JESUS IS GOD’S ANSWER TO LIFE’S SUPREME QUESTIONS
With declining church attendance, a church in Maryland used market research and focus groups to design its weekly services. They did this to determine what type of services people would attend. As a result of their findings, the type o service they designed is astonishing. The founders of the new church deliberately de-emphasized Jesus Christ as the focal point.
What they learned from the focus groups was that “a lot of people feel disenchanted with Christianity because they say it’s too exclusionary”. Based on this finding, this new type of church used a blend of Hindu and Zen intermingled with a few passages from the Bible around which to center their worship services. Their music consisted of recordings by Willie Nelson.
One of the pastors was quoted as saying, “We’re enabling people to discover God for themselves - maybe thru Jesus, maybe thru Buddha, maybe thru any number of ways.”
Surely we are appalled by such defamation of Christianity – nothing more than yet another form of political correctness that would have us adapt our faith to accommodate many “gods” not just One God. Rather, it behooves us to tell the truth about who Jesus is and what Christianity is all about.
Jesus is not a magician with a solution to everybody’s problems so that “if you belong to Jesus, life will be a bed of roses with no thorns.” Not so!
“What Jesus can do for me materially” must be secondary to “What Jesus has done for me spiritually”. Jesus saves . . . sanctifies . . . expects total surrender!
We don’t simply “add” Jesus to our lives as just another aspect of all that we have going on. No! We are called out of sin into salvation and sanctification!
Our commitment to Him must be such that we can say and mean it from the depths of our hearts - “Christ Is Lord”! I have found that:
When serious inquirers become aware of the “preeminence” of God’s Son (seeing Him as God’s answer to life’s supreme questions) . . . submit to His authority over all of Creation . . . quit trying to accommodate every wind of doctrine, including the one that promises a rosy life that never again will have to deal with thorny issues, they will respond to the Christian challenge - IF they truly mean business.
One of life’s supreme questions always has been, “How did we get here?”
Then comes the follow-up question: “Why are we here?”
These questions trip up many people in our age of information technology. “To man be the glory, great things he has done!”
Everywhere we turn we encounter agnostics, atheists and polytheists . . . academics searching for proof of the big bang theory . . . political factions attempting to drive wedges between professing Christians . . . rulers of darkness gaining ground all over the world.
Thus, Christians are confronted with a challenge! Do we firmly believe, and if so to what extent, that Jesus is God’s answer to all of life’s essential questions?
Long before Jesus came, the psalmist declared the glory of the LORD as the Creator who stays involved in His Creation - Psalm 33:6-9, 13-15 - with a significant distinction made between the name “God” and the name “LORD God” . . .
The God of Creation through His spokesman established the fact of One Great Creator - the One God who revealed Himself to His People and whose name was considered so Holy that His People dared not speak His Name - YHWH (Yahweh). They substituted the Hebrew word adonai meaning lord. Translators of the Hebrew into English capitalized the word LORD so that when Believers read it they immediately associate it with the original four letters YHWH. This was done on purpose to remind Believers of the word’s significance – ONE Great Creator! So,
“How did we get here?” The LORD God! The LORD God spoke and it was so! Was His speaking verbal or otherwise? Both! You’ve heard it said, “One picture is worth a thousand words” . . . “Together, by our action, we will send a powerful message” . . . “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14)!
The very presence of Jesus spoke volumes! In whatever ways God spoke, here we are - in a world of His designing and making - and we are here “for making” (Genesis 2:3 - "created for making" or "created for growing and developing" - as translated by OT scholar J. Wash Watts) . . . whether our growing and developing, and our serving, be in the form of words or deeds. A wise minister, Fred Moore, once said: “As you go, be witnesses, and if necessary, use words.” God spoke in various ways! So do we!
Yes, the LORD God created all things and maintains control over our world . . . you and me . . . everybody . . . He’s got the whole world in His hands! Therefore, “Let the people praise and revere Him” (Psalm 22:23)!
IF all the people do not . . . never do, if it comes down to just you, be sure you revere Him! “My LORD! My God” (John 20:28)!The LORD is not detached or disinterested but watches over His creation. “The LORD sees all mankind.” The word translated “He sees” carries with it the idea of a “fixed look”.
Question: Do you find it comforting or disturbing to know that God “gazes” at you and knows everything about you?” Question: Do we see evidence of God’s care and concern in our world today? If so, where?
Question: Are you as willing today as you once were to let God shape your thinking, your acting, your serving?
Long before Jesus came, the psalmist’s declaration was the people’s best expression of The LORD God as One Great Creator. Then Jesus came and, as the Apostle John declared: “The Word (the LORD) became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14)!
After God the son ascended back to the Father, the Apostle Paul shed new light on who Jesus was, magnifying His role in Creation – Colossians 1:15-17 . . .
In the Colossian Church there were those who sought to minimize the role of Jesus in the overall plan of God as if He were just another good teacher with a large following, but not to be thought of as having all authority and therefore they said He was not the final Word of God. Much like arguments we are confronted with in our day!
It’s as if Paul was a little aggravated: “How can you say that He is not the final Word? He is the “spittin’ image” of the invisible God . . . “firstborn” - meaning He occupies the position of highest honor and authority as Son of God . . . in fact, for your understanding, He is over all creation! By Him and for Him everything was created!” Agnostics fail to grasp the fact that Jesus was the physical manifestation of eternal God . . . the exact representation of God . . . the spittin’ image of God because He IS God (Hebrews 1:3).
How can this be? The Trinity! God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. LORD God! Maker of everything, therefore ruler of everything! Triune God! None of the Three manifestations of God were created! Could not have been! All Three were involved in Creation! “Let US make man!”
Try as any leader of any church might to bring the Son down to the level of their congregation and make God the Son one of many - that attempt cannot and will not succeed!
And until any created human being acknowledges God is the LORD, Jesus is the LORD, and the Holy Spirit is the LORD - and submit to His authority and rule over everything - that human being will continue to be an agnostic, with one of three outcomes: reaffirm belief in One Lord, succumb to the “politically correct” notion that many and any god will do, or become an outright atheist for whom there is no hope.
Hell awaits the polytheist and the atheist. Heaven awaits the true believer. There is no middle ground, nor is there any compromise. And there should be no shame on your part, nor are you going to be held accountable, for the decision made by agnostics who become polytheists and atheists. Singularly, each of us is accountable!
Your responsibility and mine is to “let our light so shine that others see Jesus and glorify our Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In this way we bring glory to God. Individually you and I were created to bring glory to God - Isaiah 43:1-7 . . .
Think about it: The LORD God who created me: redeemed me . . . knows me by name . . . says to me “You are mine” therefore “I am with you.”
What is there left for me to say? Glory to God! Amen.
