For Christians, Jesus Becomes The Lens Through Which They See God

“The Scripture is the means by which God draws us to him. The Scriptures sprang out of God... and were given to lead us to Christ. So you must go along by the Scripture as by a line, until you come to Christ, who is the way’s end and resting place.”

- William Tyndale, 16th century Bible translator

All faiths have their core beliefs and central themes that give meaning to their lives and serve as the basis for reading and understanding their sacred texts. For followers of Jesus, Christ is seen as playing the key role in God's story, in their personal lives, and in the way they interpret scripture. 

Here are some of the texts in the Christian Bible that highlight this unifying theme:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

- Hebrews 1:1-3a

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty... We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  

-  II Peter 1:16, 19

He was despised and rejected,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

    stricken by him, and afflicted.

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.  

- Isaiah 53: 3-6

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.  

- Jesus, John 5:39-40

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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.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   

- Colossians 1:15-19

I will raise up for them a prophet like you [Moses] from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 

- Deuteronomy 18:18-19

Quotations are from the New International Version.