“The happiness of the redeemed is not the ultimate end of redemption, nor the only happiness which will be produced by it. God is represented in the Scriptures as conferring his favours in such a way as that no creature shall be blessed merely for his own sake, but that he might communicate his blessedness to others.
With whatever powers, talents, or advantages we are endued, it is not merely for our gratification , but that we may contribute to the general good. God gives discernment to the eye, speech to the tongue, strength to the arm, and agility to the feet, not for the gratification of these members, but for the accommodation of the body. It is the same in other things.
God blessed Abraham; and wherefore? That he might he a blessing. He blessed his posterity after him ; and for what purpose? That “in them all the nations of the earth might be blessed. Though Israel was a nation chosen and beloved of God, yet it was not for their righteousness, nor merely with a view to their happiness, that they were thus distinguished ; but that he “might perform the oath which he sware unto their fathers ;” the substance of which was that the true religion should prosper among them, and be communicated by them to all other nations. The ungodly part of the Jewish nation viewed things, it is true, in a different light; they valued themselves as the favourites of Heaven, and looked down upon other nations with contemptuous dislike. But it was otherwise with the godly; they entered into the spirit of the promise made to their fathers. Hence they prayed that God would “be merciful to them, and bless them, and cause his face to shine upon them;” to the end, that his “way might be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations.”
Excerpt From “The Gospel Its Own Witness”, 1799
Fuller, Andrew, The Works of Andrew Fuller. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2007.
