Jesus Christ - the Center of the Christian Life
by Lani W. Finley

God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, has appointed a KING and His name is JESUS CHRIST. Our loving Heavenly Father has intentionally structured our salvation to revolve around His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no one else, in the entire universe, that God has ordained to be our Lord and King (Dan. 7: 13-14).

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

No one else could qualify for this position, because it was Christ that created humankind and all that exists (John 1:3). He is the only one whose life is worth more than all of humankind's combined. God has anointed Him to be the answer for all of our needs.

We should understand that He was endowed with this awesome position and power because Jesus totally committed His life to serving and pleasing God. Sometimes we seem to forget that the Heavenly Father is also the God and Father of Jesus. In Ephesians 1:17 we read, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him”. The apostle Paul also confirms this truth in Hebrews 1:9. “You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows”. Christ’s whole life is dedicated to pleasing and fulfilling the desires of His God’s heart. God wanted a family and Jesus was willing to pay any price to make it a reality. We should be utterly grateful that we have a Creator that loves the Father and human beings so much, that He would die to serve them both.

This is why Christ is the center of the Christian’s life. Everything in a believer's life has to revolve around, and reflect Jesus. All spiritual and physicals laws, Sabbaths and Annual Festivals bring us back to Him. They are just a reflection of all He is and represents. Everything in the Christian walk takes us directly back to our Lord. That is why one of His names is “I AM”. One of the ideas that Jesus wants to communicate to us when He uses this name is: I AM - Whatever You Need! I AM - The One That Supplies All Of Your Needs! I AM – The Lord Of Everything!

Dear brethren, God has honored us with a wonderfully caring Savior. He also ordained Jesus to be the center of our relationship with God. There is no other approach that our Father will honor. We cannot work, nor perform well enough, to bypass the need for Jesus. Let us just embrace the fact that every biblical truth and scriptural doctrine was born in Christ. If we wish to inherit eternal life – we will have to live in, and through Jesus Christ.