s beauty; how soon do they see all that is to be seen! But in heaven there is eternal progress with new beauties always being discovered.”
When one begins to think of all there is to discover about God in creation, redemption, and His eternal state, we realize that it will take multiple eternities (if such a thing could be conceived) to pursue His glory. Heaven will be the opportunity for man to pursue God in perfect sincerity, without the blindness of sin to hide from us things we simply cannot behold now. And our pursuit of Him, as now, will be progressive, and will thereby reveal the infinite extent of His worth.
Edwards concludes his majestic treatise on The End for Which God Created the World noting this theme:
“It is no solid objection against God aiming at an infinitely perfect union of the creature with himself, that the particular time will never come when it can be said, the union is now infinitely perfect. God aims at satisfying justice in the eternal damnation of sinners; which will be satisfied by their damnation, considered no otherwise than with regard to its eternal duration. But yet there never will come that particular moment, when it can be said, that now justice is satisfied. But if this does not satisfy our modern free-thinkers who do not like to talk about satisfying justice with an infinite punishment; I suppose it will not be denied by any, that God, in glorifying the saints in heaven with eternal felicity, aims to satisfy his infinite grace or benevolence, by the bestowment of a good infinitely valuable, because eternal: and yet there never will come the moment, when it can be said, that now this infinitely valuable good has been actually bestowed” (Jonathan Edwards, The End for Which God Created the World).
Our pursuit of God’s treasure, which is Himself, begins now, and unless God has become your ultimate pursuit now, heaven holds no appeal for you. But if God has become the object of your earnest pursuit, the treasure you are diligently hunting, heaven will be the fulfillment of your deepest desire.
PURSUING GOD IN REVIVAL
Pursuing God is the theological framework for revival. Because God’s essence cannot be exhausted, there are always greater degrees of His presence and power available. And as people pursue more of God and relish more of God, God gives us more of Himself. When God, in His sovereign grace, allows us to apprehend more of Him, revival is realized.
Pursuing God is an intensely spiritual process. It requires a dynamic, ever-growing outpouring of God’s blessed Spirit. Man cannot pursue God on His own; he requires the Holy Spirit to enable his pursuit. And the Spirit continually pours Himself out on (fills) those who diligently seek Him. To the Spirit’s outpouring, there is no end.
In this light, we can never speak of receiving the “fullness of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, as part of the divine Trinity, is infinite. There is no end to His presence and power. Therefore, as God’s people pursue more of God, we receive a fuller sense of the Holy Spirit. But we never can experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit, as He is infinite.
I suggest that the fact that there is more of God (God is infinite) is the only pure motive for revival. We pray for and seek a fuller sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence because we wish to apprehend more of God. When we seek emotional experiences, miracles, or numerical growth, we corrupt the nature of revival. True revival grows out of our pursuit for more of God endless glory.
PURSUING GOD IN SUMMARY
Pursuing God is itself a summary of true, biblical theology. But to summarize even further, I have reduced its central ideas to four premises. These four concepts are the lifeblood of all true theology and doxology, and it is my hope that they will become the passion of every Christian who hopes for heaven.
1. God is a treasure of glory, grace, and wrath. God’s majestic supremacy is above all human comprehension. He is infinitely worthy because he is infinitely holy and sovereign. There is nothing in all of creation that compares with God’s worthiness in the fullness of His glory. It is the composite of all of His attributes–both loving and wrathful—that fill Him with worth and value. Theology is the science of uncovering the extent of God’s infinite worth and glory.
2. Man’s objective in the world is to discover, delight in, and display God’s glory. Man’s purpose is fulfilled to the extent that he delights in and displays God’s glory in his life. Those who become united with Christ through faith display the glory of God’s grace, love, mercy, and peace. Those who remain his enemies display the glory of His wrath, holiness, and justice.
3. Rather than reveal His glory to us all at once, God wishes for man to seek Him and pursue Him like a rare and valuable jewel—both before and after conversion to Christ. As we earnestly pursue God, we display His worth. We strive to know Him, press on to become like Him, and run to win him. And as we accent His worth by pursuing Him violently, He is magnified in us, delighted with us, and ultimately glorified through us. Every moment of satisfaction we experience in our relationship with God, is ushered away by the pressing urge to know Him more.
4. Man pursues God by progressively loving Him more and more with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, evidenced by increasing degrees of holiness. All of our strides in loving God should result in a life of progressive holiness. Every degree man advances in his love of God only opens another door to love Him more and be conformed more to the image of Jesus. A Christian is never satisfied with his attainments in faith or holiness, but constantly presses forward to attain more and to see more. Man’s pursuit of loving God more and more never ends in this life, and will be the occupation of eternity in heaven.
I commend the pursuit of God to you for your lifelong consideration. It is the very pulse of my theology, ministry, and practice. The highest good of man is to turn from selfish ambitions and pursue God’s unending glory. In that light, let us seek the highest good of mankind—the unending glory of God!
John Fanella is pastor of Beulah Congregational Church in central North Dakota. He is the author of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Made Easier to Read published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.
