(19) The Lens of Theo-centric Theology

When you look through a frosted window, you get a distorted view of everything outside. When you look through the lens of man-centered or another fallacious, clouded theological lens, you get a distorted view of God and everything else in life.

Dan Dehaan points out in The God You Can Know that, "Christians believe in one big, bold miracle – God. As a result, everything else fits into place. The rest of the world denies God, the Creator, and needs a miracle to explain everything created."

A correct view of God puts everything else in proper place and perspective. Many of the struggles in our lives are a result of losing perspective on who God is. We see so much pain, sorrow, and difficulty around us, and our view of God gets distorted. It is only when we get a clear focus on the greatness and character of God that we can properly view and respond to the challenges and painful circumstances of life. A. W. Tozer explains this:

The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God.

The great need in life is not to make sense of the problems of life and find solutions for them. The great need of life is to know God in all His glorious character. The great need of life is to understand how to live life in light of God’s glorious character. The great need of life is learning how to glorify God in the challenging circumstances of life. This can only happen when we have an accurate, biblical view of God. Life begins and ends with a clear view of the character of God.

We get confused and can’t make sense of life . . . We need to know the God of all knowledge and wisdom. We think we know the answers and end up dead wrong . . . we need to follow the God with the perfect plan. We run out of time and get impatient . . . we need to rest in the timing of the eternal God. We are weak and run out of energy to keep going . . . we need to be renewed by the almighty God. We loose heart, get discouraged, feel like giving up. God says, "Have you forgotten who I am?"

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 NLT)

Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God. (A.W. Tozer)

Soli Deo Gloria

Next: Theo-centric Worship