This year, our church reading assignments are back to the New Testament. And I've been feeling somewhat bombarded by Jesus -- almost as if being reminded that He is the one most important thing in our religion.
At the end of last year, the weekly reading centered on specific "Christmas" verses from the Old Testament, sprinkled with some New Testament verses. Prophecy vs. fulfillment. And at the beginning of this year, we start with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, read in intertwining mostly-chronological order. So, for the first couple of weeks, we've read even more details on the Savior's birth.
On top of all this, I went to the temple for the first time in a while, and I got to witness the recent changes, which now includes many more pictures of Christ and additional words added to emphasize His role in everything.
Also, in the past few years, the Church has undertaken steps to show the world that Jesus is the center of our religion.
First, note the logo I grew up with:
Also, we should mention that President Nelson has recently urged us the importance of using the full name of the Church -- as "Jesus Christ" is the most important aspect of our name.
So, yeah -- Jesus is the center. But have you ever stopped to wonder why this is?
Like most Christian denominations, we believe in the Godhead. There is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is -- well -- the one at the top. Without Him, nothing could exist at all -- not even the Son and the Holy Spirit. Sounds kinda important. I can think of at least one denomination that puts the Father at the center.
The Son is the one who came down to Earth as Jesus.
And the Holy Spirit is a spirit or influence whose identity is unknown.
Each of the three serve an important aspect. Remove any one of them, and we're toast. Like I said above, take away the Father and no existence. Take away the Holy Spirit, and we lose our spiritual connection to everything. But what about the Son?
To us, the Son, or Jesus, is the most important, because He is the one who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can return to heaven where the Father dwells. Without the Son, we would still exist, and we would have our spiritual connections, but then we would doomed to spend an eternity in hell. With nothing to save us from even our tiniest sins, we would never be worthy to enter heaven.
So, it's not that Jesus could exist alone, and the Father and the Spirit are not so important. But rather, it's that of all the things and aspects of our religion to consider, to us there is nothing nowhere near as important as understanding this atonement -- what Jesus did for us, and what we need to do to receive this gift. Because without this one thing -- nothing else matters to us.
In other words -- we must first do what it takes to ensure our own salvation -- believing in Christ and following His counsel -- and only then should we need to worry about all the other aspects and mysteries of God. And as we learn these other things, we will need these constant reminders as to what should always remain at our center -- because without shoring up our own salvation, nothing else matters. If we keep our eyes on the prize, we can and will succeed.
What are your thoughts -- why is it so important to keep Christ at the center?
