Issue 1421 – The Center – April 13, 2024
We look in the mirror, and what do we see? Well, we see ourselves, of course. We might or might not recognize the person; at times, I have looked in the mirror and seen my father looking back at me, or so it seemed.
That person in the mirror is the centre of our universe—at least, that is our default way of looking at things. It’s only a natural way to view the world; after all, we have been present for every event in our lives, every book we read, and every movie we watched.
The world tells us that we are special. The schools teach that every child is the “most unique, most special, smartest, best looking, most gifted individual there is”. The hope was to raise the self-esteem of people by positive reinforcement, but it only puts us in the centre of many other people who view themselves in exactly the same way. Since we know that we are the most unique, most special, smartest, best looking and most entitled person there is, then all the others must be wrong and our self-centeredness grows.
It was that way in the Garden. Certainly, Adam and Eve would have fit those descriptors as they were the only two people alive. Yet, even that wasn’t enough. They wanted to be God, to know what God knew, to increase their range of power.
My dear friends, I don’t know how to break the news to you … but … you are not the centre of the universe (nor am I). Our experience might teach us that we are the centre; our schooling might have built on that and social media encourages it … but we are not.
Without a doubt, every person who has ever lived has been a unique individual. Every person who ever lived has value and dignity and is worthy of respect and compassion.
Even Jesus, in His human incarnation, was not the centre of the universe. He played a pivotal role, something that He alone was created to do, something that impacted all people forever. Yet, He knew that our triune God was at the centre of everything, surrounds everything, and is sovereign over everything.
God created everything that is. Each interdependent member of the trinity had a role in creation, but the most important thing is the fullness of God.
The two most important people who ever lived were Adam, who was responsible for our fall into sin, and Jesus, the second Adam, who gave us a way out. Neither was the centre. You and I are not central either, although we are created in the image of God and carry the sin of Adam in our nature. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am in no way denigrating the unique position and importance of the incarnate Christ. Even Jesus knew he was subject to the Father and part of a triune godhead.
The biggest problems with our self-centred way of thinking are that it robs us of our compassion and love, blinds us to our sins and weaknesses, and causes us to live in an illusion—a dangerous, destructive, sin-warped illusion.
The truth is that we are all players in God’s production. That doesn’t mean we are unimportant. Each of us is valuable to God, so valuable that God would send Jesus to die so that those who would believe could spend eternity with Him. He is so valuable that He sends His Spirit to convict us and revealed Himself in His Word, in the incarnation, and in signs and wonders.
We are players with important roles, but we are not free agents. The world does not revolve around us. Things happen around us that don’t involve us. Things happen to us that are not about us. If you doubt that, look at the stories of Job or Ruth. Their stories involve them, to be sure, in incredible ways, but they are not the central figures.
Look at every story in the Bible and every event in history, and you will see that though people were involved, they were not the epicentre.
God, and God alone, is the centre. The Bible tells stories of people. History tells us stories about people. Our lives tell us stories about people. Yet in every event the primary member of the story, even when we don’t see Him is God Almighty.
All people are interrelated in some way in their stories, but we remain supporting cast members. We are not the stars of the production. That honour goes to God, so it should.
In the words of Paul to Timothy,
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17
Until next time, I pray you know that you are treasured beyond measure, but God is the sovereign ruler, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the centre of all there is.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)