Paul says that with Jesus as Lord and Saviour, the church is to respond obediently to his Word. We must rely on his saving work as the ground of our blessings and our hope. We are to draw near to Jesus—the Lord, the Christ, the Saviour. He is the one who gives us life and power and joy and vitality. It says an important thing about the church. Since the church is rooted, saved, enlivened in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, what does that mean? Well, it means if you and I—and if we together as a church—desire to experience all the blessings, and most fully and most powerfully the blessings of salvation, we should desire to be a God-centered church. We should be a church that is captivated by the Lord Jesus Christ, because his church is rooted and grounded in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.1
Richard D. Phillips
1 Paul, Silvain et Timothée, à l'Eglise des Thessaloniciens, qui est en Dieu le Père et en Jésus-Christ le Seigneur: Que la grâce et la paix vous soient données!