Jesus Christ is at the center of our religion. He is the focal point, and so He must remain. Notice how central He was in the early church.
He was the message. When Christians scattered after Stephen’s martyrdom, they went to Antioch, “preaching the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20).Paul preached Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). He preached the good news of our Lord’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Likewise, Jesus must remain the content of our preaching—the main point of our Gospel.
He was the One to whom people converted. In Antioch, those who heard about the Lord Jesus believed and “turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). Paul remembered how the Thessalonians had turned to God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Sometimes, one will ask another, “When did you become a member of the church?” True, we become part of the Lord’s body, the church, when we become Christians (Acts 2:47). However, it might be better to ask, “When did you turn to the Lord?” When a person becomes a Christian, he establishes a relationship with Jesus. He is the One to whom we turn.
He was the Person to whom Christians gave their allegiance. Barnabas encouraged new Christians in Antioch to remain true to the Lord (Acts 11:23). A Christian’s loyalty is pledged to Christ. He is the flag around which we rally. We are only loyal to sound doctrine and to God’s people because we are loyal to Christ. If we are unfaithful to the truth or to the church, we are unfaithful to Christ.
He was the Person to whom sinners were brought. Luke penned that many residents of Antioch were brought to the Lord (Acts 11:24). “Come to me,” Jesus said. We must keep the Lord Jesus Christ at the center of both our message and our religion. If a man were to take Christ out of Christianity, what would remain? To supplant Christ with a manmade creed, doctrine or denomination and to elevate the name of a man as leader of this church or that church is a vain attempt to dethrone Christ as the rightful head of the church, which He built and for which He died. A religion without Christ at the center is no religion at all!
