The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

“Rest not till you enjoy the privilege of humanity—the knowledge and love of God. Lift up your heads, ye creatures capable of God! Life up your hearts to the Source of your being!” -John Wesley, The General Deliverance

One of Wesley’s most creative sermons is The General Deliverance. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

The sermon is about God’s larger work of salvation and how the saving work of Christ, his incarnation, his life among us, his death, and his resurrection have an impact far greater than we might imagine.

When we talk about salvation, we usually focus on human beings. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with this. But God has an even larger vision; one in which the entire creation is restored to its beauty, its goodness, and the way that it was intended to be.

Wesley explores this in the sermon. And while he dabbles in what we call “speculative theology” here (animals given the ability to talk, etc.) what he’s attempting to describe is the full restoration of God’s restoration project.

This way of approaching God’s work fits well with Scripture in a number of ways. In the Old Testament, we can clearly see that when God created, before the Fall, He repeatedly “saw that it was good” (e.g., Gen 1:10). Before sin and therefore death inflicted the world, the creation itself functioned according to God’s full design. And yet that design can still be seen. The imprint is still there.

In the Psalms, the psalmist writes that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (19:1). The creation itself has the imprint of God, and we can see from it, in its design, its detail, and its beauty the very intention of our Creator. And according to Wesley, and others, God wants to renew the created order just as he wants to renew you and me.

We can see this renewal, or even re-creation, in Revelation where God creates a “new heaven and a new earth (21:1). Just as God will raise us in resurrected bodies, so He will renew, restore, and make the creation whole.

But what does this say for us today?

As creation is a gift, we are called to appreciation for the gift and gratitude for it. We often speak of the gift of salvation or the gift of grace and yet we are also standing on one of God’s good gifts.

It calls us to stewardship. Like all of the gifts of God, we are called to be stewards. We are called to seek the good of the created order, just as we are called to seek the good for and in one another. And if God’s plan for us includes the restoration of the created order as well, we are called to cooperate in that work.

And finally, as something that displays God’s handiwork, we are called to give glory to God by seeing his imprint in the creation. A mountain range or a sunset is beautiful in and of itself, but it also points to the beautiful vision of God. And when we see that and acknowledge the One from whom and through whom all things were made, it changes us. Seeing the goodness of God’s work always has that impact, and in this case its right in front of us.

P.S. If you want to read The General Deliverance you can find it here.

Ryan N. Danker is director of the John Wesley Institute_, Washington, DC_. This is adapted from a weekly JWI newsletter that can be subscribed to here_._

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