The Excellency of Christ

In today's Christian landscape, there tends to be perfunctory faith, a shallow commitment to Christ, and superficial engagement with the mission Christ left for His people. While the Puritans had glaring faults of their own (not to mention excesses in some of the rigidity), our modern Christian culture could learn something from the great theological heroes of the past who understood the reality of sin, the human condition and our need to be God-centered, Bible-centered people in our everyday lives.

One such hero would be Jonathan Edwards, the great American colonial theologian and pastor who is widely-known for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God".

While the sermon was incredibly rich and powerful, it tends to leave a rather one-dimensional view of Edwards in people's minds. I wanted to share an excerpt from another Edwards sermon, "The Excellency of Christ," which is one of the best expressions of the work of Christ on the cross. If Christ's sacrifice is not so meaningful as to move someone to greater faithfulness, than this sermon should enliven us to his great work. What a wonderful thing He did for us!

May we present Christ to the world as most excellent - and seek to know Him more deeply so that He will pour out of us as we live our lives.

"There meet in Jesus Christ, infinite justice and infinite grace. As Christ is a divine person, He is infinitely holy and just; hating sin, and disposed to execute condign punishment for sin. He is the Judge of the world, and the infinitely just Judge of it, and will not at all acquit the wicked, or by any means clear the guilty.
And yet He is infinitely gracious and merciful. Though His justice be so strict with respect to all sin, and every breach of the law, yet He has grace sufficient for every sinner, and even the chief of sinners. And it is not only sufficient for the most unworthy to show them mercy, and bestow some good upon them, but to bestow the greatest good; yea, it is sufficient to bestow all good upon them, and to do all things for them. There is no benefit or blessing that they can receive, so great but the grace of Christ is sufficient to bestow it on the greatest sinner that ever lived. And not only so, but so great is His grace, that nothing is too much as the means of this good. It is sufficient not only to do great things, but also to suffer in order to it; and not only to suffer, but to suffer most extremely even unto death, the most terrible of natural evils; and not only death, but the most ignominious and tormenting, and every way the most terrible that men could inflict; yea, and greater sufferings than men could inflict, who could only torment the body. He had sufferings in His soul, that were the more immediate fruits of the wrath of God against the sins of those He undertakes for." - Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards.