Christian Ministers: Making Christ "All"

“I might show how Christ ought to be all in a ministry. The great work which ordained men are intended to do, is to lift up Christ. We are to be like the pole on which the brazen serpent was hung. We are useful so long as we exalt the great object of faith, but useful no further. We are to be ambassadors to carry tidings to a rebellious world about the King’s Son, and if we teach men to think more about us and our office than about Him, we are not fit for our place. The Spirit will never honour that minister who does not testify of Christ—who does not make Christ “all.”

“I might show how language seems exhausted in the Bible, in describing Christ’s various offices. I might describe how figures seem endless which are employed in unfolding Christ’s fullness. The High Priest, the Mediator, the Redeemer, the Saviour, the Advocate, the Shepherd, the Physician, the Bridegroom, the head, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Way, the Door, the Vine, the Rock, the Fountain, the Sun of Righteousness, the Forerunner, the Surety, the Captain, the Prince of Life, the Amen, the Almighty, the Author and Finisher of Faith, the Lamb Of God, the King of Saints, the Wonderful, The Mighty God, The Counselor, the Bishop of Souls—all, these, and many more, are names given to Christ in Scripture. Each is a fountain of instruction and comfort for everyone who is willing to drink of it. Each supplies matter for useful meditation” (J. C. Ryle, Holiness (James Clarke & Co., LTD., 1977), 321).

Comprehending the Whole Christ

“We must face the fact that in history Jesus has proved a gigantic figure. It is not at all impossible, accordingly, that he is the sitter behind both Gospel portraits, and that the Synoptists depict him from one aspect, John from another. The fact that we are not able to put the two together to our satisfaction may mean no more than that we are not big enough to comprehend the whole Christ” (Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel According to John, Revised Edition, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 15).