May 25 Daily Devotional

The fact of Jesus Christ

God has ... revealed Himself in nature, and the Apostle Paul argues in Romans (1:19ff.) that we are without excuse if we do not see Him there....

God has also revealed Himself in history. Further, God has revealed Himself to the Old Testament fathers in various ways. But, as evangelical Christians, we start with the great central fact of the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Bible is really about Him.

The Old Testament looks forward to Him. It tells us that Someone is coming. The promise seems vague, nebulous, and indefinite at some points, clearer and more specific at others. But there it is. God is going to do something, and Someone will come. At last, the Voice will be heard. An Authority is going to speak. The Old Testament attitude is one of waiting on tiptoe, as it were. Then, of course, as soon as we come to the New Testament, we find it is full of Him....

When the Apostle Paul (our great example in this matter of preaching, teaching, and evangelizing) went to Corinth, ... he determined solemnly ... "not to know anything among them, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." ...

Paul decided that he was not going to waste his time with them in arguing about presuppositions. He was not going to start with a preliminary philosophical argument and then gradually lead them on into the truth. No! He begins by proclaiming authoritatively the Lord Jesus Christ; ... we must come back to this. We must become fools for Christ's sake, says Paul... (1 Corinthians 3:18).

We assert Him, we proclaim Him, we start with Him because He is the ultimate and the final Authority.... He is really at the center of the whole of our position, and the whole of our case rests upon Him; ... the really big claim which is made in the whole of the New Testament is for the supreme authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Authority, pp. 13-15

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“Text reproduced from ‘A First Book of Daily Readings’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, published by Epworth Press 1970 & 1977 © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Used with permission.”

Comments on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, A First Book of Daily Readings

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