Is God Central?

Recently, a man whom God has used greatly in my life, Dr. Gary Inrig, spoke at the Fall Bible Conference at Grace University, where our second son and our first son’s wife are currently students. Thanks to internet technology I have been able to listen to those messages (you can too by using this link http://blogs.graceuniversity.edu/gracelife/ and scrolling down). Dr. Inrig began his first message by quoting from the first sentence of A. W. Tozer’s book, The Knowledge of the Holy, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

I have been pondering that sentence since hearing it. I am confident that there is much more to Tozer’s words than I have grasped or can write in a blog post – after all, the sentence was the springboard to an entire book – but I would like to share a couple of thoughts that I trust are of some value.

First, I believe the sentence reminds us of the centrality of God to all of life. Romans 11:36 I believe underlines that truth:

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Often, too often, I can be self-absorbed and view life as if everything revolves around me. I suppose a good word to describe that is pride. But my pride is baseless. Things do not revolve around me or you. That in no way means we have no value. We have value, but that value is derived from God. What I mean by that is each person has value because each person is created in the image of God. That fact should have huge bearing on how we treat other people, recognizing God’s fingerprints on and purpose for their lives. In addition, when a person receives the Lord Jesus as his or her Savior, Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us. God believes we have something significant to contribute, we bring value to life.

If I forget or do not live in light of the centrality of God, I will actual undermine or even remove the basis for my personal value. Thinking that what I think about God is the most important thing about me does not diminish me, it allows me to see myself accurately. Though that is contingent on at least one factor, which is the second thought I had.

If Tozer’s sentence is true and God is central to life, including my life, then it becomes really important for me to have an accurate understanding of who God is. To process life, I need to think correctly about God. On page three of The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer offered, “I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.” Thinking about God is a theological concern. But if God is central to life, then if I have mixed up thoughts about God, I can have some pretty mixed up attitudes and actions in my everyday life. To function well, I need to think rightly about God. If I do not, there will be disconnect, and sadly I may not even be aware of that disconnect. Tozer, on the second page of the book noted, “We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.” If my thoughts about God are off, a lot of things will be off. I need to seek to understand God as He revealed Himself in the Bible, not how I would like God to be.

Please let me know your thoughts about thinking rightly about God.