If you were to ask the average Christian sitting in a worship service on Sunday morning to summarize the message of Christianity, you would most likely hear something along the lines of "The massage of Christianity is that God loves me." As wonderful as this sentiment sounds, is it biblical? Isn't it incomplete, based on what we have seen in the Bible? "God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity. Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?
God loves me.
Me.
Christianity's object is me.
Therefore, when I look for a church, I look for the music that fits me and the programs that best cater to me and my family. When I make plans for my life and career, it is about what works best for me and my family. When I consider the house I will live in, the car I will drive, the clothes I will wear, the way I will live, I will choose according to what is best for me. This is the version of Christianity that largely prevails in our culture.
But it is not biblical Christianity.
God loves us for HIS sake.
This may come as a shock to us. You mean that God has an ulterior motive in blessing us? We are not the end of His grace? And the answer Scripture gives is clear. Indeed, we are not at the center of His universe. God is at the center of His universe, and everything he does ultimately revolves around him.
Does this make God selfish? How can God's purpose be to exalt Himself? Whom else would we have Him exalt? At the very moment God exalted someone or something else, He would no longer be the great God worthy of all glory in the universe, which He is.
(from Radical by David Platt)
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July 7, 2010 at 9:18 PM
The message of Christianity can be summed up in 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul talks about the basic tenants of the Gospel.
God is a loving God; yes He is. He is also a Just God. A righteous God. A Holy God. A God that will show His wrath. A Sovereign God. We are none of these and by all biblical accounts we are evil.
We put God in this lovey dovey box and that is not the God of the bible. God hates sin. This can be no more evident than in the death of His son. That is God's wrath. He just got sick and tired of our poor state and decided to do something about it. He came to us by becoming a man.
You are right on. It is not about us and never will be. He is the Alpha and Omega. The great I AM.
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