🚪 Christ AS the Reality, Not Merely the Function
John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, I AM the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."
Ontological Note: Christ doesn't merely point to the way - He IS the way itself.
The path to God is not a method but a Person.
John 10:7, 9
"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the door
of the sheep... I AM the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.'"
Ontological Note: The entrance to salvation is not through Christ but AS Christ.
He is the threshold itself.
John 6:35
"Jesus said to them, 'I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to me
shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.'"
Ontological Note: He doesn't merely provide bread - He IS the sustenance.
Our spiritual nourishment is His very being.
John 11:25
"Jesus said to her, 'I AM the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.'"
Ontological Note: Resurrection is not an event Christ performs but a reality
He embodies. Life is not something He gives apart from Himself - He IS life.
🌉 Christ as the Eternal Mediator-Being
1 Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus."
Ontological Note: The mediator IS "the man Christ Jesus" - His very being
as God-man constitutes the mediation, not merely His actions.
Colossians 1:15-17
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For
by him all things were created... and
in him all things hold together."
Ontological Note: Christ is the ontological principle holding reality together.
Creation coheres IN His being.
John 1:51
"And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and
the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'"
Ontological Note: Christ IS Jacob's ladder - the junction point between
heaven and earth. He doesn't merely facilitate contact; He IS the contact point.
INFINITE
→
CHRIST
←
FINITE
HEAVEN
→
CHRIST
←
EARTH
DIVINE
→
CHRIST
←
HUMAN
💎 Christ as the Substance of Shadows
Colossians 2:16-17
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard
to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the
things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."
Ontological Note: All religious observances were shadows; Christ IS the
substantial reality they pointed toward.
Hebrews 10:1, 19-20
"For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form
of these realities... Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places
by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain, that is, through his flesh."
Ontological Note: The way is "new and living" because it IS Christ's flesh -
not a path but a Person.
1 Corinthians 1:30
"And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom
from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
Ontological Note: Christ didn't just bring these qualities - He BECAME them
to us. Our righteousness IS Christ.
🏛️ Christ as the Temple - The Meeting Place
John 2:19-21
"Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'... But
he was speaking about the temple of his body."
Ontological Note: Christ's body IS the true temple - the ontological meeting
place of God and humanity.
Matthew 12:6
"I tell you, something greater than the temple is here."
Ontological Note: Not someone who serves in a greater temple, but Someone
who IS the greater temple.
Colossians 2:9
"For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily."
Ontological Note: The incarnation is the ultimate ontological statement -
deity dwelling bodily, heaven and earth united in one Person.
🌟 Christ as the Light Itself
John 8:12
"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I AM the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"
Ontological Note: Not a light-bearer but Light itself. Illumination is not
what He provides but what He IS.
1 John 1:5
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
2 Corinthians 4:6
"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
🍇 Christ as Our Life Source
John 15:5
"I AM the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me
and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
Ontological Note: Our spiritual existence is ontologically dependent on Him.
We exist spiritually only IN Him.
John 6:53-56
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds
on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever
feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.'"
Ontological Note: The most shocking ontological statement - Christ IS our sustenance,
both spiritual and physical. We owe our very existence - body, soul, and spirit - to His broken body.
We literally feed on His being to live.
1 Corinthians 11:24
"And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body,
which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'"
Ontological Note: The bread doesn't merely represent His body - in the mystery
of communion, it IS His body given for us. His broken body becomes the source of all our life -
not just spiritual life but our complete existence. By Him all things consist.
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me."
Ontological Note: Our very life is not our own - Christ IS our life, living in us.
Colossians 3:3-4
"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear
with him in glory."
Ontological Note: Paul doesn't say Christ gives life - he says Christ IS your life.
👑 The Divine Name: I AM
John 8:58
"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was,
I AM.'"
Ontological Note: The ultimate ontological claim - the eternal I AM, pure being,
existence itself.
Exodus 3:14 (Connection)
"God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this
to the people of Israel: "I AM has sent me to you."'"
Revelation 1:8
"'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God,
'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'"
🌌 The Philosophical Foundation
Our Existence in Christ
Acts 17:28 - "For 'In him we live and move and
have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.'"
Our very existence is IN Christ. This is not metaphorical but ontological - we exist within His being.
Our very existence is IN Christ. This is not metaphorical but ontological - we exist within His being.
The Cosmic Christ
Ephesians 1:10 - "As a plan for the fullness of time,
to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."
Christ is the ontological center in whom all reality finds its unity and coherence.
Christ is the ontological center in whom all reality finds its unity and coherence.
The Eternal Mediator
Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever."
His mediatorial being is not temporary but eternal - He eternally IS the bridge between finite and infinite.
His mediatorial being is not temporary but eternal - He eternally IS the bridge between finite and infinite.
Summary: Christ's Ontological Priority
Scripture consistently presents Christ not merely as one who performs functions for us,
but as one who IS the reality we need. He doesn't just open the door - He IS the door.
He doesn't just show the truth - He IS the truth. He doesn't just give life - He IS life.
This ontological emphasis reveals that salvation is not receiving something FROM Christ but receiving Christ Himself. Our relationship with God is not THROUGH Christ as a third party, but IN Christ as the eternal junction of divine and human, infinite and finite, heaven and earth.
The church's obsession with Christ's utility often misses this profound reality: Christ IS our salvation, our righteousness, our life, our access to God. We don't use Christ to get to these realities - He IS these realities. This is the mystery of the gospel: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
This ontological emphasis reveals that salvation is not receiving something FROM Christ but receiving Christ Himself. Our relationship with God is not THROUGH Christ as a third party, but IN Christ as the eternal junction of divine and human, infinite and finite, heaven and earth.
The church's obsession with Christ's utility often misses this profound reality: Christ IS our salvation, our righteousness, our life, our access to God. We don't use Christ to get to these realities - He IS these realities. This is the mystery of the gospel: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Originally compiled for Sunday School teaching