Dear church,

As a Christian, if you were to dig down into the very center of your life, you would find Jesus Christ. His influence and his power would be overwhelming. This is what it means to say “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). 

If the center is Christ, then the “outer” layers of our lives ought to reflect the one who has made his home in our hearts. Our thoughts and actions – and our reactions – ought to emerge from our life with Christ. Everything is organized around the Center.

The ancient Israelites shaped their camp as a square, organized around the Center, the place where God’s glory dwelt. Each tribe was oriented toward the tabernacle – “They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.”

The people never were to forget God, the one who brought them out of Egypt. They were to watch for the movement of God, to know which way to go – when to start out marching and when to stop. And even in the marching, God remained the Center. He was the very heart of the life of Israel. 

So it is with us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us …” (John 1:14). That is, the Word “tabernacled” among us. This Emmanuel, God with us, has made his home in the very center of our lives. We orient every aspect of our lives around the Center. We go when he goes. We stay when he stays. We face the Center.

It will be this way now and forever. Someday, the New Jerusalem will descend in glory – a great cube out of heaven. The old Israelite camp will become three dimensional (Revelation 21:10-21). But the Center is the same. “The glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23). 

Chris