Is it a Christ-Centered Sermon? Part Eight

I confess that preparing and preaching Christ-centered sermons is not an easy thing to do. My default mode is merely to preach either Christ-as-example sermons or Christ-as-God-of-Gaps sermons. I’ve prepared and preached too many default-mode sermons that I wish I could take back. But I have also found that though preparing and preaching them is no easy task, there is no more rewarding task (by rewarding I mean refreshing and renewing). Why? Because nothing refreshes and renews like the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. There is nothing like having your heart burn within you while your mind is opened to understand the Scriptures, “that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:32, 45-46). That is life-giving, life-renewing news! Though preaching Christ-centered sermons is a challenging endeavor, it is a profoundly spiritually rewarding undertaking, both for you and your hearers.

If we are to grow in our ability to prepare and preach Christ-centered / gospel-centered sermons, we need to continue to grow in our understanding of the gospel itself. So, working off John Frame’s tri-perspectival approach to knowledge and Vern Poythress’ tri-perspectival approach to hermeneutics, Tim Keller presents a tri-perspectival approach to understanding the gospel. He writes:

I think it is important to see that the gospel itself (just like the Tri-une God) should be understood through three perspectives as well. Each perspective is true in that it eventually comprises the whole, but each approach begins with a particular ‘door’ or aspect.

The ‘normative’ aspect, I’ll call “the gospel of Christ”, stresses the objective, historic work of Christ that Jesus really came in time-space and history to accomplish [salvation] for us. It will talk much more about the real, historicity of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection…This view thinks that the problem addressed by Paul in Galatians was a doctrinal heresy.

The ‘existential’ (experiential) aspect, I’ll call “the gospel of sonship”, stresses our new identity in Christ as adopted children…It will talk much of the power of the spirit to renew broken hearts…This view thinks that the problem addressed by Paul in Galatians was a pastoral one of Christians falling back into legalism.

The ‘situational’ aspect, I’ll call “the gospel of the kingdom”, stresses the reversal of values in the new creation. It will talk about healed community, cultural transformation, ministries of deed and justice…This view thinks that the problem addressed by Paul in Galatians was the lack of ‘table fellowship’ between Jew and Gentile.

We need all three perspectives, though each perspective is not simply a ‘part’ of the gospel. For example, the ‘kingdom’ perspective contains the other two. If God is king, then salvation must be by grace, for if we are saved by works, something else will be our Lord and Savior. Or, if we have a new identity in Christ by sheer grace, then we must not look down at anyone else, and self-justification is the basis of racism and injustice. If you go deep enough into any one perspective, you will find the other two (Preaching the Gospel in a Post-Modern World, 82-83).

This entire series of blog posts thus far can be found here.

*Also, check out this blogger's posts on Gospel-Centered Preaching, here and here.