Christology

Read the series so far.

By anybody’s standard, Jesus had a very busy day (Mk 1:21-38). This passage chronicles one single day during Jesus’ early ministry. At first glance, there seems to be nothing earth-shattering here, until you step back and consider all He did during those 24 hours.¹ 

Consider the common objections to the doctrine of the Trinity, then remember the kind of day Jesus had:

(About this series)

CHAPTER IX - THE APOLOGETIC VALUE OF PAUL’S EPISTLES

BY REV. E. J. STOBO, JR., B. A., S. T. D., SMITH’S FALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA

“Paul is the greatest literary figure in the New Testament; round him all its burning questions lie.” “There is nothing more certain in ancient literature than the authorship of the more important of the Pauline epistles.” These utterances of Dr. Fairbairn in his “Philosophy of the Christian Religion” bring us face to face with the apologetic value of the writings of the Apostle to the Gentiles. The oldest Pauline epistle is divided by little more than twenty years from the death of Christ, and by a still shorter interval from the Epistle to the Hebrews and Apocalypse; so that Paul’s interpretation of the Christ has a distinct bearing upon the Gospels and later Christian literature.

Read Part 1.

We have been considering the centrality of the Person of Jesus for an understanding of ourselves in the created order. We continue with a look at the Prologue to John’s Gospel.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

So again, this shows us that Christ is right at the very center of the creation. In fact, creation is made for Him, and not only through Him. It is not that God used the Second Person to make the world and then He had no further interest in it. No, these things were made for Him and nothing was made unless it was made through the agency of Jesus Christ and to the satisfaction of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity.

Read the series so far. 

The Gospel of Mark is profound from the very first verse. It reads, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”¹ But first, a reminder about what this study is all about:

1. We’re looking at what the Gospel of Mark says about the Lord Jesus Christ, from beginning to end.
2. Then, we’re seeing if the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity makes sense of all this evidence (hint—it does).

As we move along in this study, the point is not to produce an exegetical commentary on the Gospel of Mark. The point is to simply take in evidence about who Jesus Christ is, and consider what this information says about Jesus in light of the Trinitarian definition of God. Because I’ve heard tell that a picture is worth a thousand words, we’ll use a nifty chart to summarize our findings as we mosey our way through the text.

Introduction

For the Christian, life means nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever other people say, however the non-Christian tries to answer the question of meaning, the Christian sees no answer to the big questions of life, no remedy for the plight of man, without Jesus Christ.

In the Lord Jesus is the explanation for the way life was originally, the way it is now as a fallen creation, and the way it’s going to be in the future. Everything resolves itself around Him. Indeed, Christianity without the work and person of Jesus is unthinkable. With Christianity, if you take out the Lord Jesus Christ then you are left with nothing. You are left with just a man-made morality and with nothing else. You are left with no transcendent point by which the world; ourselves included, can be understood.

In fact, what we are left with, as the unbelieving philosopher Feuerbach said, is mere anthropology; man musing upon himself—just using the metaphors of deity. So, Christianity truly, as W.H. Griffith Thomas put it,” is Christ.”