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Today the Christ of the Bible is the subject of much misinformation and disinformation - even within the Evangelical church.
A Recurring Theme
In Acts 17:3, the Apostle Paul declared to the Jews of the synagogue at Thessalonica, "This Jesus, whom I preach to you, is Christ." We find many similar statements concerning "this Jesus" throughout the New Testament, including these:
"So the multitudes said, 'This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.'" (Matthew 21:11)
"And they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, "I have come down from heaven"?'" (John 6:42)
"And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." (Matthew 27:37)
"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses...Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:32, 36)
"For we have heard him [Stephen] say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." (Acts 6:14)
"But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ." (Acts 9:22)
"Another Jesus"
The Apostle Paul was especially concerned that Christians should remain true to "this Jesus" and not embrace "another Jesus." He said to the church at Corinth,
"For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted-you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)
New Atheists have invented a "Jesus" who is, in the words of Richard Dawkins, "insipid":
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully...[Dawkins then quotes a scatological reference to God that we shall not repeat here]...
It is unfair to attack such an easy target. The God Hypothesis should not stand or fall with its most unlovely instantiation, Yahweh, nor his insipidly opposite Christian face, "Gentle Jesus meek and mild."1
We could expect no less from those who disingenuously claim to believe in no God at all, when they have made themselves their own gods. But today we live in a world where even most people who call themselves Christians worship "another Jesus."
Roman Catholics worship a false "Jesus" of whom the priest says, as he allegedly changes bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ in the fresh sacrifice of the Mass, "Lord, we, your ministers...offer to Your supreme majesty...the pure Victim, the holy Victim, the all-perfect Victim..."
Mormons teach a "Jesus" who is, according to founder Brigham Young, the elder brother of Lucifer, both having been created by God - "Jesus" being the obedient brother, Lucifer or Satan being the disobedient brother.2
Many liberal theologians - these days often joined by some professed conservatives - are off on a "quest for the historical Jesus." But their quest is not for the historical God-man of the Bible, but for a mythical character of their own creation who is agreeable to their fallen intellects.
Jesus "The Perfect Conservative"?
And today, many in both liberal and postmodernist Evangelical churches worship a "Jesus" who is nothing more than a good moral example. Former U. S. presidential candidate Herman Cain, who was an ordained minister of his home church in Atlanta, Georgia, once published an article in this vein, titled "An Example for America: The Perfect Conservative." He wrote:
He was not born into a royal family, but He left a royal impression on the world.
For 30 years, He learned the ways of the world without becoming of the world. He then changed the world for the better.
He led without a mandate. He taught without a script. His common sense parables filled people with promise and compassion, His words forever inspiring.
He never condemned what others believed - just sin, evil and corruption.
He helped the poor without one government program. He healed the sick without a government health-care system. He feed the hungry without food stamps. And everywhere He went, it turned into a rally, attracting large crowds and giving people hope, encouragement and inspiration.
For three years He was unemployed and never collected an unemployment check. Nevertheless, he completed all the work He needed to get done. He didn't travel by private jet. He walked and sailed and sometimes traveled on a donkey.
But they made Him walk when He was arrested and taken to jail, and no, He was not read any Miranda Rights. He was arrested for just being who He was and doing nothing wrong. And when they tried Him in court, He never said a mumbling word.
He didn't have a lawyer, nor did He care about who judged Him.
His judge was a higher power.
The liberal court found Him guilty of false offenses and sentenced Him to death, all because He changed the hearts and minds of men with an army of 12.
His death reset the clock of time.
Never before and not since has there ever been such a perfect conservative.
For more than 2,000 years the world has tried hard to erase the memory of the perfect conservative and His principles of compassion, caring and common sense.
His followers are now millions and millions the world over, as those who resent Him have intensified their attacks on who He was and what His followers believe.
The attacks are disguised as political correctness or a misunderstanding of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Separation of church and state does not mean separation of church from state. The state cannot impose church on the people, but the people can display and say as much church in the public square as they desire.
Our founders recognized that distinction, which helped to inspire the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the founding of this nation - the United States of America!
We must be the Defending Fathers and the defenders of the Perfect Conservative.3
Many politically conservative Evangelicals - even many pastors - embrace Mr. Cain's caricature as the real Jesus. But their "Jesus" is not Jesus Christ of the Bible.
Who is the Real Jesus?
Who is "this Jesus" whom Peter, Stephen, Paul and the others boldly proclaimed, and who is the subject of so much misinformation and disinformation in our day, even in the Evangelical church? As you go to church to worship Him, as you open the Bible, as you speak to others about Him, are you certain that you have a firm - that is, a Biblical - grip on exactly who He is?
We read in Acts chapter 17 that Paul, in declaring "this Jesus", "reasoned from the Scriptures." It is to Scripture alone that we must go to find the true Christ. The first chapter of Colossians is perhaps the greatest single passage in God's Word on the subject of the person and work of Jesus. Here the true believer gains an accurate grasp of who Jesus is, what He has done, what He is now doing, and what He will do in the remainder of time and on into eternity. As we continue, we shall examine the key declarations found in Paul's great inspired discourse on the true Jesus of the Bible.
References:
1. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006), page 31.
2. John A. Widtsoe, editor, The Discourses of Brigham Young (Shadow Mountain Press, 1954), pages 82-83. Viewable online at https://archive.org/stream/discoursesofbrig028407mbp#page/n99/mode/2up/search/83
3. Herman Cain, "An Example for America: The Perfect Conservative", WorldNetDaily, December 20, 2010 as viewed at http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=241753
Next: Fully God, Nothing Less
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