Bible Question:
Just got this very interesting article by E-Mail from a good friend and thought I would share. It asks some very probing questions. Be sure to notice the scripture in support. God bless all who study and obey God's Word. IS CHRIST OUR CENTRAL FOCUS? We have scrutinized the Bible to the point that we have it all laid out in reasonable and logical principles. We have dismantled it into theological sections. We have made it an answer book to life's problems and a cure-all for what emotionally and mentally bothers us. It has become a manual filled with instructions on how to live. It provides us with principles that will guide us into God's favor, thus insuring us of His presence and power. Manfred Haller writes: "If you want to know what is in an automobile, the parts it contains and how it was constructed, disassemble it. Just do not try to drive the disassembled vehicle, though, because it won't move an inch. It will have lost all its power, functionality and any purpose it had. All the components belonging to a complete automobile will be lying before you, but it is still not a car. Dissected truths are no longer spiritual truths; they are ineffective, lifeless theorems." "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40) Could it be that most Christians have a love affair with the Bible rather than with Jesus? The Scriptures are VITAL! Scriptures reveal Jesus! If we are in love with Jesus then why is it we dismantle the Bible into theological opinions, then talk about those segregated segments with more excitement, interest and intensity than we talk about Jesus Himself? We even form fortresses around our opinions and call them churches. If we can form alliances we call them denominations. Jesus is not our rallying cry! Is this why the Christian community is having a diminishing influence on our cultural direction? "Begin seeing Christ behind everything. When you finally understand that Christ is everything you need, then you will have become truly Christocentric. Then will you share with the Father the most precious thing He has - His Son. Christ will become your only perspective, your only hope, your only possession, and your only interest. Everything else will fade into insignificance." (MANFRED HALLER- "CHRIST AS ALL IN ALL") For example, we normally present the Gospel as a message of repentance from sin. If we want to go to heaven and miss out on hell then we need to ask for forgiveness. If we want a meaningful and purposeful life, we need God's grace. He will give us forgiveness, redemption, and life everlasting. God has a wonderful plan for our life. Note; the paragraph above has man as God's central focus. Jesus is God's central focus. Everything happens through Jesus, by Jesus, and for Jesus. Christ and Christ alone transforms people, the results of this transformation do not save people only Jesus Christ saves. We seem to focus on the transformation rather than Christ Himself. "The New Testament gospel begins and ends with Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the gospel. The gospel in a single pronouncement is, "he who has the Son has life!' Another one like it is, "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. …The gospel calls men and women to believe in Christ. This means acceptance that God has placed Him in the center, that God will judge us on our relationship to Christ, that our present and our future depends on our kinship with Him." (MANFRED HALLER) We place too much emphasis on the results Christ brings about that we inadvertently present a gospel of works rather than a gospel focused on Christ Himself. Jesus is not coming to gather a brood of cloned replicas that do as He did. When Jesus returns He is coming to receive the Body, the Church, the Vessel through which He will express the fullness of His deity. Written by Terry Jarbo |
Bible Answer: Rowdy, I really think that this message is vital and needed. Jesus Christ needs to be the focus, and everything else must grow out of our relationship with HIM. I think that in a forum like this, where we like to look at sub-categories of less importance, that we need to keep this in mind. I think that we sometimes struggle with our love for the word and the study of becoming more of a focus than the one Who the word is about. It is healthy to look at and admire a telescope, but if all we do is look AT it, we will never look THROUGH it to the thing it is designed to point to- Jesus. Great thoughts... ischus |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 2 | Author | ||
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ischus | ||
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CDBJ | ||
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Applejack | ||
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JEB | ||
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Worship | ||
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Denesha | ||
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Denesha | ||
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brotherbradley | ||
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brotherbradley | ||
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Rowdy | ||
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ischus |