Ultimately, Christianity is about knowing Jesus. Both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter make this most clear. The Apostle Paul states in Philippians 3:8-10 that he counts everything else to be rubbish that he may know Him. The Apostle Peter states that we have all things that pertain to life through the knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3). And, of course, John makes this the theme of His first epistle, as demonstrated by his opening lines. And Jesus Himself said that eternal life is simply knowing the Father and His Son, Jesus (John 17:3). There is a lot of great wisdom in Scripture and a great many “principles” for daily living. But it is all just so much vanity and chasing of the wind unless we live in the knowledge of Him, every day. Ultimately, His people are those who have chosen to love Him with all of their energies.
Scripture is given to us for the purpose of knowing Jesus. There are over 10,000 times in the Old Testament that God is reference by nouns, and many more times where He is referenced through pronouns. The New Testament does not let up either. Each of the first four books are about Jesus’ life. The book of Acts is about the spread of the good news of Jesus. One would be blind to not see the Christological emphasis Paul places in each of His epistles. Hebrews is essentially a biography of Jesus. James looks forward to His return. Peter urges us to get to know Him and imitate Him. Jude tells us to stay in His love. And Revelation is the Unveiling of Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God, as Colossians tells us. He is the great God and Savior as Titus tells us. He is the eternally blessed God as Romans 9 tells us. He is the eternal God as Isaiah 9:6 tells us; and this is the same Isaiah who says there is only one God (Isaiah 45:5, 21; 46:9).
That we have the privilege of being intimately involved with Jesus is the greatest privilege in the world and one we, who are His people, should be loath ever to relinquish. Do not let doctrine, church attendance, good works, ethical standards, or defense of truth ever substitute for knowing Jesus. These other matters are good and needful, but only when they are subservient to the first thing.
I pray God will richly bless you and transform you by the glory of Christ into an outstanding ambassador for Him.
a fellow believer,
tim
Greetings.
Christianity is about knowing and then obeying Jesus Christ. Many people knew a great deal about Him but do not obey, (Judas). There are others who knew much less and accepted Him for who He is, (the thief on the cross). This is Christianity, the most important issue that every man will face.
Agreed.