Christ needs to become the centrality and universality of our life and work

Christ is the centrality (the center) and the universality (the circumference) in God’s economy. We may understand this, like this, and even say this, but has this become a vision to us that affects our being to the extent that to us, in our experience, Christ is our center and our everything?

We need to open to the Lord that He may touch our heart with what He is as the centrality and universality of God’s economy. Such a seeing will bring us into dropping anything else that is not Christ and taking Christ as our center and our everything.

Christ is the Centrality and Universality of the New Jerusalem

The final product of God’s purpose, the ultimate consummation of God’s economy, is the New Jerusalem, a great universal corporate person.

In the New Jerusalem we see that God and the Lamb are on the throne in the center of the city (Rev. 22:1), and God as the light shines through the Lamb as the lamp (Rev. 21:23). Here we see that Christ as the Lamb-lamp is the centrality – He is the Redeemer with God as light within Him.

In Rev. 21:11 we see that the holy city – composed of all the redeemed people of God throughout the centuries mingled with God as their everything – has the glory of God, and her light was like a jasper stone, bright, clear as crystal.

The whole city has light and is light as the diffuser, the bearer of light, shining out the light coming from God Himself and expressed through Christ!

The nations on the new earth will walk in the light of the city – God in Christ is the center and source of light, and all the redeemed people of God is the diffuser magnifying and shining out God’s light to men. Here we see that Christ is the center and Christ is the circumference.

The New Jerusalem is also the divine-human corporate couple – God’s way to make Christ the center and circumference in us is through the developing love in the divine romance.

In the midst of a world filled with chaos, struggles, problems, seemingly with no purpose, there’s a hidden divine history of God loving man, drawing man, and man loving God and being in an organic union with God! Hallelujah!

Christ Needs to Be the Centrality and Universality of our Work and Move

In Col. 1:15-18 Christ is the center, having the first place in all things. In Col. 3:10-11 Christ is the universality, becoming all and in all in the new man.

We need to reach that state in which there is no more nationality, race, culture, color, or other distinction, but Christ is our center and our circumference – there is only Christ!

Also, in God’s move as seen in Ezek. 1, the great wheel of God’s economy on earth, the hub is Christ, the rim is Christ, and the spokes are Christ; Christ is the centrality and the universality in the move of God’s economy. Even when we are busy doing many things for the Lord, we need to take Christ as our center and our everything.

It is a tragedy to lose Christ as our center in our move and work. The believers in Ephesus had a lot of works, but they lost Christ as the center – God had to spew them out of His mouth. More and more in our personal life and in our church life Christ needs to be the center and the circumference.

In Zech. 5 Christ is the glory in the city of Jerusalem and a wall of fire around the city. At the center of the church there’s the all-inclusive Christ, and the circumference of the church is Christ, protecting His interest! We are not “of Paul”, “of Apollos”, “of Watchman Nee”, or any other name – we are of Christ, and Christ is the centrality and universality in the church!

Seeing a Vision that Affects Our Being

The Lord has to somehow have access to our being and touch us. We need a vision of the centrality and universality of Christ, and this vision needs to become the dominating factor in our being.

When the vision of the centrality and universality of Christ becomes the dominating factor in our being, work, and move, anything that is not Christ will spontaneously drop off.

This is NOT a theology, a theory, a doctrine, or some good valid sound biblical points. We need to see something that will affect us to the point that we will open to the Lord and let Him work this out in our being.

Only the Spirit of reality can touch our heart with this. God’s heart is set on this – Christ is His Beloved Son, and He wants His Christ to be the center and circumference of our being, work, and life.

Somehow, what is in God’s heart concerning Christ as the centrality and universality has to touch our heart so that our being is opened to the Lord and enter into this reality. We need Christ to be wrought into our being as the centrality and universality of God’s economy.

It Is Altogether a Matter of Love in the Divine Romance

How can we take Christ as the center and everything? It is by loving Him and by allowing Him to love us. This is altogether a matter of love in the divine romance. God and man is joined through love, and this is at the heart of the universe.

God is courting man, gaining man, and He is working Himself into His people so that they also may love Him and open to Him, taking Christ as their center and everything. God and us, we and God, will become a universal couple, the consummation of the divine romance, and Christ will be the centrality and universality in the new heaven and new earth. Hallelujah!

Lord, save us from having merely a mental understanding and comprehension of Christ as the centrality and universality in God’s economy. May we see a vision of such a Christ that will affect our being. Lord, touch our heart, and make Christ our center and our everything! We don’t want to stop at doctrine – may Chrst be our Center and our Everything in our daily life and work!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, Life-study of Hosea (msg. 1), and brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 1 (entitled, The Centrality and Universality of Christ and the Union of God and His People to Be a Universal Couple).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The Triune God has now become our all! / How wonderful! How glorious!
  # In daily walk and in our meetings too, / Christ is the center, Christ is everything;
  # We have seen Christ is reality: / But it’s not sufficient just to see: / He in our experience must be / Everything to us.
• Picture source: Christ is the center.