Photo: Pexels – Miguel a Padrinan

How do we cultivate our spiritual life with God? How do we help those in our churches to do the same? Over the centuries Christians have described prayer, Bible reading and so on in a variety of different ways – ‘spiritual practises’, ‘spiritual disciplines’ for example. My own preferred way of describing them (though still imperfect) is the ‘means of grace.’

This post continues one series, and begins another series. It’s the fourth post in the series setting out why I appreciate the thought of Jonathan Edwards. Indeed, this is probably the thing I most appreciate about Edwards. I deeply value all that I have learned from Edwards about the means of grace – how we cultivate a closer walk with God. I have been particularly helped in my thinking by the book Formed for the glory of God – Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards by Kyle Strobel.

This is also the first in a series of posts on the means of grace, in which I lean heavily on Strobel’s work. These posts started life as a sermon series given at the Anlaby Churches, starting on 4th September 2022. 

Our destination

Before we think about the means of grace, we need to consider the journey we’re on and our destination. As Christians we have a destination; and our lives now are a journey towards that destination. The journey continues until the day we die. And as we think about the destination and the journey, so it becomes clearer what we need for the journey: that is, the means of grace God has given us.

What is our destination? Where are we going as Christians, that is, those who are trusting in and following Jesus Christ? We often think in vague terms of ‘heaven’ as a wonderful place. But we don’t stop to think about what it will be like or what it means for us now. As we think about our destination there’s lots we could consider: We could notice that ultimately when Christ returns there will be a new or a renewed heaven and earth; our ultimate destination is physical – heaven and earth being brought back together; and with sin removed all will be perfect – the world as it was intended to be.

Our relationship with God

But I want to focus in on our relationship with God, and two passages of Scripture that I find helpful:

First, 1 John 3:2. John tells us that now we are children of God, and what we will be in the future / in heaven isn’t even known to John. We can assume that it’s at least being children of God – it’s not less than that, but more. He goes on:

We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:2

So we will see Christ as he is, in all his glory and beauty and magnificence. And we will be like him. The thought is similar to 2 Cor 3:18 – that as we gaze on Christ so we are transformed into his likeness.

Next we consider John 17, that wonderful passage where we hear Jesus Christ the incarnate Son praying to his Father just before his death. From verses 17:22-23 we see that now and into eternity Christians will enjoy his love and we will love him with a perfect love forever. Even now the world sees God’s love for us; and on that day God’s love for us will be fully known and because we will be like him we will love him in the same way.

But 17:26 takes things even further – our status moves far beyond being children of God. Even now we are caught up in the life of the Trinity because we are united to Christ, but on that day the process will be complete: though still creatures we will be one with God, taken up into the life of the Godhead, sharing in the life of the Trinity. We will be caught up in and included in the joyful, loving, ever-satisfied, ever-giving life of the Trinity. We find a similar statement in 2 Peter 1:4.

To summarise, as Christians our final destination is being with Christ, enjoying Christ, being like Christ, and caught up in the life of the Trinity, in perfect joyful love forever. That’s where we’re heading.

Capturing our imagination

Let’s consider three images to help us imagine what the destination will be like.

First – a sight, a view. Think of the most beautiful view you’ve ever seen, that kept getting better – maybe a sunset that just got better and better and better. That is what it will be like as we gaze on the magnificent God for eternity.

Second, an enlarging bucket. We will be like a bucket that is full, satisfied in God. But the bucket will be ever expanding, ever growing. (See Ephesians 2:7 where Paul explains that we will spend eternity appreciating and glorying in the riches of God’s grace revealed in Christ). Our capacity for God and his beauty will be ever increasing.

Those two images are helpful to some degree, but they’re not relational enough. So third – a marriage, the most healthy marriage which is built on and reflects the life of the Trinity. Think of a husband and wife growing in appreciation and love for each other, serving each other with joy and delight, finding true delight and joy in putting the other first.

So there are 3 images which just scratch the surface of what our destination will be like. Ultimately our destination is seeing God as he is, and growing in relationship with him, and being caught up into the heart of his relationship, and becoming supremely happy as we do so. Here’s a quote from Jonathan Edwards describing God as a fountain – of love:

There, in heaven, this infinite fountain of love — this eternal Three in One — is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it, as it flows forever. There this glorious God is manifested, and shines forth, in full glory, in beams of love. And there this glorious fountain forever flows forth in streams, in rivers of love and delight, and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged with love!”

Heaven a world of love

What a wonderful destination! Why would we want to go anywhere else?

Our journey

As a family we often travel up to Scotland for our summer holidays. Because we know that is our destination, we plan accordingly for the journey: Getting enough fuel (for the car and for our bodies), getting the right maps and so on. In the same way, if our destination as Christians is as described, what does it tell us about the journey?

A number of years ago I read a book by the great 17th century theologian John Owen called ‘Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ.’ It’s a wonderful book doing what it says – helping us to gaze on how magnificent Christ is. He quotes John 17:24, And he goes on to say these words which have remained with me ever since:

One of the greatest privileges and advancements of believers, both in this world and into eternity consists in their beholding the glory of Christ.

John Owe, The Glory of Christ

Notice that he emphasises ‘in this world and into eternity.’ In other words – in eternity we’re going to be beholding the glory of Christ – enjoying, delighting in Christ; and we can do the same now.

Owen goes on to give a number of reasons why it’s not just something we can do now, but it’s something we need to do now:

  • He says it will prepare us for heaven – as we gaze on Christ we’ll become more like him. And of course our growing Christlikeness will also benefit us and those around us now.
  • He says that even in the midst of our current difficulties we need to be gazing on the glory of Christ because it will give peace and rest and satisfaction in the midst of the greatest earthly trials.
  • And he says – chillingly – if we’re not longing to gaze on Christ now, why do we think we’ll enjoy heaven, when that’s what we’ll be doing for eternity?

In his own way Owen is saying the same as I’ve been saying: The destination governs the journey. If we’re going to spend eternity gazing on Christ, enjoying Christ, and being caught up in the loving life of the Trinity – we should get into practise now.

And God has given us two wonderful helps as we go about doing this (and I was alerted to these two helps by Kyle Strobel in the book already mentioned): Two vital helps – simply arising from our Christian faith. 

A new taste for God’s beauty

The first is that when a person is born again we see God in a new way. Jonathan Edwards talked in terms of developing a new taste – a taste given by the Holy Spirit who has come into us. (I will address this in a future post).

I’ve had no sense of smell since my early 20s; but I remember what it was like to have a sense of smell – both good and bad – and perhaps one day it will return, and my experience of the world will be transformed. In the same way Jonathan Edwards says that when we are converted we receive a new sense – the sense of God’s goodness and glory and beauty. We taste that God is good in the same way we taste that honey is sweet. We don’t experience it all the time – perhaps you’ve sensed it when you’ve seen a beautiful view or heard a sermon that particularly affected you. But the point is – if you’re a Christian you already have this taste for the beauty of God; and if you’re not experiencing it now then I encourage you to ask God to give it to you.

Adopted into God’s family

The second help that we’ve received already is that we’ve already been adopted into God’s family. We’re in a relationship with God; we know God as our Father; we know Christ as our Saviour and our Bridegroom and our Friend; we know the Spirit as the one who lives in us and brings Christ to us and enables us to pray to our Father through Christ. And just as a family shares life together, so already through adoption we share life with Father and Son and Spirit. So with this new taste and with this membership of God’s family we already have everything we need for this journey.

Capturing our imagination

Again, let’s allow our imagination to help us think about this journey we’re on towards our great destination:

First, the image of a path. I love Psalm 16:11 which speaks of the path of life that God has shown us. When you become a Christian you come onto a path – the path of life, of abundance, of shalom. The Christian way is the best and most happy way to live. That path has begun and it continues into eternity.

Second, the image of a song. The song ‘Come thou fount of every blessing’ contains these words: ‘Tune my heart to sing thy grace.’ We are learning a song that we will continue to sing in ever increasing harmonies for all eternity.

Or think of enjoying your family, or indeed your church family. We all have different experiences of family. But hopefully all of us can think of a time in our lives when we enjoyed the ever increasing blessing of family relationships. And so it is with our journey and our destinations. We grow in relationships now which will continue for the rest of our lives and into eternity.

Conclusion

As I close this first post on the means of grace, can I encourage us to think about the journey we’re on. Ask yourself the question: Before reading this, what have I thought is my destination – in my heart? What have I been longing for? What have I been living for? And bring your answers to what we’ve seen about the destination – and see that it simply doesn’t compare. And ask God to cultivate in you this new taste for Christ and eternity.

And then having done that ask yourself: how should that change my priorities now? Enjoying Christ; enjoying his people; helping others to come to know him so they can enjoy him – those will be my priorities and my passions.

Taking it further

Formed for the glory of God – Kyle Strobel

Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ – John Owen

Heaven a world of love – Jonathan Edwards (sermon)