Those excellencies which lie scattered in the
creature — are all united and centered in God, as the beams are in
the sun, and the drops are in the ocean.
When God says to the soul, "I am yours," it is enough
— he cannot say more! He will be his people's God as long as he is God.
The creature is but a broken reed; God is the Rock of
Ages.
Glory is essential to the Godhead, as light is to the
sun. Glory is the sparkling of the Deity.
The glory of God must be a silver thread, to run
through all our actions.
God cannot be God without his glory; this glory can
receive no addition, for it is infinite.
There is in God all that may draw forth both wonder
and delight. There is in him, a constellation of all beauties. He is the
original and spring-head of being, who sheds a glory on the creature. We
admire God in his attributes, which are the glittering beams by
which the divine nature shines forth. We admire him in the promises,
which are the charter of free grace, and the spiritual cabinet where the
pearl of great price is hid. We admire God in the noble instances of his
power and wisdom, such as none but a God could effect.
Oh! how does man shrink into nothing — when Infinite
Majesty shines forth in his glory!
God being an infinite fullness — there is no fear of
lack for any of the heirs of Heaven.
Here we see some beams of God's glory. We see him in
the looking-glass of creation, and his image shines in the saints. But
who can search out his essential glory? Let us adore Him — where
we cannot fathom Him!
In Heaven we shall see God clearly, but not fully. He
will communicate himself to us according to our measure — but not
according to the infinity of his nature.
God's power is of equal extent with his will. God
can, with a word, unpin the wheels of creation. God commands, and all
creatures in earth and Heaven obey him. To contest with him, is as if
the thorns should set themselves in battle-array against the fire, or as
if an infant should challenge an archangel. God's power is never spent
or wasted. "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow
weary!" Isaiah 40:28
God's power makes him mighty; his holiness makes him
glorious. Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of Jehovah's diadem.
God is holy, efficiently; holiness began with him who is "the
Ancient of days." He made the angels holy, he infused holiness into the
human nature of Christ, and all the holiness of his saints is but a
crystal stream, from Him, the fountain.
We borrow all our holiness from God. As the lights of
the sanctuary were lighted from the middle lamp, so all the holiness of
believers is lighted from Heaven: "I am the Lord who sanctifies you."
Conceive of God in Christ, we cannot see him any
other way, as we cannot see the sun in the circle — but in the beams.
The Godhead dwells in Christ's human nature: "for in him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily."
Through the bright mirror of his own essence, God has
a full and perfect knowledge of all things. The world is to God, as a
bee-hive constructed of glass, where you see the working of all within.
All things are unveiled to the eye of Jehovah: "You,
O God, see me."
There is a holiness of similitude, and that we must
aspire after, and thus have some analogy with God. We should be as like
him in holiness, as the creature can resemble God.
God is called "the strength of Israel;" it is in his
strength, that we stand, and not in our own. The child is safest in its
father's arms; a little pinnace tied fast to a rock is safe; so are
believers when fastened to the Rock of ages. "Be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might."
There is majesty in God's name Jehovah, it
imports his absolute, eternal, and independent being. There is majesty
in God's looks; Job had but a glimpse of God, and he was
overwhelmed with amazement (Job 42:5). There is majesty in God's
words, as when he spoke from Sinai. There is majesty in God's
attributes, which are the indications of the Divine essence. There
is majesty in God's works — every creature sets forth his power
and speaks his praise.
God's power makes him mighty, his mercy makes him
lovely — but his holiness makes him glorious. "Glorious in holiness."
If God IS our portion, all our estate consists in
jewels, which can never fade, never waste, and never be lost. "God is
the strength of my heart, and my portion forever!"
God is to be loved more than his mercies. Many love
their deliverance, more than their deliverer.