It's only Jesus. All we have from God is Christ. Nothing else. Nothing else. He is the solution to all of our problems.
Do you find that disappointing? Were you looking for something more recent? Or is it simpler? Or is it cooler? It's just Jesus, I'm sorry. He is God, and all God provides us comes through Him. Perhaps this appears to be uninteresting news. But, when we contemplate the famous Reformation slogan "Christ alone," I hope to excite you. As done in Prophetic ministry in Brooklyn and other Astoria Christian churches.
This one individual who walked the world many years ago is still alive. He communicates with us. He lifts the guilt blanket and blows the air of forgiveness. He fills the void left by our loneliness with a comforting presence that will not abandon us. He guides our rambling life to eternally meaningful service. He beckons us out of our never-ending self-loop and into a life of unlimited love. Just Jesus is a sky with more stars than we can count. We will never be able to exhaust the beauty and wonder that awaits discovery. There will always be more.
Christ is Recovering
The trademarks of the Reformation are sometimes articulated in five Solas, five "only's" that needed to be restored to reconnect Christians to the Savior. The first sola is Christ by Himself. All of our redemption, including our justification, is provided by Christ Jesus, not by anybody or anything else. Many vibrant churches in Williamsburg preach about this.
Of fact, the Lord's people are always prone to obscuring the piercing light of Christ alone. So, explore three dimensions of what Christ alone may signify for the position we find ourselves in. Christ alone implies that God offers us, Jesus, specifically, only Jesus, and everything of Jesus.
In particular, Jesus
This reality was often drilled into me by wise mentors: there is no deity behind Jesus' back. God is nothing else than who he is in Jesus Christ for us. "Jesus is the light of God's glory and the exact imprint of his being," according to the Bible (Hebrews 1:3). God is not an angry "Old Testament God" one morning and a sweetly accepting "New Testament God" the next. We have a clear view of the triune God when we see Jesus.
"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father," Jesus stated (John 14:9). There isn't God the Father over there and God the Son over here, with the Spirit somewhere in between. "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me," is all there is (John 14:10). "All the glory of God was pleased to dwell" in Jesus (Colossians 1:19).
Only Jesus is Mentioned
We understand that Christ alone means that there is no other person or route that can reconcile us to God. "There is one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, who offered himself as a ransom for everyone," Paul wrote (1 Timothy 2:5–6). Final redemption is founded only on Jesus' righteousness. Only Jesus can redeem us for all eternity.
The whole Jesus
Finally, Christ alone implies that God has nothing more to offer us other than Jesus. But having Jesus means having everything. We get everything that Jesus is for us because we are joined to him by the Holy Spirit through faith.
As a result, Paul could proclaim, "God has moved us into Christ Jesus, who came to our knowledge from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).
This splendor dazzles the sight, and we strive to take it all in. By examining the advantages that result from our unity with Jesus, we gain a glimpse of what it means to possess all of him. We return to the treasure of Ephesians, particularly 1:3–14.
No comments yet