We put our heads down and plow through the day.

Big responsibilities, little chores, and many interruptions keep us busy. Before we know it, a week is finished…then a month…then a year…then years. Has Jesus Christ been in the center of life and of all our days?

It is easy to live for oneself in this world with a limited view to the job at hand rather than to live for Christ with the big picture of His glory through every deed.

The startling reality is that Jesus Christ is the center of all things, whether we live life as if He is or not. “All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17, NIV). All of God’s work in this world is centered on His Son, for the glory of His Son, and with the ultimate goal of all humanity bowing in allegiance before the Son of God.

How can we live with Christ alone in the center of our lives, solus Christus?

This challenge confronted Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17). The three disciples had a glory-vision of Jesus who was shining like the sun. Moses and Elijah appeared too, talking to Jesus, but (we presume) without a shining glory.

Peter’s reaction was to treat all three alike. He suggested they build huts for each one. This brought a dramatic reaction from heaven. God sent a cloud to cover them, and He spoke out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:5).

The terrified three were comforted by Jesus, who had now returned to His earthly, humble appearance. “When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus” (Matt. 17:8).

This remarkable story gives us ways to think about the centrality of Christ in the Christian life. Solus Christus is more than a Reformed and theological slogan. It is a pattern of living with Jesus in the center of all things.

There are three arenas of life that must be oriented to the Lord Jesus Christ for Solus Christus living: our thinking, feeling, and willing.

Thinking about Jesus

How do we think about Jesus? We must come to understand the Son of God as set apart from all other people and all other objects of devotion and necessity. Honoring Jesus in our thinking means that we exalt Him above everything. The disciples erred on the Mount of Transfiguration when they grouped Jesus together with two great leaders of the old covenant, making the sovereign Savior equal with Moses and Elijah.

The way we think about Jesus is important to Christ-alone living. He must be the first priority. Long ago I was taught to make priority lists by putting God at the top of the list. God first, spouse second, family next, then church, job, recreation, etc. I struggled with this method of thinking about God. He was on a list with many other items. Yes, He was at the top of the list, but that just meant I did “God things” first. Then I went on to do family things, church things, and job things next. It failed to show Jesus Christ at the center of all duties. He was merely first in a series of actions in my day.

How, then, do we think of Jesus so as to make Him the sole head and center of all of life? A better model for ordering priorities is to put all of life’s relationships and obligations on a horizontal line, squeezing them into one line at the bottom of a piece of paper. List them: spouse, children, extended family, church, job, community organizations, etc. No need to worry about priority or order. At the top of the paper, in the center, write the name Jesus. Then draw a line from Jesus to each of the words written at the bottom of the page. In this scheme, Jesus is the sole priority of life and everything else is under Him. One priority. Everything else is under His lordship.

This is like an equatorial satellite, hovering above us and controlling our phones and televisions and radios. Jesus is life’s one priority, and all things in life operate by His direction. Our thinking about Jesus Christ must put Him in a position of revered Leader, wise Counselor, compassionate Friend, and sacrificial Lamb.

Affections Toward Jesus

What do we feel toward Jesus? What emotions come out? Are our affections elevated to heights of joy, gratitude, and love when we think on Christ? Christ-alone living will always have deep affections for the Lord Jesus.

I can hear the groans of some of my friends who are rightfully suspicious of the emotionally pumped churches that teach people that faith is a feeling. Faith is not an emotion, but we must recognize the power that our “religious affections” (as Jonathan Edwards called them) have for placing Christ in the center of our lives.

Peter, James, and John were certainly moved deeply by the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. Later Peter wrote about the event and said, “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory” (2 Pet. 1:16-17). “Majesty” and “Majestic Glory” are emotive words and show us that the disciples’ affections were stirred by this scene.

Does the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives raise our affections? Are we elated by His lordship over all matters in our lives? Christ-alone living must have a positive emotional connection to the Savior. This is not superficial giddiness, but deep feelings of joy and peace.

I was once with a group of people who participated in a psychological experiment. The stated purpose of the activity was to determine whether parental influence was ultimately positive or negative in our personal lives. The leader invited us to climb back into our childhood and imagine playing by ourselves with a toy—a truck, a doll, whatever. We talked about what it felt like to be playing like a child. We felt happy, free from care, and relaxed. (Actually, it did feel pretty good!)

Then the leader said, “Imagine now that a parent comes and looks over your shoulder and you become aware of his presence in your private play time. What feelings come over you?” Many of us felt nervous, self-conscious, or even angry. Most reactions were negative. Few had warm feelings of love and acceptance at the moment this authority entered our play lives. We felt the sting of a critical father or an overbearing mother.

Apart from the assumptions and flaws in such an experiment, there is a lesson here for us on the presence of Jesus Christ in the daily matters of our lives.

How do we feel about Jesus coming and “looking over our shoulder”? And more, what is our reaction to the Lord being present in all the levels of our lives? If we are uncomfortable at the reality of His presence, or if we get stiff and awkward knowing that He is watching us, there is something wrong. Yet if we delight in His presence and have joy that He has entered our moments of work or routine or play, it is a healthy sign of Christ in the center of our lives.

Emotions and affections are a powerful stimulus to having a Solus Christus life. When we are comfortable with Jesus in the middle of our day, we will not ignore Him but will pray and seek His will and wisdom. Strong emotional ties of love, reverence, and gratitude to Christ will create a welcoming spirit in us. We will desire Him at the heart of all we do.

Acting for Jesus

A third area of life that needs to be oriented toward the Lord for Christ-alone living is our wills. Acting on Jesus’ leadership is hearing His call on our behavior. We read our Bibles, we hear His voice, we observe His actions, and then we follow Him. We say yes to Him every day. Living Solus Christus is shaping our daily obedience and willing the details of our lives around the words and examples of Jesus Christ.

Explore this. When the Apostle Paul wanted to encourage humility in the Philippian church, he did not just say, “Treat others as more important than yourselves.” He gave them the example of humble Jesus in the incarnation, obedient to the Father even to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:1-11). When the Corinthian believers needed to be prodded toward generosity, the apostle exhorted them on the basis of Jesus’ generosity. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

This New Testament approach to godliness—molding obedience around Jesus Christ’s word and example—is a critical element of living Solus Christus. Our wills must be bent on following the examples and precepts of Christ. If we would have mercy toward others, we must hear Jesus say, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Then we must weigh Jesus’ mercy in His action as He dealt with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) or the paralytic man let down through the roof (Mark 2:1-12). We shape our character and behavior around the voice and example of Jesus, and not some vague ideal or value.

One of Peter’s conclusions from the Mount of Transfiguration was that we should pay close attention to the command of God and listen to Jesus Christ “as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19).

Mind, Heart, Will

Thinking, feeling, and willing must all be engaged for Solus Christus living. Our minds, hearts, and wills unite to live for Christ. There is a symphonic balance when Christ is in the center. Jesus is the beginning of all and the conclusion of all; He is the strength of all and the joy of all; He is the purpose of all and the glory of all we do.

Jesus Christ takes a disjointed life and unifies it into an organic whole. The Apostle Paul wrote, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6-7).