“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
And Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” And they said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:56–58).
Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. . . .” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father . . .” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:5–9).
And Jesus cried out, “Whoever sees me sees him who sent me” (John 12:45). For Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:16). “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3).
“By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). “He upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3), and “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).
He Became Sin
And yet, “though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). “He committed no sin [none!], neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
And so it came to pass that “by the one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). For God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
And when that time approached, he said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:18). So “after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).
Exalted on High
“God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to” him (Matthew 28:18). “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand” (John 3:35).
“God has put all things in subjection” to him (1 Corinthians 15:27) — all “angels and authorities and powers” (1 Peter 3:22). He is now “the head of the body, the church. . . . the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:15–19). He has authority to forgive sins (Luke 7:49). He speaks, and “the wind and the sea obey him” (Mark 4:41). He commands unclean spirits, and they come out (Luke 4:36)! He rebukes fevers and they depart (Luke 4:39).
He causes the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk; and lepers are made clean (Luke 7:22). He commands the dead, and they live (John 11:43–44). He suffers the little children to come to him (Matthew 19:14), but “scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, and brings down the mighty from their thrones” (Luke 1:51–52). He does “not break a bruised reed, or quench a smoldering wick, until he brings justice to victory” (Matthew 12:20). In him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).
Unsearchable Riches
“No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46) To know him is to know “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). And he is coming again on the clouds, even as they saw him go, but this time with the holy angels and with power and great glory (Mark 8:38; 13:26). He will deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
He will “transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:21). In that day, “he will dress himself for service and have us recline at table, and he will come and serve us” (Luke 12:37). For he will still be “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:30).
And yet “his eyes will be like a flame of fire, his feet like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice like the roar of many waters. . . . And from his mouth will come a sharp two-edged sword, and we will see his face like the sun shining in full strength” (Revelation 1:14–16). And so we will forever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
And we will see no longer through a glass darkly, but face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). “Rejoicing in hope” (Romans 5:2; 12:12) will give way to the joy of sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). The pleasures of every taste that bound us to Christ in this world (1 Peter 2:3) will explode into the pleasures of heavenly feasting (Matthew 25:10). And we will know, finally, not in part, but perfectly, that in his presence “is fullness of joy” and at his “right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
How We Respond to the Stupendous Reality of Christ
How shall we respond to this Christ in a way that honors him as we ought? What shall our thoughts and affections be so that his greatness and his beauty and his worth are properly reflected in our thinking and our feeling? How shall such an immeasurably magnificent person be duly glorified in our response to him?
Christian Hedonism exists to answer that question. But before we state the answer of Christian Hedonism, let’s keep laying more foundation from Scripture. We began with a short, inadequate, precious, glorious, biblical portrait of Jesus Christ.
Let’s consider how the totality of Scripture brings forth and forms our response to the greatness and beauty and worth of Christ.
Know His Beauty
We have already seen that all the fullness of deity dwells in him. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And we have beheld and embraced this divine glory. If you have seen him, as he stands forth from his word (John 17:20; 1 Samuel 3:21), you have seen God. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9).
