A Biblical Vision, Part I: Mastering the Old Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I : Mas ter i ng the Ol d Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

Appendix 39 The Cosmic and All-Sufficient Center From John Stott, Life in Christ

Jesus of Nazareth continues to enjoy an extraordinary boom. People are fascinated by him, even in spite of themselves. Many who never reach the point of confessing him as God and Savior yet regard him with profound admiration. True, there are others who resent and reject him. But the one thing people seem unable to do is to ignore him and leave him alone. Even in other religions and ideologies Jesus is held in high honor. . . . As T. R. Glover wrote in The Jesus of History : “Jesus remains the very heart and soul of the Christian movement, still controlling men, still capturing men. . . . In fine, there is no figure in human history that signifies more. Men may love him or hate him, but they do it intensely.” . . . Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity, and therefore both the Christian faith and the Christian life, if they are to be authentic, must be focused on Christ. In his work Christian Faith and Other Faiths , the late Bishop Stephen Neill wrote: “The old saying ‘Christianity is Christ’ is almost exactly true. The historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth is the criterion by which every Christian affirmation has to be judged, and in the light of which it stands or falls.” ~ John Stott. Life in Christ . Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991. p. 7.