We were led through Scripture by brilliant men. Joshua Harris kicked off the conference with a message on the Preeminence of Christ. D.A. Carson followed Harris by speaking on "The Word Became Flesh." Kevin DeYoung, a young pastor of University Reformed Church (I was able to visit there in the winter!) in East Lansing, Michigan, spoke on the life of Jesus Christ. C.J. Mahaney spoke on the death of Jesus Christ. Sinclair Ferguson, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC. capped off the conference by speaking on the Resurrection, Ascension, and Return of Christ.
We had a panel discussion on one of the nights of the conference held by Mark Dever. The panel consisted of Dever, DeYoung, Ferguson, Justin Taylor, Harris, and Mahaney. Of course, the worship was led by Bob Kauflin and accompanied by three different bands (NA Band, Reilly, Zelos) as well as a string orchestra.
My vision of Christ became so much bigger as a result of every message. I was particularly impacted by D.A. Carson's message and C.J. Mahaney's message.So, here are a few of the truths that were made alive to me at NEXT.
The first verse Josh opened with to start of the weekend was Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you." What a way to start off my weekend. I am sitting cozy in my seat with my starbucks by my side and......... whack! Josh isn't worried about immediate encouragement. He wants us to be confronted by Scripture that is going to penetrate our thinking and actions. Josh exhorted us to be built on a firm foundation, a rock, who is Jesus Christ. He said, "If you want to feel deeply, you must think deeply." "Emotion is a good thing. But it needs to be built on something. Something solid". He didn't want all this teaching and doctrine to go straight to our head and never penetrate our lives. Josh ended his message with this exhortation:
Christian doctrine is for living. It comes to us in words on a page, but it wasCarson, tackled John 1 the next day with his message, "The Word Became Flesh." I am still going back to my notes from this message and recovering some aspect of truth that passed over my mind. Carson notes that "the Word" which is the "self expression of God" miraculously does four things for us: (these are his 4 points)
never meant to stay on a page, it was meant to be lived in our lives. It’s not
enough to have your life in close proximity to the rock. It’s not enough to be
near people who are dug down deep into the rock. You have to build your house on
the rock. And that’s expressed in doing what he says.
1. The Word creates us.
2. The Word gives us light and life.
3. The Word confronts us and divides us.In John 3:16 the “world” is the human created order and their rebellion against
God. God’s love is not awesome because the world is not so big, it is because
the object of his love is so bad. The world did not recognize him – the world he
had made – and this is unthinkably bad. The most heinous thing we do is not
rape, or genocide, or lying…it is ignoring our maker.
4. The Word incarnates God to us.
Carson concludes his message by telling us how to know our God better.
Do you want to see what God looks like? Study Jesus. We can see Jesus, the Word
made flesh. The Word did not become a junior God, or “hide out” in Jesus. The
Word became the flesh. He was God and human being at the same time.
I am greatly indebted to the teaching and example of these men. I hope to say more about the other speakers later.
Luke
