A key feature of preaching is Christ centeredness. It has to be. This is because preachers are heralds of the scriptures and all of the scriptures are about Christ. Explicitly or implicitly, directly or indirectly, every single part of the Bible points us to Him. There is no passage in the whole book which is an exception.
It was the spirit of Christ that moved every Old Testament author to write what he wrote. (1 Peter 1:10-12)
It was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who opened the Old Testament to His disciples and explained to them that He was in it everywhere. (Luke 24:27)
The four Gospels, Acts, all the Epistles and Revelation also have Him as their great subject.
So what shall we say about a preacher who opens the Bible and does not preach Christ from the passage in front of him? Such a preacher has not understood the Book and if he has not understood the Book he should not be preaching.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the sum and center of all that God has revealed in His Word. He is the focus of the Bible storyline. He is the heart of every writer, unveiling Himself to their minds and so guiding their pen.
He reveals Himself through the Bible’s pages to every person He has personally commissioned to preach. Where He is not preached there is no preaching at all.
Stuart Olyott Evangelical Theological College of Wales
Amen and Amen!
Don Parish