Christ Above All

There is no grander person to think and talk about:

At the end of John’s gospel we have two interesting and well known passages describing the activities of Jesus Christ. John 20:30 says this: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

And in John 21:25 we have this: ^“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Some twenty centuries later, there would be hundreds of thousands of books – perhaps even millions – written about this unique God-man.

There will never be enough books written, sermons preached, or lectures given, to exhaust the wonder and grandeur on this one man. But they continue to pour forth. I would have discussed many over the years. And recommended reading lists such as this features many of the better evangelical titles of a more academic or scholarly nature: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/12/16/christology-select-bibliography/

Here I want to focus on just one brief volume (only 98 pages) of a much more devotional nature (although built upon solid learning and study). I refer to The Preeminent Christ by Paul Washer (Reformation Heritage Books, 2023). Given that some of my recent articles have featured quotes from a biography of a famous Pentecostal preacher (David Wilkerson), I am more than eager to feature quotes from this famous Puritan and Reformed preacher.

What follows then is simply a selection of key quotes found in the book. As is usually the case when I do this, it is hoped that the quotations will spur you on to buy and read the volume in question. Here then are some choice passages.

Early on he says this about the glory of God:

How can man do or write anything that would serve to bring glory to God? The psalmist asked, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Ps. 8:4). When we compare God and man, it seems a great absurdity to think that the latter could bless the former or that the lesser could write anything that would bring glory to the greater (Heb. 7:7). Nevertheless, the Scriptures make it clear that we can and should glorify God in word and deed (1 Cor. 10:31). The Scriptures also instruct us that we are able to do so only to the degree that we speak or write according to what He has said about Himself (Isa. 8:20). (p. 1)

And this on the need to promote and display Christ:

Please remember that we do not set forth as an end in itself; it looks to a further purpose—that we might see Him and be forever captured by Him. The sinner’s greatest need is to see Christ in the Scriptures through the regenerating and illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. As God declared through the prophet Isaiah, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22 KJV). The Christian’s greatest need is different but only by degrees. We need to see more of Christ so that we might be like Him (1 John 3:1). As the apostle Paul wrote, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). (p. 3)

In a chapter on the preeminence of the gospel he writes:

In Colossians 1:18, the apostle Paul wrote the following about the person of Jesus Christ, “He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” The word preeminence is translated from the Greek verb proteuo, which means “to be first, to hold the first rank or highest dignity, to have the preeminence.” The English adjective preeminent is derived from the Latin verb praeeminere (prae [before] + eminere [to stand out]). It denotes that which excels or surpasses all others in rank, dignity, worth, essentiality, or importance. All three of these qualities are descriptive of Christ and His gospel.

 

There is simply no way to exaggerate the centrality and preeminence of the gospel. It is not the only message in Christianity, but it is first in rank, dignity, and beauty. It does not supplant the other great truths of Scripture, but it is their cornerstone and the prism through which their true wisdom is revealed and comprehended. To put it plainly, there is no Christianity, no religious devotion, and no true spirituality apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ. His gospel is the greatest revelation of God to men and angels, it is the only means by which fallen humanity might be saved, and it is the great means by which the Christian is motivated and guided to true piety or godliness. (p. 39)

Washer also features a number of powerful quotes along the way. Here he discusses the revelation of God, and quotes from The Precious Things of God by the 19th-century Baptist preacher Octavius Winslow:

“Oh, do not study God in the jeweled heavens – in the sublimity of the mountains – in the beauty of the valley – in the grandeur of the ocean – in the murmurs of the stream – in the music of the winds. God made all this, but all this is not God. Study Him in the cross of Jesus! Look at him through this wondrous telescope, and although, as through a glass darkly, you behold His glory – the Godhead in awful eclipse, the Sun of His Deity setting in blood – yet that rude and crimsoned cross more fully reveals the mind of God, more harmoniously discloses the perfections of God, and more perfectly unveils the heart of God, and more fully exhibits the glory of God, than the combined power of ten thousand worlds like this, even though sin had never marred, and the curse had never blighted it. Study God in Christ, and Christ on the cross! Oh, the marvels that meet in it – the glory that gathers round it – the streams of blessing that flow from it – the deep refreshing shadow it casts, in that happy experience of all who look to Jesus and live – who look to Jesus and love – who look to Jesus and obey – who look to Jesus and embrace that blessed ‘hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.’ A worthy structure this of a foundation so divine!” (pp. 45-46)

He speaks to this in terms of our greatest subject of study:

The life of man is of such short duration, and yet there exist so many worthy subjects of study – language, literature, history, mathematics, and the nearly innumerable categories of science. If every human of the billions who dwell on this planet possessed an intellect of the highest genius, and all dedicated themselves to a singular discipline of science, they would still not be able to exhaust all that is to be known about that one subject.

 

What a marvelous universe God has created! Yet of all the worthy subjects of investigation in contemplation, one rises above them all like an Everest above the smallest mound. It is the knowledge of God revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. (p. 57)

And this:

In the hands of a wise and noble teacher, “art appreciation” is a worthy discipline designed to refine and redirect the student’s interest and affection from that which is base or common to that which is truly worthy of delight, contemplation, and conversation and possesses the capacity to transform, elevate, and satisfy both mind and soul. Today, the church and individual Christians need instruction in “theological appreciation,” especially regarding the gospel. Believers’ interests and affections need to be refined and redirected not merely from the bad to the good but also from the good to the most excellent – the revelation of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As Thomas Goodwin wrote, “There is not a truth of the gospel, but it is more worth than gold, more rich than precious stones.”

 

A church that is fed only on principles and commands will languish from malnutrition. Its heart will wither, its hope will fade, and its vitality will be drained. But the church fed on Christ and His gospel will go from strength to strength and from glory to glory, for “the people who know their God shall be strong” (Dan. 11:32). The believer must make the study of Christ and His gospel a life discipline, and the minister must consider it to be his greatest stewardship. In fact, the minister is to be a teacher of “theological appreciation.” He must spend long hours each day mining the great gems of Christ from the Scriptures so that he might present them to God’s people with every opportunity. The goal of all his endeavors must be that God’s people might turn their interests and affections to God; that they might refuse the fodder of the world because they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8); and that their mind might be elevated, their affections refined, their character transformed, and their soul is completely satisfied in Christ and his gospel. (p. 59)

In his closing exhortation he says this in part:

I plead with you as I plead with my own heart to seek the glory of God in the gospel of Christ. Make it your life discipline and your daily practice. Is there anyone or anything more worthy of your devotion, your time, your strength, your life? There is not! You know that there is not! If you are a believer, you know He has proved Himself to you over and over again. Every time you have foolishly chased after other loves, you have found yourself empty, soiled, worn, and longing. Every time you have returned to Him, you have found Him beyond expectations in mercy, compassion, and love.

 

Let us then make a strong determination, and renew it every day, to seek our Savior and discover the greatness of His person and deeds—the life He lived, the things He suffered, the victories He won, and the salvation He accomplished on our behalf. Let us go deeper, higher, and stay longer in our private meetings with Him. Shall we neglect to take full advantage of an audience with a king—and such a King as this? The world seeks us and freely offers us its uncut and worthless stones. Will we allow these trinkets to turn us away from seeking the diamonds of heaven? We must pull away from the vanity fairs of this world and all their amusements and follow the narrow path to glory, for “the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18). Although at times we must walk in darkness and have no light, let us trust in the name of the Lord and rely on our God (Isa. 50:10). Darkness will eventually give way to shadow, and shadow to light, and light to the full day. If we set ourselves to seek Him, our seeking will not be in vain. (pp. 95-96)

Wise words. Let us press on to know him more, and to make him known more.

[1952 words]