The Knowable God pt. 2: His Son
1-4 May 2019

Do you know what God is like? Study Jesus. This is the necessary implication of the Gospel. The Gospel declares the superiority and finality of God's self-disclosure in His Son (Heb 1.1-2). From the prophets who taught and spoke of Him, to His cross and further in the ministry of His apostles, Jesus has exegeted the Father, giving us the knowledge of God.

'The nature of Jesus is the nature of God' (Murray Harris)

Nothing is more important than what a person believes about Jesus Christ. To understand Christ correctly is to understand the very heart of God, Scripture, and the gospel.

For instance John Stott said, 'Understanding the biblical language regarding the death of Christ requires correct conclusions regarding the person of Christ. The core teaching of penal substitution is rooted in the proper identity of Christ'.

We can't afford to be Christians without knowing Jesus in truth and Spirit.
For every Christian, ministry, church, and leader, therefore, the study of Christ is both a duty and privilege, absolutely necessary in handling God's word faithfully. Jesus himself understood and taught that both Scripture and God's plan of salvation are Christocentric.

The knowledge of Christ is therefore also indispensable for the proper reading and interpretation of Scripture, and the Fellowship is excited to finally dedicate a Thinking Theologically Conference (TTC) to studying the person of Christ. As the Gospel Growth Fellowship is concerned with Christians in the Klang Valley knowing how to read the Bible centered around Christ (biblical theology), and thinking theologically so we can do faithful ministry in Christ's church, this year's TTC on Christ aims to help Malaysian Christians build up the church in this way.

Additionally, TTC is as always an exercise in learning the skills critical for thinking theologically. As Herman Bavinck has put it: 'The doctrine of Christ is not the starting point, but it certainly is the central point of the whole system of dogmatics.' At the centre of all theological systematics and reflection is Christ, so your time at TTC should lead directly to how we think and do ministry.

At TTC, we will be able to work on this doctrine by working together in:

• Seminars with experienced seminar leaders to build our understanding.
• A huge number of electives to explore topics that will help us to think theologically.
• Small group bible studies to get close to the text.
• Talks to keep us on track.
• Rest time to recharge and think clearly.
• The largest gathering of Klang Valley Christians to think theologically and do ministry.

We can all agree that a Christian is by definition someone who has followed Christ, but it is not true to say that every Christian has a correct Christology. Every pastor, church leader and small group leader is rightly concerned that all of Jesus' disciples know and confess Christ in truth. This second TTC in the series on the Knowledge of God is just what is needed.

'All of our efforts at theology ultimately rise and fall with Christ alone.' (Stephen Wellum)