The Centrality of Christ

Our lives can seem complex, constantly crowded with options. We face a barrage of opinions about everything: health and finances, trends and fashions, success and pleasure, homes and hobbies, relationships and careers.

The Christian life, too, is filled with choices. It can seem difficult to keep the right priorities, to distinguish between deception and truth, to understand how to live, and to know what to do.

These issues are true today, just as they were in the first century. But John, in his letter to the “elect lady and her children” (v. 1), provided a simple litmus test: Jesus is the key to everything.

John described how focusing on Jesus was the gateway to a relationship with the Father: “The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (NASB).

Focusing on Jesus gives us perspective and helps us recognize deception: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (v. 7). In fact, John declared that “anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God” (v. 9 NASB).

This understanding should give our lives focus. How simple life becomes when we focus on Jesus; when we decide to follow Him and declare Him the Lord of our lives; when we develop a personal relationship with Him; and when we allow Him to change our lives and teach us.

As we follow Christ, we’ll discover greater truths, learn more about God the Father and His Word, and have discernment to make right decisions. We’ll know how to live, and we’ll have purpose and meaning in life.