What it means to be Christ-centred.

This paper is based on the proposition that although we frequently use the expression ‘Christ-centred’, it is neither well-understood nor practised. Nevertheless, in this works-oriented culture, it is crucial that we comprehend what it means to be Christ-centred. To assist us in our understanding, we turn first to Paul’s writings starting at Philippians 3:1-11, particularly vv. 10-11 where he says, ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.’ This passage gives us an insight into Paul’s consuming passion indicated by his words, ‘I want to know Christ’ (v.10), ‘but one thing I do’ (v.13), and ‘I press on toward the goal’ (v.14).

There is no doubt that the apostle’s devotion to Christ was the chief characteristic of his life and writings. For example, when he came first to Corinth, Paul said, ‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified’ (1 Cor 2:1-2). Further, when he spoke about his own life, he said, ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Gal 2:20), and, ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil 1:21). When Paul prayed for his churches, he said, ‘I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him [i.e., Christ] better (Eph 1:17-18). When he referred to his ministry goal, Paul wrote, ‘For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake’ (2 Cor 4:5), and, ‘We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me’ (Col 1:28-29). As Gordon Fee says about Paul,

It does not take much reading of Paul’s letters to recognise that the gospel is the singular passion of his life; that passion is the glue that holds this letter together. The gospel, especially in Philippians, for Paul refers primarily neither to a body of teaching nor to proclamation. Above all, the gospel has to do with Christ, both his person and work. To preach Christ (1:15-16) is to preach the gospel, which is all about Christ; to preach the gospel is to proclaim God’s good news of salvation that he has effected in Christ.1

A question for us to answer here is why did Paul have such focus on and devotion for Christ? What was there in his devotion and the reason for it that is pertinent for us today? First, we’ll take four key aspects from Philippians 3:10-14 in an attempt to answer these questions, then we’ll review other NT passages to ascertain additional answers:

Reasons for Paul’s devotion to Christ

First, Paul wanted to know Christ, whom he already knew, because of ‘the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage’ of knowing him (v.8, Amp). Although Paul knew Christ well, he recognised there was so much more to know both in understanding and personal relationship. Paul knew a secret that might still be hidden from this generation (cf. Col 1:26-27)! That is, union with Christ means participation in every aspect of his character and achievement so that we become as he is because we share in his life (2 Pet 1:4). Therefore, Paul very earnestly desired to know Christ saying, ‘this one thing I do’.

Second, Paul wanted to know the power of Christ’s resurrection so that he could live an overcoming life (v.10-11). By living in the power of the resurrected Christ, Paul would be empowered to live (as far as it is possible in this existence) the future glorified life in the present (Col 3:1). In other words, he would live the Christlike life that he so longed to live. Paul pursued perfection. He recognised that the power of the resurrection was indeed the source by

1 Gordon D. Fee, Philippians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1999), 47.

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which to live such a life (Eph 1:18-23). Paul knew that fellowship with Christ was fellowship with the Resurrected Christ.

Third, Paul wanted to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings so that he would share in their accomplishments (v.10). Why did he want this? He desired it so that he might be dead to the influences of this world; dead to sin (Col 3:3-10). Just as the resurrection provides the supreme empowerment for living the ‘heavenly’ life, so the crucifixion is potent in the destruction of the sinful self-life. There is also an element here of sharing in Christ’s sufferings in the struggle with this world. In the same way that Christ suffered in this world, it is inevitable that Christians will suffer due to the struggle with sin (Heb 12:1-12). Paul knew that fellowship with the Crucified Christ meant that he shared in his crucifixion, meaning he shared in the death of the sinful self-life (Rom 6:5-7).

Fourth, Paul confessed that he had not yet arrived at the destination (v.13-14). He acknowledged that he was ‘a work in progress’; that he had not yet arrived. What an encouragement for us! In the meantime (V. 14), recognising his incompleteness, he strained forward like an athlete so that he might reach the finish successfully. Paul did not mean, of course, that through his superhuman effort he would achieve a perfect, godly life. No! His struggle was to know Christ who was the only one who would and could achieve that goal in him (cf. 1 Thess 5:23-24; Jude 24-25).

In addition to these reasons for Paul’s personal devotion to Christ, there were wider (we might say theological) reasons for him holding Christ in the pre-eminent place. As he said, ‘For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor 3:11). Paul knew that the starting and finishing point of faith is always Jesus (cf. Heb 12:2). He knew that Christ is the pivotal figure of the Scriptures and, indeed, everything (Col 1:17). Paul knew that Jesus is ‘the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End’ (cf. Rev 22:13). The following additional NT understandings of Christ demonstrate further why he is the foundation and centre of Christian belief and therefore worthy of the passionate focus and devotion characterised in Paul.

Further NT understandings of Christ

First and foremost, Jesus Christ is Lord; he is God (1 Cor 12:3; Col 1:15-17). One way this is seen is at Creation. Paul declared, ‘For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him’ (Col 1:16; see also John 1:1-3; Heb 1:2). Being God, Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. The Trinity is our way of saying that God is one but consists of three persons, the other two being the Father and the Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Trinity are one in substance and therefore one God (1 Cor 8:6). The concept of Trinity is unfathomable, but it is clearly revealed in Scripture, especially in the New Testament (e.g., 2 Cor 13:14). So, it is very important that the Lord Jesus Christ is seen to be God in the same sense as the Father and the Spirit are God (John 1:1-4, 10:30, 17:11). Jesus is not an inferior god or divine person as some early errorists and present sects believe. Since Jesus is Lord, he merits the primary place in worship and devotion.

Second, the Scriptures (the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments) are actually about Jesus (Luke 24:44-47; John 5:39-40; 2 Tim 3:14-17). The Scriptures are viewed from various perspectives but really they point to the focal person, the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we cannot fully understand the Old Testament (OT) without the New Testament (NT). The NT contains accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as well as the Apostles’ teaching about him. The whole structure of the OT points toward the coming Messiah-King who would save his

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people and bless all peoples on the earth.2 To read the OT in isolation merely as a guide book to moral and spiritual living is to miss its main theme. The OT shows us Jesus whom the NT fully reveals. Consequently, since the Scriptures primarily reveal Jesus, they are to be diligently searched to discover him and faithfully proclaimed to glorify him.

Third, Jesus is our Saviour (Col 1:14; 1 John 4:14). In identifying with our human need by living as one of us, then by dying on the cross and rising from the dead, he became our Saviour from sin and all the effects of our fallen state including physical and spiritual death. The whole event of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection is what we regard as the Father’s supreme act of loving redemption to save the world from its ever-present and future ills and perils (Rom 5:6-11; 1 Cor 15:1-4). In addition, the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit, third person of the Godhead) is now Christ’s replacement who is with us and in us as believers, to carry out the achievements of Jesus’ redemptive act (John 14:18-19, 26, 16:13-15). Accordingly, since humankind’s hope of salvation resides solely in Christ and his work (cf. Acts 4:12), it is paramount that we turn to him (repentance), trust in him (faith) and follow him. In addition, since everything that we have received and might potentially receive from God, comes to us solely through the Cross, it is imperative that we entirely dependent on Christ (cf. John 15). Thus Christ is our Saviour in a pervasive way in that we have ‘fullness’ solely in him (Col 2:10).

Fourth, the goal of the Spirit of Christ is to bring each believer into an ever closer relationship with Christ (and consequently with other believers) so that eventually all believers will be perfectly mature and united in Jesus and with the church, his body (1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:1-6, 11-16). The Father from eternity has desired and designed, because of his great love, to gather to himself a family under his loving care.3 This desire resulted in the sending of Jesus to be our Saviour followed by the Spirit of Christ to be within us and among us as our ever-present Counsellor (John 14:16-18, 26, 15:26; Acts 1:5, 2:4). Consequently, our existence as Christians consists of walking in living union with Christ and therefore in dependence upon him (John 15:1-17; Col 1:25-29).

Fifth, Jesus is coming again as King and ultimate Redeemer (Matt 24:27; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess 1:10, 4:16-18; 2 Thess 1:7-10; 2:1-2; Rev 1:7). When Jesus returns he will complete the accomplishments of his life, death and resurrection, perfecting all things (1 Cor 13:10-13; Rev 22:1-5). This includes the maturity of his people in perfect righteousness (Eph 5:25-27; 1 Thess 3:13, 5:23-24), overcoming all sorrow and death (Rev 21:1-5), correcting and redressing all injustice and unrighteousness (Matt 12:18-21; Luke 18:7; Rev 21:8), as well as healing the earth from the consequences of the fall and human mismanagement (2 Peter 3:13). As our coming King, then, we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Christ as our hope of completed salvation.

Sixth, and closely connected with the last point, the ultimate purpose of God is to sum up all things in Christ (cf. John 17:24; Eph 1:9-10; Col 1:19-20). For example, among his other comments on Ephesians 1:10, Arthur Patzia affirms that ‘God’s ultimate plan is to unify all of creation under the headship of Christ’.4 If then, as Patzia says, that the ultimate plan of the Father is to unify all creation under (or even better, into) Christ, then our ministry goals need to be adjusted accordingly if we are to be doing what the Father is doing. Adding to Patzia’s comments on Ephesians 1:10, John Stott says, ‘In the fullness of time, God’s two creations, his whole universe and his whole church, will be unified under the cosmic Christ who is the

2 E.g., Isa 7:14, 9:1–6, 49:6, 52:13–53:12, 61:1–3; Micah 5:1-4; Amos 9:11-15; Jer 23:5-6; Hag. 2:20-22; Zech. 4:1-

14; 6:9-15; 9:9-10; Mal 3:1-4; 4:1-3. 3 E.g., Luke 15:11-32; Eph 1:9-10, 2:15-19; 3:14-21; Col 1:19-20.

4 Arthur G. Patzia, ‘Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon’, in New International Biblical Commentary, ed. W. Ward

Gasque (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 1984), 10: 155.

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supreme head of both’.5 In saying this, Stott clearly outlines God’s ultimate plan, a plan that originated in heart of God before time began but was put into effect through Christ’s saving work and is now carried out by the Spirit, but will be completed ‘in the fullness of time’. Since this is the Father’s objective, it must be ours as well.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega. He is the centre of faith and life. He is the complete source of life and everything, the One on whom we depend entirely, and the one in whom all creation will be ‘summed up’. Understanding the centrality of Christ and living in authentic union with Christ is as crucial for every Christian as it was for Paul (Phil 1:21; John 15:5; Gal 2:20). In conclusion, the most crucial issue to contemplate from this study is the depth of our devotion to Christ in light of Paul’s example and other NT understandings. Let’s reflect, therefore, on the present state of our focus on and devotion to Jesus, resolving to commit to the relentless pursuit of Christ, trusting his resurrection Spirit to help us to maintain progress.

Contemporary practice of Christ-centredness

In light of the above, what would the pursuit of Christ look like in current church practice? Here are some suggestions. Our passion for Christ would mean that we would talk a great deal about him and the gospel. As the psalmist said, ‘I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations’ (Psa 89:1, 105:2, 119:27, 145:11). This means that our preaching, teaching, congregational singing and prayer would feature prominently the Lord Jesus Christ including his life, death, resurrection and his ongoing work through the Spirit. This plain reality presupposes that we will both preach and relate more to the NT than the OT and when we do refer to the OT, interpret it Christologically. As theologian Donald G. Bloesch says,

It is possible to preach from the Bible and yet not preach Jesus Christ or the gospel … Every sermon should include the gospel of God’s work of reconciliation and redemption in Jesus Christ, even though it may not explicitly focus on this theme. Even when we preach from the Old Testament we should preach Jesus Christ and him crucified (cf. 1 Cor 1:23; 2:2). Too many sermons merely repeat the stories of biblical heroes rather than show how these heroes point to Jesus as the sole source of our redemption.6

As renowned Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) said, ‘The best sermon is that which is most full of Christ’.7 Spurgeon followed this statement with the ensuing story:

A Welsh minister, when preaching at the chapel of my dear brother Jonathan George, was saying that Christ was the sum and substance of the gospel, and he broke out into the following story. A young man had been preaching in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had finished, he foolishly went to the old minister and inquired, ‘What do you think of my sermon, sir?’ ‘A very poor sermon indeed,’ said the older man, ‘because there was no Christ in it. Don’t you know, young man, that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?’ ‘Yes,’ said the young man. ‘Ah!’ said the old divine. ‘And so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. And, my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, “Now, what is the road to Christ?” and then

5 John Stott, The Message of Ephesians’, in The Bible Speaks Today, ed. John Stott (Leicester: IVP, 1979), 44.

6 Donald G. Bloesch, The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 182, 186.

7 Charles Haddon Spurgeon, ‘What is the Road to Christ’, in The Quotable Spurgeon (Hiawatha, IA: Harold Shaw,

1990).

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preach a sermon, running along the road toward the great metropolis—Christ. I have never yet found a text that had not a plain and direct road to Christ in it. And if ever I should find one that has no such road, I will make a road; I would go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master. For a sermon is neither fit for the land nor yet for the garbage heap unless there is a savor of Christ in it.

Further, to be Christ-centred would mean that we frequently recall the stories and teachings of the gospel in our sermons, songs and prayers, and love to do so, because the gospel was Christ’s principal work, that which cost him his life, and is the monolithic event in our Christian history. There is no Christianity without the gospel. Just as Israel frequently rehearsed the details of the Exodus, its principal salvation event (e.g., Psa 78), so we Christians glory in the cross as our fundamental pillar of faith (Gal 6:14). The Early Church, indeed the NT also, used creeds and songs to state and restate their beliefs as the following shows.

The genesis of the church’s symbols (as creeds have been called from early times) resides in protocredal statements of faith and worship embedded in the NT. With the confession, ‘Jesus is Lord’ (Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3) early Christians acknowledged that the Nazarene was to be spoken of in the same terms as Yahweh of the OT. The text interpolated at Acts 8:37, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,’ represents a primitive Christian baptismal affirmation. Other NT credal formulas affirm Christ’s incarnation, saving death and glorious resurrection (Rom. 1:3–4; 1 Cor. 15:3–4; 1 Jn. 4:2). The great Christological passage Phil. 2:6–11 may have been sung at early Christian baptismal services. 1 Cor. 8:6 affirms the unity of God and the co-ordination of the Father with Jesus Christ. Finally in the NT a Trinitarian confessional pattern emerged (Mt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14), which became the paradigm for later credal formularies.8

The creeds invariably proclaimed Christ and the gospel. In the same way, our songs should serve as creeds to frequently restate the gospel.

Further, to be Christ-centred means recognising our total dependence on him and living accordingly, because in Christ is found our inexhaustible life source. We are literally dependent on Christ for everything (Col 2:6-12). This is one of Paul’s principal meanings of the word ‘grace’. Grace goes far beyond unconditional acceptance and forgiveness in Pauline theology. To Paul, grace meant participating in Christ’s riches through the empowerment of the Spirit of Christ to enable believers to pray (Eph 6:18), to live (Rom 8:13; Gal 5:25), to love (Rom 15:30), to work (2 Cor 3:5-6), to preach (Eph 6:18-19), to give (2 Cor 8:7), to worship (Phil 3:3), to do anything and everything. Paul, like Jesus, acknowledged that without the Father, he could do nothing (John 5:19; Gal 2:20). However, through the vast riches available to him through Christ he could live a godly life either in poverty or in plenty (Phil 4:13, 19). Consequently, Paul’s writings are rich in grace-empowering language. They are rich in ‘Spirit’, ‘in Christ’, ‘through Christ’ and ‘by Christ’ language (e.g., Col 1:1-8). In the light of Paul’s example here, if there was a renewed recognition of our dependence on Christ, prayer would become a conspicuous feature of our practice because through it we access the grace in which we stand.

Contrariwise, there is a strong contemporary emphasis on what we can do apart from prayer, congruent with a society that is fixated by human effort and outcomes. It comes out in our songs and our preaching. We sing about what we will do, rather than what Christ has done and what God will do in us because of the cross. We preach that people must try harder, press in closer, and generally exert themselves more strongly for the kingdom’s sake. This kind of message is described by Bloesch as that which is ‘law without the gospel so that our hearers are told what to do in order to ensure for themselves a place in God’s kingdom rather than on what

8 Sinclair B. Ferguson and J.I. Packer, New Dictionary of Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1988).

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God has already done for them in Jesus Christ’.9 Now, there’s a lot to be said for greater dedication to God and the cause of Christ and his gospel, however, whatever we do must be empowered by the Spirit. Hence, we need to fully proclaim the gospel of God’s gracious empowerment in Christ so that people will not try to repent, to pray, to witness, to work, to forgive, to ‘worship’ without trust and dependence on God’s grace in Christ. As Bloesch says, our response must be ‘induced by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit rather than an accomplishment of human free will’.10 He gives power to the weak, he empowers for witness, and he gives us grace to work ‘harder than all of them’ (e.g., 1 Cor 15:10: ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me’; see also 2 Cor 12:9). Without him we can do nothing (cf. John 15). Those who thoughtlessly say that since they already have Christ, they can do all things and therefore simply need to exert full effort to live the Christian life, are ignorant of the NT and the writings Paul. Paul’s dependence on Christ and the Spirit through prayer is a hallmark of his grace-based life, let alone his extensive teaching on dependence on Christ (cf. Eph 1:17-18, 3:14-20, 6:18-20).

To be Christ-centred also means that we would interpret Scripture with Christ as its focal point. I like what Nigel Wright says about the Bible not being a ‘flat book’.11 What he means by this is that the Bible should not be used in a way that every passage has ‘equal value’. He says,

The Bible is to be interpreted christologically, with Christ as the key for interpreting and reading the whole. Reading and heeding every part is important, but the Bible is not a flat book with every part of equal significance: Christ is the centre and makes sense of the whole. This leads to a different approach from the balancing of texts in that it inclines the discussion of disputed issues in a more theological direction. The Bible is read through Christ who is the clearest revelation of the Father and from this core a theology of the Triune God emerges in the light of which the individual texts of Scripture may be understood in true perspective.12

For example, a great deal of preaching in contemporary churches comes from the OT and is used allegorically.13 These allegories are purported to have biblical authority because scripture passages have been used. When OT Scriptures are not used allegorically, authority is assumed for them because the texts are scriptural. Even when scripture is exegeted accurately (which it often is not), it is assumed that it has authority, again, because it is biblical. To use an example, prosperity for all is taught with biblical authority simply because the OT includes passages about prosperity (e.g., Deut 5:23, 6:24; Psa 1:3). If we assume that the passages do in fact teach that prosperity is applicable to all people (which is doubtful), this is treating the Bible as a flat book. However, the Bible is more like a mountain range which peaks at Christ. Its profile therefore must be seen as being overshadowed by the mountain of Christ and the gospel. Consequently, we interpret the Bible christologically. To illustrate, what did Jesus say about material goods and what bearing does the gospel and its teachings have on our attitudes toward them (e.g., Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:9, 11, 13)? This is where our authority for teaching on money and wealth derive.

In addition, a great deal of contemporary preaching which originates from the OT mainly concerns principles of godly living or leadership. Along this line Bloesch says, ‘Here

9 Bloesch, 181.

10 Bloesch, 180.

11 Nigel G. Wright, New Baptists, New Agenda (Cumbria, UK: Paternoster, 2002), 22-23.

12 Ibid.

13 Cf. Bloesch, 178-188.

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Protestantism comes dangerously close to the style of preaching prevalent in the Catholic churches in which a moral homily, usually brief and to the point, takes the place of the kerygmatic proclamation.’14 As valuable as this may be, if that is all there is to our preaching, have we arrived at a Christless Christianity; a moral system of living? Do we simply assume that somehow everyone knows that Christ is present somewhere in our preaching and practice? Are we looking to Christ in these godly principles, or could we apply these principles without Christ? A decisive test of whether or not our ‘Christianity’ is Christless is, could we exclude Christ? I fear that many of our ‘spiritual’ methodologies and principles are functioning without Christ and the cross at all. The advice John Wesley gave to his preachers along these lines is still relevant:

Q.19. What is the best general method of preaching?

A. To invite, to convince, to offer Christ, to build up; and to do this in some measure in every sermon. The most effectual way of preaching Christ is to preach Him in all His offices; and to declare His law [i.e., the sermon on the mount] as well as His Gospel, both to believers and unbelievers. Let us strongly insist upon inward and outward holiness: and, with this view, set forth Christ as evidently crucified before their eyes; Christ in all the riches of His grace, justifying us by His blood, and sanctifying us by His Spirit. Always suit your subject to the state of your audience. Choose the plainest texts you can. Take care not to ramble, but keep to your text, and make out what you take in hand. Be sparing in spiritualising or allegorising.15

Conclusion:

We have seen how that in Paul’s life and ministry, Christ and the gospel were his abiding passion and focus. We have also noted his personal reasons for pursuing Christ. Additionally, we observed other reasons for faithfully preserving Christ-centredness in devotion and practice. Finally, in light of these reasons and Paul’s example, we rehearsed some implications for contemporary church practice. To say that our focus on Christ is the most crucial challenge facing the contemporary church may sound extreme, but when we overlay our faith and practice on that of Paul and his writings, there can be little doubt that this is the case. What is called for in this paper is nothing less that a new reformation that brings Christ into his pre-eminent place as Head of the church and Saviour of the world.

SUMMARY:

1. Paul’s Christ-centredness is exemplified in his statements regarding his purpose in ministry and his state of life (e.g., 1 Cor 2:1-2; Gal 2:20; Eph 1:17-18; Phil 1:21; Col 1:28-29).

2. Paul’s devotion for Christ is reflected also in Philippians 3:1-11 where he emphasised his intense desire to know Christ, to know him in the power of his resurrection and his sufferings, and although not yet perfected, Paul said he would ‘press on’ to know Christ more deeply. Further reasons for the centrality of Christ in Christian devotion and practice follow:

3. First, Jesus Christ is Lord; he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Trinity (Acts 10:36; Phil 2:11; Col 1:18, 2:9; Rev 17:14). The Trinity is one God in three persons (Matt 28:19; Rom 1:7, 15:6, 1 Cor 1:3, 8:6; 2 Cor 13:14; Gal 4:6). One way that Jesus’ deity is revealed is in Creation since he is the Creator (John 1:1-3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2).

14

Ibid., 181.

15 John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley, 3rd edn. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1998), viii: 317; Henry W. Williams,

The Constitution and Polity of Wesleyan Methodism: being a Digest of its Laws and Institutions brought down to the Conference of 1880 (London: Wesleyan Conference Centre, 1880), 267.

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4. Second, Jesus and the work of salvation is the theme of the entire Scriptures both Old and New Testaments (Luke 24:27; John 5:39-40; Acts 18:28; Rom 16:25-26; 1 Cor 15:3-4). Our interpretation of Scripture should always very carefully consider this context (1 Tim 4:16; 6:3-5; 2 Tim 4:3-4).

5. Third, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Saviour. He is our Saviour from sin and its consequences; our Saviour from this present ‘evil world’ (Acts 2:40; Phil 3:20; 1 Tim 1:1, 4:10; 2 Tim 1:10; Titus 2:13; 2 Pet 1:11).

Jesus is our Saviour through his birth, life, death and resurrection (Rom 8:3; Phil 2:5-11; 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:14-15). He took on our human form to utterly identify with us and pay sin’s penalty for us (Rom 3:25, 5:9; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14).

Since Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension to the Father, he has given us the Holy Spirit, his replacement, the Spirit of Christ to be with us and in us (John 14:16-18, 16:7-16).

6. Fourth, the Holy Spirit within us implements the accomplishments of the cross (Rom 8:11; Gal 5:22-25). He is the Spirit of Christ (John 16:14; Rom 8:9). All that Jesus is and has done is present within us through the Spirit (Eph 3:16-20; Col 2:9-10). Living in his available riches and accomplishments is the challenge of the Christian life – called ‘walking in’ and ‘by the Spirit’ (Gal 3:3; 5:16, 25; Eph 6:18; Phil 3:3; Col 1:8; 1 Pet 4:6).

7. Fifth, Jesus is our coming King. He will return to bring final redemption, justice and peace to the earth (Matt 24:27; John 14:3; 1 Cor 15:23; 1 Thess 2:19; 2 Thess 2:8; 2 Pet 3:10 etc.). He is the First and the Last and everything in between – the ‘I Am’ (Rev 1:11, 17, 2:8, 22:13).

8. Sixth, and closely connected with the last point, the ultimate purpose of God is to sum up all things in Christ (cf. John 17:24; Eph 1:9-10; Col 1:19-20).

9. Consequently, a representative range of crucial implications for contemporary practice emerge from our list of statements about the centrality and primacy of the Lord Jesus Christ in Christian life and worship. These implications include such matters as Christ-centred worship and preaching, and significant emphasis on prayer.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. List several of the reasons given above that show why the Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point of our faith and practice.

2. What does the fact that Jesus is Saviour mean to you?

3. Explain what it means when we say that Jesus is the theme of the Bible, both OT and NT.

4. What is the work of the Spirit now, and what meaning has this for you?

5. Consider some areas in your life where Jesus needs to be more central. What steps do you need to take to reach this goal.

6. Consider also some ways that Christ might become more prominent in our corporate church life.

© Richard B. Roy – June 2009.