July 30, 1996
Recently someone asked me to teach them how to use a computer spreadsheet program. I declined on the grounds I’d never used it myself therefore was not qualified to teach anyone else. That would be like engaging a wilderness guide who had never left the suburbs or hiring a chauffeur who had never driven a car.
Credentials are very important when enlisting the help of someone else. If the guide or instructor has no qualifying experience whatsoever, the best they can do is cheer for you. Not that cheerleaders are useless, but they cannot replace experts who know their stuff.
In the area of leadership credentials, Christianity is unique. Those who follow Christ have a teacher and guide in the driver’s seat who has “been there and done that” as far as spiritual experience is concerned. Because of Him, our faith is unique.
This uniqueness is not in that we have only one leader. Almost all other religions are the same. Buddhists follow the teachings of Gautama Buddha, their philosopher and founder. Muslims follow Muhammad, an Arab prophet. The Bahia religion was founded by Mirza Husayn Ali Bahaullah. Taoism dates back to Lao-Tzu in the 6th century B.C. and at the same time, Zoroastrianism began under a Persian prophet named Zoroaster. Smaller cults and sects also have individual leaders, both those that mimic Christianity and others that are more like Eastern Mysticism.
Neither is our faith unique because of our commitment to our leader. In fact, we follow Jesus Christ for many of the same reasons others follow their religions. For instance, we believe His teaching is true, just as others believe in their leaders. We find peace in trusting Him, which others also claim regarding their leaders. The precepts of Jesus work for us, just as others claim the teachings of their leaders works for them.
However, there is one thing about Jesus Christ that sets Him apart — a unique claim made by Him and applauded by those who know Him. No person has ever made the same claim and been able to substantiate it. Not one religious leader or teacher has ever dared to say this about themselves. The claim is that Jesus Christ never, ever did anything wrong. Although He “was tempted in every way, just as we are — He was without sin.”
Sin is much more than murder, lying or envy. Those who sin are acting against God’s will because they have a God-resisting heart. Jesus did not have any such resistance. Instead, He claimed, “I came to do the will of my Father.” His life shows complete obedience to God’s law and complete trust in every area, no matter how difficult the trial.
Perhaps His greatest test occurred when His Father asked Him to go to the cross. Sending Him as a substitute to die for sinners was God’s will. His intention was to “make (Jesus) who had no sin, be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
As the Bible says, some will die for family or friends or good people, but God asked His Son to die for people who were opposed to Him, sinners who resisted Him. Furthermore, He was the only one who could bear our sin and pay its penalty because He had no sin of His own. If He sinned, He would need to be punished Himself.
The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Since Jesus was sinless, He did not deserve what He received on the Cross in our place. Therefore, once the penalty was paid on our behalf, the grave had no power to hold Him — He rose from the dead and lives forever.
That is the uniqueness of Christ and Christianity. We can conquer sin and death because our Leader has not only been there and done that, but also offers the same victory to us!
Showing posts with label unique Son of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unique Son of God. Show all posts
Friday, December 9, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Testing religions .................. Parables 413
March 22 1994
A few weeks ago, an employer wanted to cut costs by making substitutions without the knowledge of a client. A person who worked for that company insisted on holding to high standards. Within days, he was informed the company had no more work for him.
Cutting corners is a common but not always ethical practice. People usually lose their jobs for doing it, not for refusing to do it. Who can tolerate being ripped off?
Yet it happens, not only in business but in the realm of religion. Substitutes are offered all the time and many people have no way of distinguishing between the real thing and sub-standard alternates that fail to deliver what they promise.
Putting the religions of the world to the test risks being simplistic; religions are complex. However, the answers to a few basic questions may reveal whether a belief system has something to it, or is merely an imitation.
First, ask if it has adequate answers to the big questions, such as: Where did we come from? Why are we here? and where are we going?
Second, ask who started the system? Where did it come from? And does it offer convincing evidence for its sources?
Third, does it change people? both their lives and their destinations?
And one more; since no one makes copies of imitation Gucci watches, ask if the belief system is copied, and do those copies do justice to the original?
In one form or another, those questions are raised every generation. Some within each era discover that the Bible answers those questions. Even though the answers are constantly challenged, it does not mean they are incorrect.
Working from the last question to the first, the Bible and Christianity have been imitated. During the first centuries, counterfeit “Scripture” abounded. Fortunately, followers of Jesus who were close to the events could tell the difference. Succeeding generations have a solid foundation of Apostolic teaching by which imitations can be discerned. Today, the Bible, the Christian church, and people who believe in Christ are constantly copied yet all the cults and isms have failed in their imitation of the genuine.
A biblical faith has solid evidence for its source. Scripture was written by 40 authors over several thousand years yet they agreed with each other, demonstrating divine inspiration. Prophets foretold future events with amazing accuracy. Honest scholarship and archeology continually uncover historical validation. Thousands of copies exist with only minor variations. No other book has withstood as many attacks against it as the Bible.
The greatest evidence is Jesus who claimed “I am the resurrection and the life.” He was crucified and buried but walked out of His tomb. He says those who believe in Him will do the same.
Those same believers are also imitated, yet genuine Christians are different from imitators. We know we fall short of God’s high standards because of our sin. We also know God will accept a substitute. We know Christ died in our place, taking our sin on Himself and accepting the punishment we deserve.
We also know Christ lives in us, giving us the only standard of life that satisfies God. In both life and death, He is an acceptable substitute, not sub-standard like we are, but perfect. Because of Him, we are different.
He also answers those first questions. Everyone is here by God’s creation, designed to glorify and enjoy Him. Everyone is also going from this life to eternity. The way people live here and the place where they spend eternity depends on what they do with Jesus.
A few weeks ago, an employer wanted to cut costs by making substitutions without the knowledge of a client. A person who worked for that company insisted on holding to high standards. Within days, he was informed the company had no more work for him.
Cutting corners is a common but not always ethical practice. People usually lose their jobs for doing it, not for refusing to do it. Who can tolerate being ripped off?
Yet it happens, not only in business but in the realm of religion. Substitutes are offered all the time and many people have no way of distinguishing between the real thing and sub-standard alternates that fail to deliver what they promise.
Putting the religions of the world to the test risks being simplistic; religions are complex. However, the answers to a few basic questions may reveal whether a belief system has something to it, or is merely an imitation.
First, ask if it has adequate answers to the big questions, such as: Where did we come from? Why are we here? and where are we going?
Second, ask who started the system? Where did it come from? And does it offer convincing evidence for its sources?
Third, does it change people? both their lives and their destinations?
And one more; since no one makes copies of imitation Gucci watches, ask if the belief system is copied, and do those copies do justice to the original?
In one form or another, those questions are raised every generation. Some within each era discover that the Bible answers those questions. Even though the answers are constantly challenged, it does not mean they are incorrect.
Working from the last question to the first, the Bible and Christianity have been imitated. During the first centuries, counterfeit “Scripture” abounded. Fortunately, followers of Jesus who were close to the events could tell the difference. Succeeding generations have a solid foundation of Apostolic teaching by which imitations can be discerned. Today, the Bible, the Christian church, and people who believe in Christ are constantly copied yet all the cults and isms have failed in their imitation of the genuine.
A biblical faith has solid evidence for its source. Scripture was written by 40 authors over several thousand years yet they agreed with each other, demonstrating divine inspiration. Prophets foretold future events with amazing accuracy. Honest scholarship and archeology continually uncover historical validation. Thousands of copies exist with only minor variations. No other book has withstood as many attacks against it as the Bible.
The greatest evidence is Jesus who claimed “I am the resurrection and the life.” He was crucified and buried but walked out of His tomb. He says those who believe in Him will do the same.
Those same believers are also imitated, yet genuine Christians are different from imitators. We know we fall short of God’s high standards because of our sin. We also know God will accept a substitute. We know Christ died in our place, taking our sin on Himself and accepting the punishment we deserve.
We also know Christ lives in us, giving us the only standard of life that satisfies God. In both life and death, He is an acceptable substitute, not sub-standard like we are, but perfect. Because of Him, we are different.
He also answers those first questions. Everyone is here by God’s creation, designed to glorify and enjoy Him. Everyone is also going from this life to eternity. The way people live here and the place where they spend eternity depends on what they do with Jesus.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Incarnation ............................. Parables 082
In his book, DEATH OF A GURU (Harvest House publishers), Rabindranath Maharaj said that he believed he would be reincarnated as a cow, therefore he spent hours staring at one, intent on her characteristics, putting all other thoughts out of his mind. He relates what a shock it was when this revered creature finally noticed him, became angry, and charged at him. It was one of several upsetting events that caused him to re-examine his belief in reincarnation and finally abandon it.
Reincarnation is the belief that a soul returns after death to live in another body. Although neither the word or the concept are mentioned in the Bible, Christians use another word that sounds very much like it. The word is “INCARNATION.” Actually, this word is not in Scripture either, at least in this English form. The New Testament was written originally in Greek and the component parts, “in carne”, are in the original text.
Incarnation refers to a unique event regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He left heaven, came to earth and occupied a human body. This event is unique because it happened only once, to one unique person, who lived in one body, for one lifetime, yet still lives - in that same body, forever.
Jesus Christ was born, fully man, nearly 2000 years ago. The Bible says that His mother was Mary, but His Father was not Joseph, Mary’s husband, but the Spirit of God. John 1:14 says that “God became flesh and lived among us.” Therefore, Jesus was unique, the God-man, and God did this unique thing in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Man had originally been created in the image of God (not a physical image because God is spirit, and no man can see Him, but with moral, mental, emotional, and volitional capacity), yet human beings have failed to reflect the likeness of God because of rebellion against Him.
Because He is holy and just, God says those who rebel against Him (sin) must die. But He is also a God of love and mercy so He determined a way to pardon the sinner yet still satisfy His wrath against their sins.
His remedy was to provide a substitute, one who would die for the sins of others, making it possible for sinners to live. This substitute had to be a man to qualify as payment for man’s guilt, yet more than just another sinner with his own debt of sin towards God.
There was only one way to satisfy that criteria: God Himself came in human flesh. He, in a fully human body lived a perfect sinless life even though He was tempted to sin just as we are. Then He died the death that others deserve. But, because He did not deserve to die, He rose from the grave where He had been buried, and later ascended into heaven where He “lives forever to make intercession for us.”
That is the “en carne”, the incarnation.
No one ever has been, nor ever will be, God in the flesh again. The Bible calls Jesus the “ONLY begotten Son.” He is unique.
Furthermore, when Jesus died, it was in the body He had been born and grown to manhood in. When He rose again, it was also in the same body, a glorified body, somehow uniquely changed, yet still bearing the marks of the nails in His hands. It was this body that the disciples saw and touched. They watched Him eat and drink. Then they watched Him ascend and disappear into a cloud with the promise that “this same Jesus will come again” - in the same body. (Acts 1)
His soul did not and will not return in another body. Jesus was not and will not be “re-incarnated”.
The message of the Incarnation gives unique hope to those who believe in Him. God says that as we gaze into His glory, we are transformed, by the power of His Spirit, to be like He is... to be all that God intended us to be, clean from the sin that spoils the image we were created to reflect. Later, when we die, we will be raised to eternal life - in our bodies made incorruptible like His glorified body, fit to live forever with Him.
Reincarnation is the belief that a soul returns after death to live in another body. Although neither the word or the concept are mentioned in the Bible, Christians use another word that sounds very much like it. The word is “INCARNATION.” Actually, this word is not in Scripture either, at least in this English form. The New Testament was written originally in Greek and the component parts, “in carne”, are in the original text.
Incarnation refers to a unique event regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He left heaven, came to earth and occupied a human body. This event is unique because it happened only once, to one unique person, who lived in one body, for one lifetime, yet still lives - in that same body, forever.
Jesus Christ was born, fully man, nearly 2000 years ago. The Bible says that His mother was Mary, but His Father was not Joseph, Mary’s husband, but the Spirit of God. John 1:14 says that “God became flesh and lived among us.” Therefore, Jesus was unique, the God-man, and God did this unique thing in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Man had originally been created in the image of God (not a physical image because God is spirit, and no man can see Him, but with moral, mental, emotional, and volitional capacity), yet human beings have failed to reflect the likeness of God because of rebellion against Him.
Because He is holy and just, God says those who rebel against Him (sin) must die. But He is also a God of love and mercy so He determined a way to pardon the sinner yet still satisfy His wrath against their sins.
His remedy was to provide a substitute, one who would die for the sins of others, making it possible for sinners to live. This substitute had to be a man to qualify as payment for man’s guilt, yet more than just another sinner with his own debt of sin towards God.
There was only one way to satisfy that criteria: God Himself came in human flesh. He, in a fully human body lived a perfect sinless life even though He was tempted to sin just as we are. Then He died the death that others deserve. But, because He did not deserve to die, He rose from the grave where He had been buried, and later ascended into heaven where He “lives forever to make intercession for us.”
That is the “en carne”, the incarnation.
No one ever has been, nor ever will be, God in the flesh again. The Bible calls Jesus the “ONLY begotten Son.” He is unique.
Furthermore, when Jesus died, it was in the body He had been born and grown to manhood in. When He rose again, it was also in the same body, a glorified body, somehow uniquely changed, yet still bearing the marks of the nails in His hands. It was this body that the disciples saw and touched. They watched Him eat and drink. Then they watched Him ascend and disappear into a cloud with the promise that “this same Jesus will come again” - in the same body. (Acts 1)
His soul did not and will not return in another body. Jesus was not and will not be “re-incarnated”.
The message of the Incarnation gives unique hope to those who believe in Him. God says that as we gaze into His glory, we are transformed, by the power of His Spirit, to be like He is... to be all that God intended us to be, clean from the sin that spoils the image we were created to reflect. Later, when we die, we will be raised to eternal life - in our bodies made incorruptible like His glorified body, fit to live forever with Him.
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