The Da Vinci Con - Is Jesus Really God?

Cracking the Da Vinci Code #2 – Was Jesus God?

Over the past 25 years there have been several attempts in Hollywood to smear, put down or challenge the Christian faith. For some reason Christians tick off the Hollywood elite. It may be the same reason that cockroaches, rats, skunks and mice don’t like it when you turn the light on, and only come out in the dark…just a thought.

I remember in college a movie called the “Life of Brian” coming out that riled the church. There was the “Last Temptation of Christ” controversy. And how many ABC, CBS, NBC, and National Geographic specials has there been trying to explain away the virgin birth, or the resurrection, or miracles? And what about the continual defamation of Jesus and His name and His church in many media outlets? You must conclude that Hollywood has a Jesus problem!

Even the “Passion of the Christ” movie was opposed!

They would dare portray Islam like they do Christianity.

The Da Vinci Code is the latest attempt. You may ask, “It’s just a movie and a book, why get so upset about it?” Good question.

It is a movie and a book that claims to be supported by fact. It tries to come across as the truth and crosses all kinds of lines, real, factual and historical lines. It takes history and throws it away creating a “new history.”

There will be many who will see this compelling movie and believe what it says about the church, about Jesus and about a conspiracy to suppress the real truth about Jesus.

STORY LINE

The story is really a pretty good one. It begins with a murder in a museum. The man murdered we find out is the last of 4 people in a secret organization that had been protecting a huge secret: that Jesus was married and had a baby with Mary Magdalene and that this royal bloodline continued through the ages.

Before his death he had left a scattering of clues that would lead the right person to discover this truth. All the while the Catholic Church has commissioned a monk to hunt down and kill anyone who knows this secret to continue the cover up. This secret, if exposed would destroy the church as we know it.

The story is pretty good, but in the midst of it there is a lot of so called fact that is no where near the true story. It is fiction that is made to look like fact – on purpose.

Last week we looked at the issue of whether we got the real Bible or not.

It is the kind of stuff that would really rock the faith of those who don’t know any better, and unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don’t know any better in America today.

Lets put this whole Da Vinci thing into a scriptural category:

1 John 2:18-23 (NLT)

18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared….22 And who is the great liar? The one who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son. 23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father either. But anyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.

1 John 4:1-6 (NLT)

1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist. …..5 These people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God; that is why those who know God listen to us.

The Bible calls this kind of flagrant attack on the character and the nature of Jesus Antichrist. Nothing less. These things come from the enemy to water down Jesus and challenge His exalted position as Savior and Lord.

Now, I don’t mind challenges, let’s look at the facts.

What the Da Vinci code says about Jesus.

“Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.” (p234)

“Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.” (p233)