Christianity 201 became a teenager today. Since we talked about this yesterday, I want to talk today about our motto, “Digging a little deeper.”
Why is this necessary?
It’s important to strike a balance on this subject. On the one hand, the good news of Jesus is so simple that a little child can understand it. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus is quoted, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.“ It’s echoed in Mark 10:15, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (NIV and NLT, respectively.) This is about the approach to God, that initial response to his life, his teaching, his ministry.
However…
Understanding the riches and depth of the message of Jesus is so complex that we can never stop considering or discussing it. Think of the Christmas/Advent season just past, and you’re speaking about incarnation. Theories abound on the nature of God the Son becoming flesh in Jesus Christ; the mystical union of humanity and divinity.
Then consider the Easter/Holy Week season we’re about to enter, and you’re speaking about atonement. There are five or six major theories as to the nature of God’s atoning sacrifice for us, and all of its implications.
(Allow me to pause here and say, if you only go to church at Christmas and Easter, you’re choosing the most difficult weeks theologically. Better to go near Valentine’s Day when the sermon is about love, or in North America, on Thanksgiving weekend where the theme is giving thanks.)
John 21:25 offers an imaginative picture: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. (CSB)
Remember, this is talking about the thirty-three year life of Christ, and mostly about his three-year ministry life. But think about this: Although John is being hyperbolic here, if the world couldn’t contain all that could be written about his life, then what about the implications his life brought? (I think we’re safe reading that into the text.)
That’s humbling. It means that perhaps all of our theological writing to date has only scratched the surface of what could be said about God the Son, and today we’re not even considering God the Father or Holy Spirit.
Job 26:14, speaking of God the Father, reads, “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 2:9 adds, …“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Digging a little deeper? That could involve a lifetime of study, and for many saints, it has!
So we find ourselves in a strange place, where the offer of God’s peace, His salvation, and the entry point to participating in the building of His kingdom is so simply that a child may come, and so wonderfully complicated that we can never stop admiring that complexity.
So why have we done what we’ve done here, every single day since April 1st, 2010? It’s simply our little contribution to whoever wants to go beyond Christianity 101.
Want to start out at the simple level? If you’ve never crossed the line of faith in Jesus this moment, right now, could be the place you begin.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10: 9-10 (NIV)
Christianity 201 has no product to sell you, no Patreon to ask you to join, and collects no referral fees from other websites. It’s a free gift to you, and has been for 13 years. Enjoy!
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