The Amazing Goal of Theology

"...it is the goal of good theology to humble us before the truine God of majesty and grace." - Michael Horton from The Christian Faith.

I love theology! I have entire shelves dedicated to theology books in my office, but I need to be constantly reminded that any study of theology that doesn't cause us to be more in love with Jesus is empty. Last time the post began with the reminder that the "chief end of man is to worship God and to enjoy Him forever." We have been created to find our purpose, joy, and fulfillment in the God of the universe who loved and died for us.

In Joshua Harris' book "Dug Down Deep" (a great intro for someone that has never studied theology before) he also speaks about the goal of studying and learning theology and the doctrine of God in particular. He says, "When we study the doctrine of God, there should be a sense of awe in our hearts. We should be like children with a telescope under a starry night sky. Then we will be filled with amazement that Someone so great - so transcendent - can be known and seen by us. We will rightly feel small and insignificant as we realize how great and powerful the God we're beholding really is."

In short, the purpose of studying theology is to lead us to doxology - worship! If our theology (OR lack of theology!) distracts us from this ultimate aim, maybe we need to rethink our approach. The Psalmist says that the heavens declare the glory of God, Paul in Romans 1 says that men are without excuse because all of creation proclaims His invisible attributes, and Jesus said that if the people were made to stop worshiping Him that even the rocks would cry out! When we are brought face to face with the reality of our amazing God the only proper response should be worship.

We see this demonstrated practically in the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. After laying out the full theological implications of the gospel in the first seven chapters he reaches a summit in chapter 8. He says that there is no condemnation for believers in Christ Jesus, that we have been made co-heirs with Christ, that we have a future glory because of what Christ has done for us and that He is working all things out for the good, and finally he speaks of God's foreknowledge and predestination of  believers to be conformed to the image of His Son, He has called them, justified them, and glorified them.

After these incredible thoughts Paul erupts in praise saying, "... in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39 ESV)

Then in chapters 9-11 Paul shifts his attention to God's sovereignty in His current and future plans for Israel. This train of thought again reaches it's pinnacle in chapter 11 when Paul says that God brought the gospel to the world through Israel, but they rejected it so it has gone forth to the gentiles. Yet God is still going to pour out His grace and save many Jews. Once again Paul, overwhelmed at the majesty of God and the glory of His perfect plan breaks into praise in Romans 11:33-36 saying, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

This is the response that we should have when we read and study theology! And ALL Christians should be reading and studying theology. Every believer in Jesus Christ should seek to know more about Him and all that He accomplished for us on the cross. We should all desire a better understanding of what we have been saved from, and what we have been saved for as members of the church - the Bride of Christ.

I say ALL Christians should be learning theology because as we read and study our Bibles we are. Every believer should be learning more about their amazing Creator and Savior, and as we read our Bibles we are learning these things. For example in Romans Paul talks about justification, sanctification, glorification as he unfolds the gospel message and implications throughout the letter. When we study systematic theology we take a theme like justification and studies it from all the different places that the Bible talks about it - Romans 3-5, Galatians 2, 2 Corinthians 5 etc. This type of theological study helps to organize and categorize all that the Bible says on key subjects that are important to understand for our growth as believers.

I know that the enormous volumes can be quite intimidating, and that is why I recommend Joshua Harris' book "Dug Down Deep" as an excellent introduction. "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer is an great (almost devotional style) theology book on the attributes of God, and his "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" (one of the best books I have ever read) is a very short book taken from a few sermons that he preached dealing with the theology of God's sovereignty and evangelism. "God's Big Picture" by Vaughan Roberts and "The Unfolding Mystery" by Ed Clowney are incredible biblical theologies which focus more on the finding and tying together different themes that run throughout the Scriptures. There are countless others, but these have been the ones that have ministered to me the most, and are very accessible.

Start small, but be sure to START!

Have you ever wondered why there seems to be so much "useless" (at least it appears that way to us in the 21st century) information in the Bible? Studying theology will answer many of those questions, and it will give you an even greater appreciation for the Bible. But most importantly it should lead you to a much deeper love for Jesus. Especially when we see Him in light of the full picture that Scripture paints of Him.

Here is a far too brief unpacking of some key things we learn from the gospel. Many of you know from reading your Bible that Jesus is fully God (God the Son, one part of the Trinity - 1 John 5:7) and though He holds all things together (Col 1), He became fully man (hypostatic union - Col 2:9) so that He could live under the curse of the law (Gal 3). By living a perfect life, He fulfilled the law in our place (Rom 8:3-4, 2Cor 5:21), and then He died in our place paying the price for our sins (penal substitutionary atonement - Isaiah 53, Gal 3:13, Heb 10:1-4). Because He was perfect He satisfied the wrath of God that we deserved (propitiation - Romans 3:23-26). Now with God's wrath appeased we are able to "boldly come before the throne of grace" because we have been justified (God now sees us as without sin AND with Christ's righteousness accredited to us - references above).

Though learning the technical terms is not mandatory, categorizing and expounding upon the concepts helps us to better understand the depths of all that Jesus accomplished for us. As we think on and meditate on what theology and the gospel (which is the pinnacle of theology) communicates our response should be to worship and adore our Savior.

Don't be intimidated by theology, it's goal is to cause us to fall more in love with Jesus.