Christian Living

The word “theology” comes from the Greek words for “God” (theos) and “knowledge” (logos). Theology, therefore, is simply the study of the nature of God. Unfortunately, there is a trend in many Christian churches to ignore or even denounce theology. Such churches, even though frequently they are well meaning, erroneously fear that doctrinal studies will further divide the body of Christ. Thus, they tend to emphasize feeling over truth, and experience over teaching. While feelings and experience are certainly a part of the Christian life, without truth and doctrine we cannot even be sure what constitutes the essence of the Christian faith. In other words, we cannot call our faith Christian if we do not even know what “Christian” is. Many “feelings” churches often place a strong emphasis on worship, and rightly so. But how can worship be truly spiritual if it is not worship of the true God? (John 4:24) And how can we be certain that we are worshiping the true God unless we are committed to the knowledge of the true God? In sum, doctrine is essential to the Christian life. And no doctrine of the faith is of greater importance than the doctrine of the nature of God. As the late A. W. Tozer observed: “What enters our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”^[1]

Briefly, there are at least six reasons why we should study the nature of God.^[2] First, all basic theological truth depends upon God’s attributes. The biblical command to love our neighbor is rooted in the nature of God, who is love (1 John 4:8). Our understanding of the nature of Jesus Christ, the God-man, is only as deep as our understanding of the nature of God.

Second, we cannot recognize false gods if we do not know the true God. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians: “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.” (Gal. 4:8) The Apostle John warned his readers to “not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

Which leads to the third reason: Unless we know the truth about God, we leave ourselves vulnerable to dangerous deceptions that lead to bondage and apostasy. Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have bad consequences. And since no idea is bigger than the idea of God, it stands to reason that bad ideas about God lead to the worst kinds of consequences.

Fourth, our spiritual growth is dependent upon our concept of God. We cannot become more like God unless we know what God is like!

Fifth, as Saint Augustine famously wrote,“Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rest in Thee.”^[3] God created us for Himself. (Rom. 11:36; Rev. 4:11). Thus, apart from living for the true God, we will never find ultimate satisfaction in our lives.

Sixth and finally, Jesus commanded us to love God with all our minds. (Matt. 22:37) It is an act of obedience to conform our thinking about God to the true nature of God. Even though exhaustive knowledge of God is impossible for us, an accurate apprehension of what He has revealed is within our grasp. And to that we should strive, that we may walk in truth so that God may be lifted up and glorified among His people.  

^[1] A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Walker and Co., 1996), 1,

^[2] For an overview of the first five of these six reasons, see Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, vol. 2 (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2003), 17-19.

^[3] Paul M. Bechtel, ed., The Confessions of St. Augustine: Books One to Ten (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), 17.

1. By Elevating Marriage To The Status Of God-Glorifying Mystery

Marriage is regularly degraded in culture. Legal scholar John Witte laments: “[the earlier] ideal of marriage as a permanent contractual union designed for the sake of mutual love, procreation, and protection is slowly giving way to a new reality of marriage as a ‘terminal sexual contract’ designed for the gratification of the individual parties.”¹ Comedian Chris Rock expressed this degradation of marriage quite poignantly: “Do you want to be single and lonely or married and bored?”² Marriage has fallen on hard times. In fact, so diminished has our culture’s estimation of marriage that some have taken to extolling Homer and Marge Simpson as a fine example of marriage commitment. After all, whatever else might be said of Homer and Marge, after twenty-eight seasons (as of 2016), they are at least still together! 

No matter how much disdain our culture might pour upon the institution of marriage, this most basic of human institutions is highly exalted in the pages of Scripture. John Piper, in his excellent book This Momentary Marriage, rejoices over the fact that the Bible takes marriage out of the gutter of the culture and lifts it high above our sinful tendencies. Piper writes: “Marriage exists ultimately to display the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church.”³ This is a great summary of Ephesians 5. God redeems marriage by infusing it with the ultimate symbolism: the man and the wife are not just about themselves, but point to the much greater reality of Christ and the church. Your marriage is not just about you! It is about God’s glory being on display. 

2. By Issuing Commands Aimed at Reversing Effects of Sin

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Volumes upon volumes can and have been written about this one verse and its incalculable implications for, well, everything. But while we can get caught up in all the philosophical and theological ruminations following from the realities presented to us by these seven words (in the original Hebrew), we must not forget one of the most, if not the most important lesson: Genesis 1:1 provides the foundation of our worship. It provides the reason for our worship. It reveals the Person we are to worship, exclusively. It provides the basis of our duty to worship. What is it that Genesis 1:1 teaches us about worship that is so profound? Simply this: God is God and we exist because and for Him. It really is that simple.

The Scriptures abound with references to this prerogative of the Creator, “for whom and by whom all things exist” (Heb. 2:10). Two truths stand out, one familiar, the other less so. God as Creator is the reason “all things” exist: “You created all things and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11). Or this: “All things were made through him (Jesus), and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). All things were made through him. Nothing has been made that was not made by him. God as Creator brought all things into existence. “Before” God created (there was no “before” the beginning as time itself was created; but while we cannot accurately use the word “before” in the sense of chronology, we can in terms of logical priority), there was the triune God and there was nothing else. God exists from all eternity. Everything else had a beginning – at one “time” it did not exist.

But there’s another truth in that Hebrews 2:10 passage that must be grasped. Not only is God as Creator the one “by whom all things exist,” He is the one “for whom all things exist.” God created all things with a purpose, and that purpose is ultimately found in the will of the Creator to magnify His glory through all creation. Through the prophet Isaiah, the God of creation said this: “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory” (Isa 43:7). That is it in a nutshell: everything was created by God and for God.