Who Would Have Known?

I wonder sometimes how the angels must have marveled at God, when Satan and his allies rebelled and were cast out of heaven. They’d known that God was glorious; they’d witnessed His splendor and majesty and greatness ever since their creation. But this was something new, wasn’t it? They’d never before seen sin and rebellion…which means they’d never before seen God’s anger…never seen His holiness and His might expressed in this way. They must have been awed at this new display of His glory.

I’d never really thought about this until I started reading John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The poem opens with the fallen angels talking amongst themselves after they’ve been cast out of heaven. Here are some snippets of what they say about God—and their surprise at His might (which they now have experienced):

…so much the stronger proved[God] with His thunder.
And till then who knew
The force of those dire arms? (p. 14)

But He who reigns
Monarch in heaven, till then as one secure
Sat on His throne, upheld by old repute,
Consent or custom, and His regal state
Put forth at full, but still His strength concealed,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth His might we know, and know our own… (p. 33)

I’m not recommending Paradise Lost as a systematic theology or anything; Milton takes a lot of literary/poetic license, and some of his theology (and Scriptural interpretation) is off. But this definitely is food for thought!

Think about it: God, through the angels’ rebellion, revealed an aspect of Himself that otherwise would have been unknown (or at least known only theoretically). This was His plan from the beginning.

The same thing is true of man’s rebellion and fall. The holy angels were observers of this, too, and they must have been astounded yet again. They’d sang for joy at the world’s creation; they’d seen the beauty of God’s perfect created order, the purity and dignity of the earth and heavens—and man, the pinnacle of creation and the bearer of the image of the Creator. But with the fall, and the entrance of sin into the world, God’s image in man was debased and disfigured. His perfect creation was cursed, tainted. Maybe the angels wondered how good possibly could result from this.

It’s hard for us to grasp, too. After I started writing this blog post, ironically enough, I turned on the Christian radio station to hear Randy Alcorn being interviewed and answering questions from callers. One woman called in to ask Randy how he possibly could say that God ordained sin. Why would God do that?

I liked Randy’s answer, which was, in summary: I don’t know…but God’s wisdom is far, far greater than ours, and His own glory is His highest priority. And through ordaining sin, God has ordained to bring Himself the greatest glory. In a God-centered universe, this is exactly as it should be.

Human wisdom is limited. Angels’ wisdom is great, but likewise limited. But God’s wisdom is manifold—infinite. And His own glory is His highest priority. He ordains everything—evil included—so as to reveal the most about His glory.

Just as with Satan’s rebellion, God ordained/allowed man’s rebellion very deliberately. He ordained it in order to bring Himself exponentially greater glory by showcasing aspects of Himself that otherwise never would have been know. And what we see of God’s glory through means of mankind’s fall is absolutely astounding. Without sin, there would be no need for redemption…and without redemption, we would never know God’s compassion, lovingkindness, mercy, and grace. He wouldn’t be any less compassionate, gracious, merciful, etc. (since He is those things by very nature of being who He is)—but we (both humans and angels) would have no way of really knowing it…or praising Him for it.

Yes, this is manifold wisdom.

Who would have thought that God would ordain and orchestrate the universe so that the very thing that most dishonors Him and destroys His creatures would, in the end, bring Him even greater honor…and mankind even greater good? The angels never could have foreseen it, and Scripture says that they marvel, and long to look into these things—no wonder! How much should we, too, marvel—we, who don’t just observe but actually get to experience redemption?

John Owen says some great things along these lines in his book Communion with the Triune God (p. 208; italics mine):

There is a glorious end whereunto sin is appointed and ordained, and discovered in Christ, that others are unacquainted with. Sin in its own nature tends merely to the dishonor of God, the debasement of his majesty, and the ruin of the creature in whom it is; hell itself is but the filling of wretched creatures with the fruit of their own devices. The comminations and threats of God in the law do manifest one other end of it, even the demonstration of the vindictive justice of God, in measuring gout unto it a meet recompense of reward (2 Thess. 1:6). But here the law stays (and with it all other light) and discovers no other use or end of it at all. In the Lord Jesus there is the manifestation of another and more glorious end; to wit, the praise of God’s glorious grace (Eph. 1:6) in the pardon and forgiveness of it—God having taken order in Christ that that thing which tended merely to his dishonor should be managed to his infinite glory, and that which of all things he desires to exalt (Heb. 8:6-13)—even that he may be known and believed to be a “God pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin” [Mic. 7:18].

Owen’s a little hard to follow sometimes, but what he’s getting at is this: Since the beginning, creation has told of the glory of God—His glory in His wisdom, His power, His goodness—but it can only tell so much. The law, when it was given, revealed a bit more; through it, God’s glory in His righteousness, His holiness, and His hatred of sin were shown. But, still, even this couldn’t reveal everything God intended to reveal about Himself. It was only in the coming of Christ to accomplish redemption that we—and the angels in heaven—can see God’s glory in His grace­—and that is the very thing in which He most desires to be glorified.

One of my absolute favorite Bible passages is in Exodus 34, where Moses has asked God to show him His glory. God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock and passes by, and the statement He makes, the way in which He chooses to definitively proclaim His glory to Moses is by saying that He is “the Lord, the Lord God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”

What a God we have!

I think our response has to be like that of the angels—to just marvel at this wisdom that so supersedes our own. At the end of Paradise Lost, the angel Michael reveals to Adam God’s plan for future redemption through Christ. Adam responds in awe, saying (Paradise, p. 377):

O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense!
That all this good of evil shall produce,
And evil turn to good; more wonderfulT
han that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness!
... rejoice much more, that much more good thereof shall spring;
To God more glory, more good-will to men
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound.

Indeed.