In his book “Knowledge of the Holy,” A.W. Tozer famously emphasized the priority of knowing God by saying, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
Do you think this is true, or do you think Tozer overstates it? After all, we often think there are many “most important things about us.” We might think our family, our finances, or our career are the most important things. We might value most what school we attend, what fraternity/sorority we are a part of, or the status of our physical health. No doubt these things all have varying degrees of weight in our lives, but are they the MOST important thing? Tozer says “no, they aren’t the most important thing” … and I agree with him. I also believe that what we think about God is most important as it shapes not only our lives but also our eternity.
So what do you think about when you think about God? Who is God and what is He like? Do you trust Him?
Going further, Jesus Christ self asserts that He is God. That means that what is most important about us is who we know and believe Jesus to be. So who do you say Jesus is? Of this question, 70 years ago C.S. Lewis heard many arguing that Jesus was just another great moral teacher from history. He felt like (and I agree with Lewis) it was not an option to simply say Jesus was JUST a moral/religious teacher because Jesus claimed to be so much more. In his classic work, “Mere Christianity” Lewis argues:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. … Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”
To say it another way, the evidence of history points to Jesus being more than a carpenter. Neither lunatic or liar, Jesus is Lord, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world.
Who do you say Jesus is? Is He the ONE?
This Sunday at Wildwood we will be in part 3 of our sermon series, “is He the ONE?” as we look at Luke 7:18-35 and see John the Baptist (and some of his disciples) ask Jesus if He is the One or if they should expect another to come. Their question and Jesus’ answer is instructive for us today. Join us Sunday as we worship at 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 … and bring friends!
This is an interesting section that I have wondered about. We know that John was Jesus’ cousin and grew up with Him. He had baptized Jesus and knew of all of His signs and wonders. Yet, he sent two of his disciples to ask if He really was the Messiah. I have always wondered why John would do that. But I think John, knowing that Jesus was the Messiah, was questioning Him about why He was still in prison, facing execution. If Jesus could raise the dead and make the blind see, then freeing John was a small matter. But He didn’t. It is sort of like me in that I had the full-body fusion, in pain, hardly able to walk, and I kept crying out, “Why me, Lord?” I know full well that He could heal me. But He didn’t. As you told me, Mark, “Chuck, His promises never fail. He will heal you; it just may not be this side of Heaven.” I know that to be true, and I know I am not to focus on my circumstances, but always to look forward, taking one day at a time. Incidentally, my new back surgery has been moved up a week from September 21st to the 14th. Thanks for all you do, Mark.
Super introduction to what will surely be an impactful sermon. I love the assertion that we have to make a choice to see Jesus as Lord, not just a good person.