A Diagram of Church

The 21st Century Church - Part Two Being Christ Centred

For any Christian believer, it is imperative that their life and faith are centred around Christ and all that He has wrought on the cross. This is the subject that we ultimately term Christology and would have to be one of the most comprehensive subjects studied by scholars and students today. I will therefore not attempt to take into account all of the aspects of this study but simply wish to focus this short study on being Christ centred in our lives.

Paul and Peter alike encourage the body of Christ to “be holy” and go on to explain that holiness can only be compared to Him who is Holy that is The Lord God of Israel and every aspect of the Godhead including the Son who is the Christ.

Holiness therefore is not something that is obtained by action or even words but by being and being in particular in relationship with the Father through the works that Christ has wrought on the cross.

Often we attribute Christians to those people who attend a particular church or those who attend mass or observe other sacraments. Yet the book of James and Romans explains to us that it is neither by our works or indeed any actions of our own that give us our state or standing in Christ. It is being in Christ and having Christ in us that bring us to this place of Holiness.

What does it therefore mean to be in Christ? The book of Corinthians explains that we are seated in Christ in heavenly places, and indeed Christ himself rose to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Being in Christ is about understanding our state and our standing in him and that w in turn are with Christ in heavenly places.

Naturally the state of any individual is dynamic which fluctuates depending on our circumstances and situation, often we see the result of this in what we call conditional covenant. That is covenants or promises that were written between God the Father and His creation which came with certain conditions. An example of this can be seen in the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus explains “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” Often we think that God’s grace give us a “get out of jail” free card, that is Christ is always ready and willing to forgive us all our sins. Yet this promise comes with a condition that is that we in turn forgive others who sin against us this can be seen in a number of parables used.

Our Standing in Christ is static, that is unchanging and is the eternal hope that every Christian leans on to secure a future as promised by the Father. Once again this is based covenant, but this time on unconditional covenant as opposed to conditional. One such covenant can be seen in God’s promise to never again flood the earth and to continually remind us of this promise He gave us a sign which is the rainbow.

When we understand that we are seated with Christ and either live according to his conditional or unconditional promises we can than begin to live out in our own lives that which Christ wrought in us on the cross. Philippians encourages us to “live out our salvation with fear and trembling” and it is done with an understanding of who we are in Christ. Every blessing, privilege, position and reign that Christ upholds within himself can and should be for all who are in Christ.