God's Self-Glorification

I wanted to do a brief reflection on an issue I've been thinking about. Namely, I've come to the conclusion that God must act at all times to maximally glorify Himself. For the reasons why I've come to that conclusion, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SA9hokDLPo

However, that begs the question: how was God maximally glorified prior to creation? That is, if I argue that Cross was necessary to maximally glorify God, how is it that God was maximally glorified before the foundation of the world? To answer this question, we must distinguish between two types of God's self-glorification.

Inter-Trinitarian glorification
Christian theology maintains God exists as a Trinity. (For a fuller exposition of that idea, see here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D3PmOLVlCflxmhatVDEJTQHBuJrP769uTxvaYONvA2E/edit?usp=sharing) So that means at all times, the Persons of the Trinity are constantly exalting each other. So how are the members of the Trinity constantly glorifying each other? They are constantly offering praise to each other, and upholding each other's worth. That means within the being of God, there exists an infinite love and delight. So then, how was God displaying His justice? I've argued elsewhere that justice means "to uphold one's intrinsic value". (For the reasons I take that view, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Op8GaQnlAo) Within God's triune being, justice was being displayed because the members of the Trinity were constantly esteeming each other's worth. God was displaying the fullness of His qualities within His being. Because each Person of the Trinity is infinite in worth, infinite delight is

External glorification
This deals with what Jonathan Edwards would call "the diffusing or the communication of God's own internal fullness." Within the being of God, God was being maximally glorified because He exists as a Trinity. Thus, at all times, the fullness of His qualities were being delighted in and exalted by the Trinity. At this point, one might object: "how was mercy being displayed?" Mercy is, after all, the suspension of justice. How was grace being displayed? Grace is, after all, unmerited favor. God merits all favor in reality by virtue of His infinite worth. Let's think about what mercy and grace really are. God shows mercy and grace towards rebel sinners out of His love for them. Thus, mercy and grace are really expressions of love. Thus, God was infinitely glorified by displaying the fullness of His love within His triune being.

So let's ask the question: why was sin necessary for God to fully (and externally) manifest His internal fullness? In other words, why did God create a world with sin? Why couldn't He have created a world that is Maximally Glorifying without sin? Here's my proposal: God's inter-Trinitarian glorification (i.e the display of His perfection within His being) cannot be manifested outside of His triune being in the same way as it is communicated within His being. What does that means? It means that because the Father, Son, and Spirit are intrinsically infinite, the communication of God's delight in Himself will necessarily be different among infinite Persons than among finite persons such as ourselves. So if God is to manifest His own internal perfection to beings who are not Him, He must do this differently. God knew that the Cross would be the best way to fully communicate His own internal perfection to finite creatures-and thus, such a world necessitated sin (as the Cross could not exist without sin).

Why is the Cross the best external display of the magnitude of God's own infinite love? Think about it. We see how radical the depth of God's love is when He's willing to die on behalf of rebel sinners, rather than when He loves people who perfectly keep His law. In the latter case, while it would be proper for God to love them, it is not as much of a demonstration to us of the depths of His infinite love. In the latter case, God loves people who in some sense have earned it. "Yet God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God's love is so radical, so unstoppable, that not even the sin of His people can stop God from showering out love on them. He most powerfully displays the depths of His own internal love He experiences in His inner-life in and through the Cross.

The relationship between Inter-Trinitarian glorification and External glorification-
Let's summarize. God's internal communication of His perfection within His being must be different than how He communicates that internal glory to finite creatures. God honors Himself by infinitely delighting in His own perfections-this is demonstrated in how the Trinity interacts with each other. And because each Person of the Trinity is infinite in worth, each Person's infinite delight in each other is the proper response, and the proper display of love. This internal interaction-the beauty of the Trinitarian "dance"-is communicated to us finite personages through God's radical displays of His own characters. So external glorification is God's act of communicating to finite personages the infinite worth of His constant Inter-Trinitarian glorification. Thus, God created a universe where His internal worth would be most fully displayed out of necessity of his nature (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SA9hokDLPo). This necessitates the Cross because the Cross (and its effects) is the fullest possible demonstration of the infinite, internal worth of God's being to finite personages. In doing so, God invites rebel sinners to partake in His own infinite delight in Himself. He opens up the highest possible joy to the creature: beholding the full beauty of God through communion with Him.

Concluding Reflections
God's external self-glorification is His way of communicating to us His internal fullness. As Edwards put it, God created the world so as to "diffuse His perfections". The overflow of His delight in Himself motivates creation-thus, God displays Himself throughout the world. And in so doing, God created a world where the beauty of his inner-life would be most fully displayed. This is why God ordained sin, and ultimately, the Cross. Through the Cross, He gives undeserving sinners a perfect window into God's own inner-life. And when we partake of God's infinite joy, we find our highest happiness. So come and drink at the root of this God's perfections. Come to the Cross, and find pleasure unbounded-"pleasure forevermore" :)