Skip to main content

It's all about Jesus. Or is it?


While surfing the net looking for churches, I came across a widely known church's website. Very well done graphics and organization for the most part. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find anything that described what they believed except for an oft-repeated refrain, "It's all about Jesus." Not very helpful really. I mean, that's like motherhood and apple pie, right?

Is it really all about Jesus? I know that at first blush, who could argue with such a statement? And I admit that as far as it goes, it's an OK statement. But not in the absence of any amplifying descriptions. As some of you may have noticed, I get a little concerned when folks want me to believe it's all about anything, and this is no exception.

Let's get the obligatory disclaimers out of the way up front. I am a disciple, I accept Jesus as the divine Son of God and savior of the world. I understand that his coming and death were pre-ordained by God. I understand the expectation that people are called to believe in him.

From a human perspective, the Scriptures we have and pay most attention to certainly make it seem like it's all about Jesus. Paul even says that the Gospel he preaches is Christ, so clearly Jesus plays a pretty big role in whatever is going on. Jesus removed our sins, having remained faithful even through death, and that if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father. So far, so good.

Sounds like it might be all about Jesus.

OK, take a breath.

Turn the table around and look at what's going on from God's view. The picture changes considerably. God made you to live in this world and enjoy it; he wants you live in the fullness of your making and being. 

When Paul uses the term Christ, the term is not synomomous with the person Jesus. The title of Christ is heavy with implications and one of those is where this Christ comes in the foreknowledge and plan of God. Knowing that people were going to fail to live with a desire for God, God's intent of sending Jesus to restore all things to their rightful state was always the plan. Messiah is intended as a blessing for people more than a payment for guilt.

When Jesus says he and the Father are one, he does so to make the point that he has revealed God to people. In fact, Jesus' life is an intentional unveiling of God for the benefit of the creation. 

OK, take another breath.

What does history look like from God's side of the table? It looks a whole lot like there is not inconsiderable interest in you. Everything God has done from creation to the sacrifice of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit is for your benefit. God doesn't need you, and he doesn't need to die for you after living a humble and often humiliating life.

But he did.

All of it for you.

Is it about Jesus? Yes; but it's also about you.

Remember, God loves you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

He Remembers We Are But Flesh

In Job, often considered the first book written in the Bible, we are introduced to the accuser. In the introduction to the book, it is the accuser who accuses Job of being righteous and faithful to God only because of the blessings that God has given Job. We find the accuser again in Zechariah 3. The High Priest Joshua is standing in front of the Lord in filthy clothes, and the accuser is making accusations. The Lord rebukes the accuser and then says that he will cleanse Joshua.  Then in the New Testament, we see the appearance of the Advocate. The Spirit, we are told, is sent to walk beside us, to be a witness, to be an advocate for us. The accuser challenges us, questions our faithfulness, and questions our integrity as people who are supposed to follow God as His people, His disciples. This is an entre for being blamed and shamed. But God comes alongside us and advocates for us. We are told too that Jesus is our mediator with God. Jesus defends us and explains us to God so that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elders redux

A reader (I am always amazed that people actually read this blog) submitted a rather long comment on the original post on Elders. It is apparent that the reader did some good homework as the comment has several, well, more than several, reference citations. It is clear that they both read the original post and did some Bible study before posting their comment. Because the comment was so long, I thought it appropriate to post another entry rather than bury the response in the comment log. In the following discussion, I have included the text of the comment without the Scripture references. If you want to read the comment in its entirety, scroll to the Elders post and click on the comment. --------------------------------------------------------- [Comment~~~~The church is expected to be a people in exactly this sense. We are the people of God who are charged with continuing and preserving the values, culture, hopes, and the identity of God’s people in our time.~~~~ Does this include th...
7 comments
Read more

Passover, The First Born, Abraham, and You

Israel has been in captivity in Egypt, Moses has completed his contests with Pharaoh, and the People of Israel have been expelled from Egypt. The death of Egyptian firstborn children and livestock has compelled their removal into the wilderness. At the end of Exodus 12, God institutes the Passover in remembrance of the Angel of Death passing by the homes of Jews on the night the Egyptian firstborn children were killed. Notably, they were spared if in a house with blood around the door.  The Passover is established for Israel herself, including their slaves who have been circumcised. If a sojourner wants to celebrate the Passover with you, he can after he circumcises all males with him. I suspect that pretty much eliminated any visitors participating. In chapter 13, the protocols include redeeming Israel's firstborn. In this discussion, God says your firstborn belongs to God, and you must redeem your firstborn or you must kill it. God has redeemed Israel's firstborn by the blood...
Post a Comment
Read more