“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3
If you ask most people if they believe God loves them, they would probably say “yes.” 1 John 4:16 says, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” But I wonder, have we misdefined God’s love? God’s love came not in the form of an abstract principle, but as a Person. The center of the Christian life is the person of Christ. All else is eclipsed by His infinite worth.
God put an image in His creation to demonstrate this truth…the sun. The sun is the center of all life on earth. Without the sun, there is no life. Christ isn’t just found in the center of our lives, but in the corners & edges (just like the light of the sun hits all of the planet). Knowing Christ profoundly and in reality is the chief pursuit of the Christian’s life. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” John Piper said it might be more accurate to say: “The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.”
To know Christ is to enjoy Christ. But we tend to know a lot about Him, with little enjoyment of Him. Don’t you think He wants to be enjoyed? I do. Out of knowing Him, we will come to love, adore, proclaim and manifest Him. God is preeminently concerned with us knowing Christ. Why? Because to know Christ is to know God since He has revealed Himself in His Son. Can we get any closer to the heart of God than knowing the One on Whom God’s heart is fixed?
God is not about repairing what has gone wrong in our lives as much as He is about finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ. According to Scripture, Jesus Christ – not a doctrine about Him – is The Truth. And Jesus Christ – not a moral code from His teachings – is the Way. God’s truth and God’s way are a living, breathing person – Jesus.
No matter what life may bring, Jesus will always be enough. There is no darkness He cannot penetrate, no wound He cannot heal, and no hole He cannot fill. Do you know God through His Son, Jesus? If so, how have you enjoyed Him today?
Father, You have revealed Yourself completely in Your Son. Please forgive me for the times I substitute knowing about You for knowing You. Teach me, Lord, how to enjoy You and know You more. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Topics: Joy
