JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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"The history of the Church Universal has confirmed in me the conviction that those
who have had and maintained the central article in its integrity, that of Jesus Christ,
have remained safely entrenched in their Christian faith. . . . He who steadfastly
holds to the doctrine that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, who died and rose
again for us, will acquiesce in and heartily assent to all the other articles of the
Christian faith."1
--Martin Luther
Christianity is Christ! He is the center, all else is circumference. The one most
distinguishing characteristic which separates Christianity from all other religions lies in the
personality of its founder.
Hinduism and Buddhism is loyalty to principles; Shintoism is loyalty to natural forces;
Confucianism is loyalty to a tradition; Islam is loyalty to a code.
Christianity, however, is loyalty to a Person.
You can remove the name of Buddha, the personal revealer of Buddhism, from his
system, you can take away Confucius from Confucianism, or the personality of Mohammed from
Islam, and the entire doctrine of these religions would still be left intact. Their practical value
would still be legitimate. But if you take away the Person of Jesus Christ from Christianity you
have nothing left! The entire religion collapses!
If Jesus is not who He said He was and is, and if He did not do what He claimed He came
to do, the whole superstructure of Christianity crumbles in ruins to the ground.
While it may be conceivable to think of orthodox Christianity without an organization,
without a ritual or a creed, it is anomalous as well as impossible to think of it without the Person
of Jesus Christ.
Philosophy, ethics, liturgy, institution, even doctrine: all of them are eclipsed by that one
perfect life—Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God.
Theologian James Denney put it:
"From beginning to end, in all its various phases and aspects and elements, the
Christian faith is determined by the person and work of Jesus Christ. It owes its
life and character at every point to Him. Its convictions are convictions about
Him. Its hopes are hopes which He has inspired and which it is for Him to fulfill.
Its ideals are born of His teaching and His life. Its strength is the strength of His
spirit."2