October 2010

WHICH JESUS DO YOU BELIEVE IN?

I wonder how God feels about the various versions of His Son that are out there in the marketplace of religion. I don’t know about you but if someone was out there representing my son in a way that was foreign to who and what He really is I would be very upset about it.  Many who call themselves by the name ‘Christian’ seem to have different versions of who Jesus is and what He represents. For some he is the nice shepherd who goes around making sure everyone is happy and making sure noone says anything or does anything that would offend anyone else; He was a kind man who was misunderstood by those around him and eventually he died on a cross because evil men didn’t like the fact that he was becoming too popular. For others Jesus is the broken hearted savior who looks down upon mankind and pines over their problems and troubles wishing they could just love each other more. Some may even see Jesus as the ultimate peacenick who just wants everyone to get along and if he were here today he would probably play an electric guitar and have a band and sing about peace, love and black light posters.

A popular picture of Jesus today is one that makes him out to be a big cash register in the sky who just wants to give us everything we want so we can have wonderful lives filled with the riches and treasures of this world while we wait for our chariot to take us to eternal splendour. Then there’s the other crowd who think Jesus is looking down from heaven eager to judge every wrong word, deed or thought to make sure that one doesn’t slip in to heaven by mistake when he or she should really go to hell. To them the Ten Commandments is a playbook for kids. They are convinced that God is mad as hell and He’s going to make everyone pay for what they’ve done. To them you can live your whole life in fear of Divine retribution and one day you step off the curb into the path of an oncoming vehicle and if you say “damn” before you die it’s straight to the flames for you.

Of course there are also those who think he was a prophet or another one of many spiritual leaders who have come along throughout history so everyone can pick and choose what version of God they want to believe in. In India he was Buddha or Krishna; in Greece He was Dyonesus or some other of the pantheon of god’s available to choose from and sacrifice to. In Islamic states he’s just a forerunner to the real deal Mohamed; in Ethiopia or Jamaica he’s come to us as Haille Selassie ‘The Lion’.

While it’s true that Jesus demonstrated many of the characteristics mentioned above, in truth He far exceeds anything that could be comprehended by the mind of man. To find out what Jesus was like the and is now we need only to go to the Bible, which contains not only a description of the character of God’s Son, but is in fact His essence in written form: He is The Word of God! Here are just a few of Jesus’ titles and descriptions of Him given to us in the Holy Scriptures.

Who Jesus is:

Jesus is the Creator of all things (John 1:1-3; COlossians 1:16 )
Jesus is Light of the World (John 8:12)
Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15)
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14-18)
The only way to Heaven (John 10:9; John 14:6)
Jesus is the only Savior of the world (Acts 4:12; 1 Jn. 4:14; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Juda (Rev. 5:5)
Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev 17:14; Rev 19:16)
Jesus is the King of Saints (Rev. 15:3)
Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star (Rev.22:16)
Jesus is above all things (Phil 2:9-10)
Jesus is The Lamb of God (John 1:29 and 36; Rev. 5:6, 7:7, 14:10)
He is the giver of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22)

What Jesus did for us:

Jesus left His heavenly glory and became a vulnerable human being (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:11; Rom. 8:3; Philippians 2:6-7)
Jesus lived a perfect life without sin (John 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:22)
Jesus was despised and rejected of men (Isa.53:3;Ps. 22:6,7; Jer.8:9; Matt. 27:39-43)
Jesus paid the penalty for our sins (Isa. 53:4-6; Zech. 13:6; Gal.1:4; 1 Jn. 2:2; John 19:30)
Jesus became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:1)
Jesus gave his life for us (Matt; 27:50 Luke 23:46; Rev. 13:8)
Jesus made peace with God the Father for us ( Eph. 1:6; Eph. 2:14; Col. 1:20; Heb. 7:25)
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Eph. 5:18)
Jesus has made a place for believers in eternity  (John 14:2-3)
Jesus promised us life after death (John 6:40; John 11:25; Rom. 4:24)

Reminding ourselves of Who Jesus really is might help us to order our lives in the way that He instructs us in His Word.  In these troubled times in which we live we might want to take inventory of our beliefs and make sure they line up with what God has revealed to us.

Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. JohN 12:3

GIVING OUR BEST TO GOD

Living for Christ in this current time is becoming much more difficult for those who believe they are called directly into the work of the ministry. With the rising tide of governmental support for behaviors and lifestyles clearly condemned by Scripture it is hard not to conclude that those who are making such decisions don’t believe the Bible is God’s Holy Word. Interestingly enough our leaders don’t seem to have a problem saying the words, Holy Qur’an when speaking about the book of Islamic teachings for fear that they may insult someone and bring the wrath of radical Islam upon themselves.

We have seen them run from the homosexuals, run from the abortionists, run from the atheists, run from the A.C.L.U. and now they run from the Muslims. In the case of Islam what they don’t realize is that an obedient Muslim is a radical Muslim. The others are considered apostates by true followers of the Qur’an. If they can stand up for all of these who live or endorse such clearly perverse behaviors, why can they not stand up for The Bible? I believe the answer is simple: they don’t believe it!

We who call ourselves by that precious name of Jesus Christ (Christians) must not cowar down as the hour of trial comes upon us. We must be prepared to bring the best and most valuable of what we have and administer it to the Lord. Though we cannot do it directly to the feet of Jesus as Mary did that day, we must remember that whatever we do for and to the least of His we do for Him. And we must remeber the words of the Apostle Peter who wrote, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” 1 Pe 4:12

As those who sat with Mary that day experienced, “. . . the house was filled with the odour of the ointment”. And what was the odou that filled the room? The odor of total commitment. Where there is little or no sacrifice there is or no little fragrance. If the Church of our generation is to be purified it will be accomplished just as have those in past generations: by fiery trial.

With the new laws which label Biblical preaching to be hate speech you can be sure that the price of speaking Bible Truth will become more costly day by day. When they come for our tax exemptions or 501(c)(3) like they are already doing in Canada we may find out where we really stand in these matters. If we can turn back this tide through political action we must support those who are on the forefront of that battle, but we must remember our history and be prepared to stand fast regardless of the cost.

Remember the words of Paul from Romans 1:16  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18)
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Rom 8:37)

HERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS: WE WIN!

With all of the things that are happening in this world today some might find it easy to get discouraged or even fearful of the future. If you have loved ones who are close to you, though you may not fear for yourself, it is a natural thing to be concerned for those you love. Today we live in a world that is so visible and open it can easily make us feel that we are unprotected from anyone who really wants to harm or take advantage of us. Truly it is a day when being sheep in the midst of wolves seems to be much more understandable than it used to be.

Satan must find it to his advantage to have such easy access to the hearts and minds of humans through all the various media forms that are commonplace in our daily lives. It can be a constant battle not only protecting our children from such things but keeping oneself from being drawn into the anger, malaise and hopelessness that often seems overpowering as the world turns from the truth of God

Television and radio media may keep us abreast of all that’s happening in the world but rarely will it be Good News as the media finds the bad news sells better, or at least the people who want that kind of info are more likey to tune in regularly. Between terrorism, murder, crime, corruption in politics, drug abuse, home invasions, hostage situations, child abductions and other vile happenings that find themselves beating on the doors of our lives, it almost seems reasonable to cover your head and hide in a hole somewhere until it all goes away.

At times like this it is good to read the end of the story and remind ourselves how it all turns out. We win! Those of us who have put our trust in Christ will one day awaken to the victorious sound of “a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:” (Rev. 19:1) And we will be a part of that great throng singing praises to the Lamb of God. There will be no more tears, no more pain and no more death when this world of sorrows has passed away and we dwell forever in the presence of our Glorious Lord.

But what now? How should we live our lives while we await the eternal bliss that lies ahead? What about those around us who still don’t know of God’s great love for them. What about
our loved ones who still need Christ in their lives? This is where our job comes in. Though Jesus defeated Satan through His death on the cross two thousand years ago, the full victory
of that sacrifice has not yet been realized. And while we await the culmination of all things we must devote our lives to the task at hand: spreading the message, “The Kingdom of God is at hand”.

Whatever your life is, give it to Christ. Whatever your dreams are, give them to Christ. Whatever your situation is, give it to Christ. Whatever your need is, give it to Christ. Whatever your talents are,  give them to Christ. Whatever you have, give it to Christ. Give all to Him who gave His all for you.

Does this seem unreasonable to you? Are you unsure of these things of which I write and have you forgotten the promises of God for those who love Him? Are you holding back what you have to make sure you have enough to take you through what lies ahead? Maybe you have given your all before and things didn’t turn out the way you expected so you have been living in the ’safe zone’ to avoid future disappointment. Jesus told us that our lives would face great struggles and trials, but He also said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”. (Heb.13:5)

As Jesus beheld Satan fall from heaven, so we too will one day look upon the fallen angel who became the adversary of all goodness and say, ” Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;” Isa. 14:16

So lift your head up high and find the strength to go forward looking to the One who fought the battle for us and conquered the enemy. Yet a little while and we will see Him face to face.