THE MAIN THING IS TO KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines the word eternal, in part, as 1. Being without beginning or end; 2. Continuing without interruption; perpetual.

When pressed to imagine inherent things that might have been evident throughout the world’s history, we might say air, light, or water. But on second thought, we know that those were all created by God so they weren’t without beginning. That leads us to the conclusion that only God meets the definition of eternal. Then, if you are like me, you might tend to think of God the Father, but not the Son, in that context. But we also know that Jesus was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God in the beginning, according to John 1:1. Yes, Jesus is the center of it all, from before Adam and Eve until after Revelation 22:20, where Jesus says, “Surely I am coming soon”. He is without beginning or end. He is the thread that runs through all of history and all of the future, without beginning or end.

I’ve mentioned Robert Francis, one of my former pastors, in previous blogs. One of Robert’s favorite sayings, and in point one of his life long tenets, was the Main Thing is to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing, which is in fact a redundant statement but a simple and critical part of living a Christ-following life while in this world. In other words, keep Christ at the center of your life in all things.

With a little Bible study, we find the proof that Jesus is central throughout Scripture through prophecy and fulfillment:

• Isaiah 7:14 – Prophecy
• Matthew 1:21-23 – Fulfillment

• Genesis 12:1-3 – Prophecy
• Matthew 1:1-6 – Fulfillment (this is just through David – there is much more lineage described)
• Hosea 11:1 – Prophecy
• Matthew 2:14-15 – Fulfillment
• Jeremiah 31:15 – Prophecy
• Matthew 2:16-18 – Fulfillment
• Isaiah 40:3 – Prophecy
• Matthew 3:1 – Fulfillment

• Zechariah 9:9 – Prophecy
• Matthew 2:4-9 – Fulfillment

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing by the power of the third part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.