Deutero Q

Back in the sixties Bob Dylan wrote a song called, “The Times, They are a Changing.” And of course Dylan was right. The times are indeed changing, even in the church. Especially in the church.

One of the changes I have noticed in mainline churches is a shift from Christocentric theology to theocentric theology. In other words, people are talking less about Christ and are talking more about vague and fuzzy notions about God and spirituality. “Spirituality” is the trendy word for our time. Christ is being removed from center stage as people try to construct a god of their own design.

In the 1990s a radical Presbyterian minister preached a sermon titled, “What’s the Big Deal about Jesus?” That sermon created a firestorm in our denomination, as Bible-believing Christians such as myself stood up and said Jesus is a big deal. After all:

1. He is the center of God’s self-revelation in history. What do we celebrate every Christmas? The incarnation--that is, God became man. Jesus is God in human flesh. That’s a big deal!

2. Second, Jesus is the very center of God’s self-revelation in the Bible. The Bible is all about Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation. That too is a big deal!

3. Third, Jesus is at the very center of God’s redemptive work. In other words, Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead for sinners. He shed His blood for us. That also is a big deal!

Jesus is a big deal, and there is just no way that Christians can leave Him out of our discussions about God.

In Exodus 32, we read how Aaron and the Israelites turned away from the true God to worship a "god" of their own making. And that is what many people in the world and in the church are doing in our time. People want God on their terms, and so they construct in their minds a “god” of their own making, a "god" who often looks suspiciously like themselves.

But the Bible reveals no such God. If we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus Christ, who is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). At the center of Christianity is God in Christ. In fact, the theme of Colossians is the preeminence and supremacy of Christ. And the theme of Colossians ought to be the theme of the Christian's life as well; Christ should be supreme in the lives of His people.

In these changing times, may those of us for whom Jesus is a big deal allow Him to reign supreme in every area of our lives.

"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." --Colossians 1:18