More is more.

When Less is not More.

The old adage “Less is More” is nowhere absolutely untrue than in Theology, especially Christology. Virtually axiomatic is the post-Enlightenment mentality of reducing Jesus Christ to a mere man with the drastic result that his person is indeed, lessened. This breakthrough in abandoning the old doctrinal constraints that gave us persecution and bloodshed in favor of a rational religion was hailed as a high water mark in the history of ideas. Yet, those of us who are struggling with our sins and recognize our need for a savior are finding that the Man Christ Jesus, that is nothing more than a man, and hence less than fully God, will just not do. Either Christ is the true living God or we are hopeless. Either the Bible rings true in its presentation of the Word that became Flesh as God the Son took on a human nature and came to die for His people or we are left dead in our sins. Either Jesus Christ is “I am, before Abraham was” or we are doomed to the eternal darkness rather than to Abraham’s bosom. Of course, there is a host of voices clamoring for attention speaking ever so eloquently of Jesus as Savior: the moral example, the religious teacher, the wise mystic, or the radical rebel all have been championed as advancing an understanding of Jesus that keeps him close and relevant to our times. However, we need more than instruction. We are not to be raised from the dead because we had deep insight into a spirituality above all others. And we are never going to enter the heavenly kingdom as a result of our own practice of religious teaching however noble. We need a Savior big enough to take God’s punishment in our place. We need a Savior that is a substitute and a sacrifice big enough to satisfy God’s wrath. We need Christ the Son of God, God the Son,  dying on a cross and conquering death in the resurrection that brings in the new order. We need God! And Christ is He. When it comes to Jesus, less is definitely not more. More is more!