The Accomplishing of God’s Purpose for Creation

Finally, in revealing himself most fully, God shines most brightly in creation and is most glorified. And in the same revelation, we see God’s love and rejoice with greater joy. The cross, then, achieves “the end for which God created the world,” which, wrote Jonathan Edwards, is both God’s glory and our joy. In John Piper’s words,

“Up until the coming of Jesus Christ, the Bible is like a piece of music whose dissonance begs for some final resolution into harmony. Redemptive history is like a symphony with two great themes: the theme of God's passion to preserve and display his glory; and the theme of God’s inscrutable love for sinners who have scorned his glory. Again and again all through the Bible these two great themes carry along the symphony of history. They interweave and interpenetrate, and we know that some awesome Composer is at work here. But for centuries we don't see the resolution. The harmony always escapes us, and we have to wait. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the resolution of the symphony of history. In the death of Jesus the two themes of God's love for his glory and his love for sinners are resolved.” – John Piper, The Pleasures of God ch. 6