Streetwise: John Donne and the end
'When God shall come to the last Act in the glorifying of Man, when he promises, to wipe all teares from his eyes, what shall God have to doe with that eye that never wept?'
-John Donne,
from a sermon on the verse 'Jesus Wept'
I find Donne's notion that history is a drama of God glorifying humanity to be particularly intriguing, and it accords with much of my own work and intuitions.
-John Donne,
from a sermon on the verse 'Jesus Wept'
I find Donne's notion that history is a drama of God glorifying humanity to be particularly intriguing, and it accords with much of my own work and intuitions.
Labels: eschatology, glory, quotation, Streetwise
posted by Jason at 11:43 AM
3 Comments:
I remember the light bulb that went on when I learned that there are 3 distinctions within salvation; "being saved" is not restricted to justification alone. After justification follows sanctification, from which follows glorification (Donne's last Act). We have been, we are being, and we will be saved.
It's interesting to read salvation as the means by which humanity is glorified. This drama of salvation seems to be the history of humanity's restoration.
Man was originally created "very good", a statement of praise from God himself. Yet this glory lasted only as long as man accepted God's supreme authority over His creation. Adam despised the true glory of God for the imagined glory of a lie, and his sin debauched the entire human race.
Now, being justified by Christ, we are being saved as we submit to Him and His work of sanctification. We might consider this as the way in which God remakes us according to His original design, beginning the restoration to our former glory in anticipation of our glorification in the last Act.
But God must receive all the glory for humanity's worth, for if we glorify humanity without respect to its relationship to God's authority, then, like Adam, we deny the truth of glory's divine derivative nature, and we are in sin.
James 4:10 - Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Hi Pamela,
I'm not sure if I'm meant to respond to this (as a response to something I said) or if it's your own independent ruminations? Thanks for your thoughts.
Nope, my comment didn't require one back from you; it wasn't exactly a point/counterpoint sort of response.
But were my ruminations that independent? Perhaps I missed the point of what you were saying. I'll have to search your blogs sometime for more insight into your work and intuitions into God's work of glorifying humanity.
Cheers, Pamela
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