THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST
One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that many believers know much about Christ and yet do not truly live from Christ. They have received truths, doctrines, teachings, and religious habits; but the living Lord Himself has not yet become the central, governing reality of their inner life. God’s purpose from eternity has never been merely to give us Christianity—it has been to give us Christ.
The whole testimony of Scripture moves toward this single point. From the first promise in the garden to the final vision of the throne in heaven, God is working toward one supreme objective: that His Son should be all and in all (Colossians 3:11). Everything in the divine economy is gathered up into Him. Creation was through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). Redemption is through Him and unto Him (Ephesians 1:7-10). And the church exists as the vessel in which His life and glory are to be manifested.
Yet the Lord’s method of bringing us into this reality often surprises us. We imagine that spiritual growth will come through greater knowledge, deeper study, or stronger resolutions. But God’s way is different. He brings us again and again to the end of ourselves so that Christ may become our life in a deeper measure.
This is why the Christian journey frequently includes seasons of inward weakness, confusion, and limitation. The Lord allows the believer to discover that human strength cannot accomplish spiritual ends. Our natural wisdom fails. Our natural zeal grows weary. Our natural ability proves insufficient. In these moments the Spirit gently presses upon the heart a single truth: Christ Himself must become our strength, our wisdom, and our life.
The apostle Paul understood this deeply. After years of ministry, revelation, and suffering, he wrote these simple yet profound words: “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). Notice that he did not say that Christ helped him live, nor that Christ improved his life. Rather, Christ was his life.
This is the essence of the New Covenant. The Christian life is not the imitation of Christ by human effort. It is the expression of Christ through a surrendered vessel. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The old self-centered life has been brought to the cross, and a new life—the life of the risen Lord—has taken its place.
When this truth begins to govern the believer’s heart, everything changes. Prayer is no longer merely asking God to assist our plans; it becomes fellowship with the living Christ. Service is no longer the exertion of human energy; it becomes the outflow of His life through us. Even suffering takes on a new meaning, for through weakness the power of Christ finds room to operate (2 Corinthians 12:9).
God is always working toward this deeper inward reality. He patiently removes every false center from our lives—our confidence in ourselves, our dependence on systems, even our attachment to outward forms of religion—until Christ alone remains as the source and substance of our spiritual life.
The church desperately needs this revelation in every generation. Much Christian activity continues outwardly while the inward reality grows thin. Programs multiply, yet spiritual life diminishes. Words increase, yet living power becomes rare. The answer is not more activity, but a fresh unveiling of Christ Himself.
For when Christ truly takes His place at the center, life begins to flow again. The believer finds a new liberty, a deeper rest, and a quiet strength that cannot be explained by human resources. The church becomes more than an organization; it becomes the living expression of the risen Lord.
This is the purpose toward which God has been moving from the beginning: that His Son would fill all things and that His people would live in the good of that fullness (Ephesians 1:22-23).
And so the question before every believer is both simple and searching: Is Christ merely part of our life, or is He truly our life?
God is patiently working until the answer becomes a living reality.
___________
Lord Jesus, bring us beyond the surface of religion into the depth of life in You. Strip away everything that competes with Your place in our hearts. Teach us to live not from ourselves but from Your indwelling life. May You truly become all and in all within us. Amen.
BDD
