JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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No theologian in all of church history has shown as powerfully and convincingly as
Karl Barth that theology that is "worthy" of the name Christian must be Christocentric (Christcentered).
He has shown in his massive Church Dogmatics (13 volumes) that Christian dogma
falls apart unless the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is found at the very center of any
theological endeavor that calls itself "Christian." He boldly pronounces that the unity of
Holy Scripture and of Christian theology is Jesus Christ. The mosaic of inspiration finds its
blending in Him.
Barth's rationale for his Christological principle is that the highest point of revelation
governs the interpretation of revelation. That highest point is the Incarnation. It is therefore as
legitimate to look backward Christologically into the Hebrew Scriptures as to look forward
Christologically into the New Testament. Barth also reasons that the preexistence of Christ
involves Christ's participation in the revelation of the Old Testament.
From the very beginning of the church's reflection regarding the Person of Jesus it has
been affirmed that the New Testament was prefigured in the Hebrew Scriptures. The New
Testament writers, the early church fathers and Augustine affirmed that the New Testament lay
hidden in the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament became clear in the New Testament. It
was essentially a Christological interpretation.
In his first epistle Peter points out that the Spirit who spoke through the prophets was the
Spirit of Christ (1 Pe 1:11). Similarly in the book of Revelation John says that the spirit of
Jesus is the testimony of prophecy (Rev 19:10).
The Reformers, Martin Luther and John Calvin, also emphasized the central role of
Christ in any theological framework that is called Christian. Luther is famous for his remarks
about the Christological character of Holy Scripture and Calvin taught that Christ is the
mediator of all divine revelation. Calvin explained:
"In the first place, if the assertion of Christ be true, that 'no man knoweth the
Father except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him,' it must
always have been necessary for those who would arrive at the knowledge of
God, to be directed by that eternal wisdom. For how could they have compre-
hended the mysteries of God, or how could they have declared them, except
by the teaching of him to whom alone the secrets of the Father are intimately
known? The saints in former ages, therefore, had no other knowledge of God
than what they obtained by beholding him in the Son, as in a mirror. By this
observation I mean that God never manifested himself to man in any other
way than by his Son, his only wisdom, light and truth.
From this fountain Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others drew all
knowledge which they possessed of heavenly doctrine; from this fountain the
prophets spoke and wrote.”3