It's all about Jesus - Chris K
Some people when you mention the word theology say, ‘I don’t really care for theology, it’s all about Jesus’. The thing is…that is a theology. Theology is any belief that we have about God.
We all have a theology – we all carry around a belief about God and those beliefs reflect in how we relate or don’t relate to God, the world and each other.
So our theology is powerful because what we believe about God has a direct impact upon our entire life. To use a John Harding’ism – our relationship with God, the world and other people reflexes out of our theology.
Theology isn’t intellectualism. It can be and there are theologians that come to study the scriptures in a very academic, cold fashion, but good theology flows out of a heart that is in love with Jesus.
I don’t personally consider myself a theologian and I am never one to be enraptured with the latest idea or theory but I love Jesus. I want to know Him and I want my ideas and thoughts I have in my head to be transcendent, lofty and Biblical.
The Biblical authors encourage us to have our minds renewed and transformed so that we won’t be conformed to the world’s pattern and ideas of superficial life (Romans 12:2).
Our theology is essential. Good theology liberates us from falling back into dead and empty religion. It leads us into the joy of exploring and revelling in the wonder and beauty of all that Jesus has won for us by His incarnation, life, death and resurrection.
In this modern, you tube era we can easily get caught up in all sorts of wondrous, weird and outlandish theology. Spend an hour on Youtube and you can be chasing unicorns through a 7th heaven porthole before you know it! But at the centre of all Christian belief is Jesus.
Christology is the study of the nature and person of Jesus.
John Wimber the founding pastor of the Vineyard movement used to say ‘It’s the main and plain’.I don’t know about you but I don’t see the need to chase visions, angels, demons or any other outlandish experience. I’m still totally and utterly enraptured with Jesus and His glorious gospel.Jesus is the main and plain of scripture.
Jesus is God incarnate. He is both fully God and fully man. In Him is God’s declaration of desire for union with humanity and the means in which this union has happened. When I look at Jesus I realise that separation from God is just an illusion but now humanity is intrinsically and inextricably linked. Jesus is perpetually and eternally God and man intertwined and this union of God and man in the person of Jesus is the very thumping heartbeat of the Gospel.
Without a true and Biblical understanding of Christ we are left to ourselves on our own treadmill of religion trying to climb towards God, but when we understand God came to us, as us…everything changes.
In a world of confusion with Biblical theology and the Person of Jesus under attack maybe we need to switch off Youtube and come back to the old, orthodox practice of reciting creeds, reading the Bible in community, gathering as His church to hear good biblical teaching?
The Spirit of God is perpetually calling us back to our first love. To keep Jesus at the centre, to fall in love with Him and constantly remain in awe and wonder of Him as we continue to explore the eternal and never ending landscape of our union with Him. In the thick fog of confusion don’t lose heart, don’t lose your true north…don’t lose focus….it’s all about JESUS!
Recommended reading:
Anthanasian Creed – https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed
Mystical Union - John Crowder
The Divine Dance - Richard Rohr
We all have a theology – we all carry around a belief about God and those beliefs reflect in how we relate or don’t relate to God, the world and each other.
So our theology is powerful because what we believe about God has a direct impact upon our entire life. To use a John Harding’ism – our relationship with God, the world and other people reflexes out of our theology.
Theology isn’t intellectualism. It can be and there are theologians that come to study the scriptures in a very academic, cold fashion, but good theology flows out of a heart that is in love with Jesus.
I don’t personally consider myself a theologian and I am never one to be enraptured with the latest idea or theory but I love Jesus. I want to know Him and I want my ideas and thoughts I have in my head to be transcendent, lofty and Biblical.
The Biblical authors encourage us to have our minds renewed and transformed so that we won’t be conformed to the world’s pattern and ideas of superficial life (Romans 12:2).
Our theology is essential. Good theology liberates us from falling back into dead and empty religion. It leads us into the joy of exploring and revelling in the wonder and beauty of all that Jesus has won for us by His incarnation, life, death and resurrection.
In this modern, you tube era we can easily get caught up in all sorts of wondrous, weird and outlandish theology. Spend an hour on Youtube and you can be chasing unicorns through a 7th heaven porthole before you know it! But at the centre of all Christian belief is Jesus.
Christology is the study of the nature and person of Jesus.
John Wimber the founding pastor of the Vineyard movement used to say ‘It’s the main and plain’.I don’t know about you but I don’t see the need to chase visions, angels, demons or any other outlandish experience. I’m still totally and utterly enraptured with Jesus and His glorious gospel.Jesus is the main and plain of scripture.
Jesus is God incarnate. He is both fully God and fully man. In Him is God’s declaration of desire for union with humanity and the means in which this union has happened. When I look at Jesus I realise that separation from God is just an illusion but now humanity is intrinsically and inextricably linked. Jesus is perpetually and eternally God and man intertwined and this union of God and man in the person of Jesus is the very thumping heartbeat of the Gospel.
Without a true and Biblical understanding of Christ we are left to ourselves on our own treadmill of religion trying to climb towards God, but when we understand God came to us, as us…everything changes.
In a world of confusion with Biblical theology and the Person of Jesus under attack maybe we need to switch off Youtube and come back to the old, orthodox practice of reciting creeds, reading the Bible in community, gathering as His church to hear good biblical teaching?
The Spirit of God is perpetually calling us back to our first love. To keep Jesus at the centre, to fall in love with Him and constantly remain in awe and wonder of Him as we continue to explore the eternal and never ending landscape of our union with Him. In the thick fog of confusion don’t lose heart, don’t lose your true north…don’t lose focus….it’s all about JESUS!
Recommended reading:
Anthanasian Creed – https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed
Mystical Union - John Crowder
The Divine Dance - Richard Rohr
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