That’s what’s deep: divine love, vast, boundless and free for bumbling sinners like you and me. His cross is deeper than we realize. It is deep enough to plunge through the bowels of hell and deliver the deathblow to our ancient foe. That’s the love of Jesus. He kills snakes and lifts up sinners—and he’ll carry us the rest of the way.
So when we want to go deep, we go gospel-deep.2 There is nothing deeper than the glory of Christ. The gospel has been a cosmic mystery—and now it belongs to you. Don’t treat it like some dollar-store, bargain-bin item. As Paul says, “In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:7–10, italics mine).
Gospel-centeredness won’t result in an imbalanced approach to the Scriptures; if anything, you’ll see how the cross and the empty tomb irrigate everything in the Bible. Often, when people say that they want to go deep, what they want is to talk about end-times theology. Dig deep enough into the gospel and you will start to think rightly about the end times: Jesus is coming back for his church, which he bought with his life. The end times are all about the Alpha and Omega.3 A Jesus-centered eschatology is more valuable than a tribulation-centered obsession. Rummage around in the gospel and you’ll see how it all comes back, like metal to a magnet, to a set of nail-pierced hands and feet.
May you go deep. Or as Hebrews 12:2 says, keep looking to Jesus.
Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
1. “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you” (Phil. 3:1).
2. Recommended reading: Jared Wilson, Gospel Deeps: Reveling in the Excellencies of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012); and John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005).
3. “The revelation of Jesus Christ …” (Rev. 1:1).
Keep reading by buying Gospel Formed: Living a Grace-Addicted, Truth-Filled, Jesus-Exalting Life here or here.
