Have you ever thought about Christianity? Have you ever thought about Christianity and said “If those people go to heaven then I’m definitely going to heaven.” It’s easy to look around and see “Christians” behaving badly and ending up with a negative attitude towards their “ideals” and the very concept of going to church. But to paraphrase a popular TV evangelist “Going to church doesn’t make you Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.” God tells Hosea that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:4) There are a lot of false converts out there who portray a false doctrine and what it means to follow Christ. Please… take a moment; let me discuss the true nature of Christianity.
Christianity at base level is the belief in Jesus of Nazareth and the following of his teachings. However there is so much more to it than that. One fundamental flaw that Christians and non-Christians share is ignorance (or lack of knowledge) of who and what Jesus was and is today. I’m sure everyone has heard that “Jesus died for your sins,” but that phrase doesn’t really explain why He died for your sins. A long time ago God made a covenant with a group of people we refer to as Israelites. In their covenant or contract (if you will) God forgave them of their sins via animal sacrifices. Essentially if someone broke the holy law of God, the righteous and just law of God, blood had to be shed. Either the person died, or the person offered a sacrifice to take his or her place; a pure and flawless sacrifice, the best they had to offer. Throughout His covenant with Israel, God spoke of time when he would create a new covenant with the world, and He spoke of the servant He would use to bare the iniquity of the world.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. … Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. … “(Isaiah 53 4- 6, 11)
God gave the world a pure and flawless sacrifice, the best He had to offer… Himself. As Jesus was crucified, His sacrifice and the shedding of His blood offered the world absolute forgiveness of their sins, and offered a new covenant (or contract) with humanity that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Therefore “Jesus died for your sins.” The interesting thing about sin is that it’s sneaky. Most of us don’t consider ourselves sinners. We think of ourselves as “good people” that are in fact better and nicer than the “churched” people. But the bible tells us that “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) or “There is none who does good, not even one.”(Psalm 14:3) and “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1: 8 – 10) But just in case you are interested in learning more about what sin is and where you stand there is a test: The Ten Commandments.
Christ was asked once what the most important commandment was. The answer was: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10: 27) Although the answer seems at first to be slightly vague, it is in fact exceedingly deep. Not loving God with the ENTIRETY of your heart is something I believe we are all more than a little guilty of. And words aren’t necessary about how hard it is to love our neighbors and our enemies (as the parable explains) as much as ourselves. A simple place to start is with the Ten Commandments given to Moses as the sign of His covenant. Interestingly enough the first four commandments deal with loving God and the other six deal with loving our “neighbors.”
Have you ever told a lie? Even a “white lie?” What do you call someone who has told lies? If you are honest with yourself then I’m sure you’ve told a lie at some point in your life regardless of the intention or motives. Jesus said that if you look at a woman with lust then you have committed adultery in your heart. Have you ever cheated on a spouse or even looked at a person with lust? What do you call someone who has committed adultery? Jesus also said that if you were angry with another person you had committed murder in your heart. Have you committed murder or been angry at someone? What do you call a person who has committed murder? These are but three of the Ten Commandments. If you were honest with yourself chances are that self admittedly you are a liar, adulterer, and murdered. God says “But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.” (Hosea 7:2) According to God’s rules blood must be shed in order for you to get right with God. This is where “Jesus died for your sins” comes into play. By believing in Him, the Christ, and repenting of your sins (aka stop sinning) then: “he (Jesus) bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12) The importance of this is the one day God will reconcile with all of his creation. “Judgment Day” as it is rightfully called. On this day “Every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…) (Philippians 2-10-11) and truthfully we all are deserving of punishment. The advantage of the true Christian is that on this Day of Judgment when all our deeds are before the Lord, we have an advocate in Christ.
“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2: 1-6)
Basically the main difference between the true Christian and the non Christian is that when we are all in court facing the judge of the universe, we (the Christians) have a lawyer to defend us. Of course that doesn’t mean that Christians won’t be judged or are free to continue sinning. “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27)
But what if you don’t believe all that I’ve said? What if I jump off a skyscraper and declare that I don’t believe in the ground? Regardless of my belief, truth is truth. Some people believe in all paths to God. Others believe in various other gods. While many believe God wouldn’t send people to hell. Even Christians can be guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is when we create a god based upon our own ideas or opinions. An example of this is “I don’t believe God would… ect” The key here is the “I.” Many people are guilty of creating a god that suits them. Often modern Christianity takes the love, mercy and grace of God and ignores the righteousness, holiness and wrath of God; essentially they are worshipping a god other than the God of the bible. This adds another two broken commandments to the list, the first and second.
What if you don’t believe in God at all? “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish heats were darkened. Claiming to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18-23) If you don’t believe in God then open your eyes, and look around you. Now, you are without an excuse.
In closing, I must say that I love you. That God loves you. And that the true purpose of Christians is to share the gospel. I don’t want anyone to experience the torment of hell nor does God. A notable Christian author said “God doesn’t send people to hell, they volunteer.” Please take a moment today and reflect whether you are a Christian or not. Dwell on eternity and on futility that is mankind. Meditate with expectancy of spiritual truth then if you feel led find and open a bible. Read it for yourself. If you don’t know where to start, then start with the gospel of Mark. It’s short and to the point. May the God of heaven bless you, Amen.
Any questions or comments please send to exilesinwaiting@gmail.com
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