Everything Connects to Everything Else ~ Leonardo da Vinci ~

“Study the art of science and the science of art.”

“Especially, learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else”

~Leonardo da Vinci~

This quote by da Vinci reveals the primary guiding principles of one of the great minds of art and science.

As a Christian, I can see how da Vinci had discovered that all things were connected.

Connection implies a common origin.

Scripture states that ALL things came from Christ.

In Christ all things find origin and connection.

Colossians 1:17
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

(Colossians 1:15-20)

This big wheel of life centers on Christ. He is the one of whom all things begin and end and are held together.

Christ is the Center by which all things are connected.

Foundational Importance

” For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (NKJV ) I Corinthians 3:11

Biblical Emphasis in Doctrine – The Numbers Are In – Its About Jesus

Solus Christas Emphainein – Emphasize Christ Alone

Many Christian denominations share the same foundational doctrinal beliefs and values.

Much has been said about the need to emphasize one doctrine or the other and why to do so.

Not enough is being said about Biblical Emphasis in Doctrine as is demonstrated by a survey of The Bible.

For instance – If we take all the verses of the New Testament, about 7,956, and divide that number by the amount of times the Authors, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit mentioned Jesus Christ.

Taking into account there are many different names for Jesus ,some of which are Christ, Son, Savior, Son of Man, Lamb of God, Teacher, Jesus Christ, Master,and Lord. A word search in a digital Bible will reveal about 2,143 such references to our Lord.

7,956 x .2694% = 2,143.34 Which means the New Testament authors under divine inspiration of God’s Spirit reference at least one of Jesus Christ’s names about 27% of the time.

So we should always ask ourselves, “When we teach God’s Word are we using Biblical Emphasis?”

The Bible really is about Jesus. He is the way back to God.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Christ Centered Teaching- Because It’s All About Jesus

Solus Christas Emphainein – Emphasize Christ Alone

Christ Centered Teaching – Initial Post

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2)

Christian – The word literally means like Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Central Figure of the Christian faith.

Christ is the Founder of the Christian faith.

Christ is the Perfecter of the Christian faith.

True Christianity begins with Jesus and then continues by Jesus Christ IN the believer for all eternity.

Think of Christ as the SUN in the Christian solar system around which everything else revolves.

Christ is the center and core of Christianity. Our life ,growth and power all come from Christ and He starts and then continues the changes in us that make us Christ like.

When we accept His sacrifice on the cross to pay for our sins, God immediately sees us as perfect, and then He puts His Spirit in us to guide and grow us. He changes us.

Some preaching is Christ Centered. Some preaching is not Christ Centered. How we can become more Christ like without becoming more familiar with Jesus?

A term that is useful for all who study Christianity as a way of living is,”Biblical Emphasis.” Biblical Emphasis takes into account that the New Testament has about 8,000 verses. As an example we can ask,How often do the many names given for Jesus,( God’s Son, Messiah, Savior, Lord, Christ), occur in the new Testament?

Answer; about 2,000 times. So if we want to know how Christ Centered a message is in reference to Biblical Emphasis of the Bible, all we need to do is divide 2,000 into 8,000. That means the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament writers to relate their subject to Jesus Christ about 25% of the time. That is the Biblical standard for being Christ Centered. The writers of the Bible never went more than three steps away from Jesus in reference to anything they talked about. In fact, the actual percentage is closer to 27%.

I’m not willing to accept anything less than Jesus Christ as King in both context and content.

That is what God wants too.This is what is written in God’s word, the Bible –

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your might.” Deuteronomy 6:5

And God does not require that we love Him without reason.

God also gives us a mind-blowing reason to love Him. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay for all the things we did wrong. Jesus took our punishment, suffered at the hands of evil men, was subjected to Roman crucifixion, died and was buried for three days, and defeated death when He rose from the tomb to prove He can give life to all who put their trust in Him as Savior.

” For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have ever lasting life.” John 3:16

Yes I love Jesus. I want to be like Christ. I want to be Christian.

So this is what troubles me. Most often when I visit a church,or listen to a preacher on the radio, or read a Christian article on Christian subjects, tragically, the author hardly makes mention of Christ! How can it be Christian without Christ? How can listeners or readers become Christian when Christ is only mentioned indirectly once or twice in a 20 minute sermon? The average Christ Centered temperature of most speakers seems to be cold.

So what is our problem? Why do people, preachers, churches, religious institutions, organizations,banks, governments, politicians, nations, and societies seem destined to drift into self-centered ruin? Why do messengers of Christ not speak His name?

Let me propose that any time we put God or His Son second we are putting ourselves first.

So the problem can be described in the word PRIDE. The universal problem that leads mankind, nations, governments to drift always in the direction of ruin.

Lucifer, also known as Satan or the Devil, was the first to succumb to this problem . Satan and one-third of the angels where cast out of Heaven and God’s presence as a result of it. (Isaiah 14:12 – 17)

Then Satan tempted mankind with the same thing that lead to his downfall. The result was the fall of mankind as recorded in the book of Genesis. This event brought sin, death, suffering to mankind and separation between us and our perfect, Holy Creator. (Genesis 3:1-6)

The Devil will tempt mankind with pride once more at the very end of the age in man’s final rebellion before Christ judges all of creation, as recorded in the book of Revelation, the final book in the Bible.(Revelation 20:1-10)

• A Simple Rule to Avoid a Christ-less Christianity (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)