I love Jesus Christ

This is another great article from John Piper. It is well worth your time. A young theology lecturer suddenly made this impromptu remark in a seminary class, in 1968 or 69:

John, I love Jesus Christ.

Piper comments on this outburst:

The echo of that thunderclap is still sounding in my heart. That was 40 years ago! There are a thousand things I don’t remember about those days in seminary. But that afternoon remains unforgettable. And all he said was, “John, I love Jesus Christ.”

James Morgan died a year later of stomach cancer, leaving a wife and four small children. His chief legacy in my life was one statement on an afternoon in Pasadena. “I love Jesus Christ.” So here at the beginning of 2009, I join James Morgan in saying, “I love Jesus Christ.”

And as I say it, I want to make clear what I mean:

* I admire Jesus Christ more than any other human or angelic being.
* I enjoy his ways and his words more than I enjoy the ways and words of anyone else.
* I want his approval more than I want the approval of anyone else.
* I want to be with him more than I want to be with anyone else.
* I feel more grateful to him for what he has done for me than I do to anyone else.
* I trust his words more fully than I trust what anyone else says.
* I am more glad in his exaltation than in the exaltation of anyone else, including me.

Please read the rest.