‘Christ is Awesome’? Remember the Father Who Sent Him
It is common, especially in places of superficial and shallow teaching, to hear Christians focus on the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, in a way that neglects the more in-depth teaching of the whole counsel of God. For instance, recently at a local church someone proclaimed “Christ is Awesome!” — a great thought so far as it goes, but incomplete and limited in its perspective. I prefer instead the wording, as expressed in bumper stickers years ago, “God is Awesome” (reference the Rich Mullins song “Our God is an Awesome God”), which more accurately focuses attention on the Lord God, considering the work of the Triune God and God’s Divine Purpose.
S. Lewis Johnson, in his 1 John series, addressed this very point, that our gratitude should include not only Christ the Son, but also the Father who sent Him:
The Father sent the Son, so that the gratitude that we have — because we’ve come to know the Lord Jesus as Savior — is not a gratitude that should stop at Christ. It should go on, as our Lord taught us, to embrace the Father who sent the Son. In fact, the Lord Jesus says, that everything He did was done at the command and the will of the Father. The Lord Jesus acted for the Father. He carried out the Father’s will. And as far as going to the cross is concerned, it’s the Father who led Him to the cross. In other words, what I’m saying, my Christian friend, is that the Lord Jesus Christ is full of the love that the Father sent Him to carry out toward us. Never forget that.
This word has definitely become the yuckiest word in the English language.
You’re at the doctor’s.
– Open wide your mouth. Say “aaaah.
– Aaaaaaaaaah.
– Say it coupla times.
– Aaaaahhh, aaaaaaaaahhhh, aaaaaahhh
– That’s aaaaahsome. Now shuddup.
http://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/the-yuckiest-word-in-the-english-language/
That’s a good one, bography. Yes, the word itself has become overused and does not convey what it used to mean. A better word for the original meaning: Aweful, as in the song “How Sweet and Aweful is the Place.” But unfortunately our English language use has changed the meaning of that word to a negative “awful”.
Many years ago I was asked to preach at a Christian club in a college setting on the Trinity’s role of salvation. The students ate it up and some have been close friends in the faith eversince but a faculty member came up and told me how it’s irrelevant and too much theologizing. He caused a scene. I later found out he’s a leader at a church and felt incredibly sad at how there are people who don’t see the beauty and awe of the work of the Trinity in our salvation.