Hi Elijah,I love it! I'd like to use the final pr...

2007-04-15T16:04:50.337+09:30

Hi Elijah,

I love it! I'd like to use the final product on my fellowship site (with permission). Overall it is excellent and I really appreciate the article.

Here's some thoughts:

Firstly, I'd change the order, from starting with the attributes of Christ, to starting with the work of Christ on our behalf. I suggest this not because of a greater significance of his work over his attributes. Certainly Christ is worthy of treasuring simply for who he is before considering his work.

The reason is the logical priority of reconciliation with Christ first to enable us to then treasure His attributes. A magnificent, righteous and conquering King is to feared by the unrighteous ones in His path. When He tracks us down with sceptre in one hand we can only truly treasure Him when we first freely receive the pardon He carries in His other hand! Oh what joy to my heart, as a former traitor to Christ guilty of treason, to now hold that pardon in my hand, stand forgiven before him, and gaze at his glory as the all powerful and conquering King!

Secondly, some thoughts / suggestions off top of head, and some minor points (and there may be a bit of overlap):

- We treasure Christ because through Jesus Christ God the Father now treasures us and values us as his own treasured possession.

- We treasure Christ because towards us he is loving and good. He serves us willingly, although there is nothing naturally desirable or worthy in us, but rather he serves out of the abundant goodness flowing from His own loving heart.

- We treasure Christ because he is altogether treasurable. All that is to be considered praiseworthy and morally desirable in the character of a person is to be found in Christ alone. As a person He is perfect and glorious without flaw even though he has been tested, tried and tempted above all.

- We treasure Christ because he gives us a renewed mind to behold the beauty and sweetness of the ways of God, a new heart to incline us to walk in those ways with joy, and assurance of his abiding love and forgiveness when we stumble.

- Where you speak of the humanity of Christ, I'd place "being born of a virgin" immediately after "humbling himself to come in the form of a man". This preserves the chronology.

- The last paragraph needs to flow a bit smoother. I suggest replacing the second "we" in the sentence with ". . you join us to . ." (or something like that).

Thirdly, I think Murray is correct regarding your paragraph on His obedience and His covenant. The statement assumes a certain understanding and agreement on the part of the audience, of the underlying theology, that is not required to embrace the other statements. (Of course, this depends on your target audience.)

Here are some articles that may be of interest (and perhaps Murray had some of these issues in mind):

Is there a Covenant of Grace? by Jon Zens
http://solochristo.com/theology/nct/covofgrace.htm

Is there a Covenant of Redemption? by Steve Lehrer.
http://solochristo.com/theology/nct/NCTQA/NCTQA_02_IsThereACovOfRedemption.pdf
Did God make a Covenant Of Works with Adam In The Garden?
http://solochristo.com/theology/nct/NCTQA/NCTQA_03_CovenantOfWorksWithAdam.pdf

It's not clear from your statement which covenant and law you have in mind. Are you speaking of the New Covenant or the Covenant of Redemption/Grace? It sounds like the latter which is not a covenant specifically designated such in Scripture so many will not make the connection if they are not familiar with the terminology.

Fourthly, by way of suggestion only, you might like to take some cues from the article, "Christ Altogether Lovely", by John Flavel. I read this a while ago and remember thinking at the time that it wonderfully captures a good summary list of reasons to treasure Christ. In fact, I have downloaded an MP3 version and listen to it periodically for my encouragement to treasure Christ.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/flavel/lovely.html

http://www.gracegems.org/SERMONS2/Flavel%20altogether_lovely.htm

Elijah, thanks so much for your efforts on this article and for including me in the review. It is excellent. Christ certainly is glorious and worthy of treasuring! I shall continue to meditate on this reality and let you know of any further thoughts.

Shane.

Murray, what if we say, "We treasure Christ becau...

2007-04-14T04:39:38.572+09:30

Murray, what if we say, "We treasure Christ because of His obedience to the Father to keep His covenant, fulfill His law, perform His righteousness, and impute His own righteousness to the Church."

If it's still confusing, let me know which part or parts. I might just need insight to how my system of theology is shaping my thoughts.

Thanks Murray. I'll keep laboring on it.

2007-04-14T02:50:45.881+09:30

Thanks Murray. I'll keep laboring on it.

Great job, Elijah! Well laid out. To offer sugge...

2007-04-14T02:20:53.592+09:30

Great job, Elijah! Well laid out. To offer suggestion, for what it's worth, perhaps you could build a little more on theme of the passage where the Lord in creative power speaks a new creation - bursting forth and shattering our dead and stony hearts with the light of the gospel - our Lord Himself!
The only other thing that caused me to stop reflection on the wonder of Christ was the point on his obedience (some of which seemed to relate more to a system of theology than direct reference to clear texts - which wseemed different from all your other points). So I got a little confused by what was actually said there.
The post as a whole really provides reason and motive to treasure Christ above all!

Thanks.

Comments on e-Treasure: Why Treasure Christ?

Hi Elijah,I love it! I'd like to use the final pr...

Murray, what if we say, "We treasure Christ becau...

Thanks Murray. I'll keep laboring on it.

Great job, Elijah! Well laid out. To offer sugge...