Nothing But Christ

NOTHING BUT CHRIST

1 Cor. 2:1-2

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. An avid golfer told his wife he might have give up golfing. “Why?” she said. “Because I can’t see where the ball lands, and so, I can’t find my golf balls.” “Well, why don’t you take Uncle George with you; he’s got good eyesight.” “Are you kidding? Uncle George is 95 years old!” “Yes,” she said, “but he’s healthy and he has perfect vision!”

2. So the golfer took Uncle George along. He teed off on the fifth hole, making a long shot that sent the ball over 200 yards. “Uncle George,” he said, “did you see where that ball went?” “Yes, I did,” said Uncle George, followed by stoic silence.

3. “Well, where did it go?” Uncle George looked at him a little embarrassed and said, “I can’t remember!”

B. TEXT

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” 1 Cor. 2:1-2. NIV

C. THESIS

1. When Paul went among the Greeks, who were some of the greatest thinkers of ancient times, he told those at Corinth he was determined to know nothing among them, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

2. Paul wasn’t talking about a dead Jesus, but a living Jesus! Paul was saying that he wanted to know Christ to the exclusion of all else; in fact, Paul’s whole universe was Christ, and Paul didn’t need anything or anyone outside Christ, because Jesus was his all-sufficiency!

3. I’m preaching to you about “Nothing But Christ” and I’m seeking to answer the question, “Why would a person say ‘all I want to know is Christ?’” Here are five reasons. 1st, because...

I. THERE’S NOONE GREATER TO KNOW THAN JESUS

A. THE GREATEST PERSON OF ALL TIME

1. Christ is all and in all. To know Jesus is greater than knowing any earthly person – whether a King or President, a Billionaire, a sports personality, or a great movie star, like Harrison Ford.

2. Researchers found that even recently, “Jesus Christ” is the most significant person in history, by name searches on the Internet. [“How Jesus is the most famous person in history...” The Daily Mail (12.16.2013) and ChristianPost.com (2.5.2014)]

3. Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said, “As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.”

4. H.G. Wells, one of the greatest literary minds of modern times and the father of science fiction (The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, etc.), said of Jesus, “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

B. SUMMARY OF HIS LIFE

“Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times” –Philip Schaff. The 2nd reason we’d say, “I only want to know Christ;”

II. NO OTHER HAS DONE MORE FOR US THAN JESUS

A. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO LOVE US:

1. OUR PARENTS, especially our mothers, love us. What love can compare with a mother’s love?

2. OUR SPOUSES love us, at least...some do!)

3. OUR CHILDREN love us, especially when they get old enough to appreciate us.

4. But in John 15:13, Jesus claims that He loves us with a love greater than any other person we've ever known. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends...”

B. EVIDENCES OF HIS GREAT LOVE

1. What King has abandoned his throne so that he could die for his enemies? But Jesus did, because He loved us!

2. What righteous man ever let himself be charged with the heinous crimes of another person, and then die a felon’s death for them? Yet that’s what Jesus did!

3. If you ever thought you might lay down your life for someone, you wouldn't want it to be by torture. Many forms of capital punishment are thought to be excessively painful. Think how Jesus suffered!