Monday, March 30, 2009

Would the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?!?!?!

Would the Real Jesus Please Stand?!?!

In our post-modern world... you and I are told that all religions are the same, because they all lead to God. Oprah says, "It doesn't matter what you call your personal god (I intentionally use god with a little "g" when quoting her because her theology is off in left field somewhere), nor does it matter how you worship your god... as long as your sincere and passionate, that is all that really matters!

Well, the problem with that is... you can be as sincere and as passionate as you want, and still find yourself being sincerely and passionately WRONG! I would say that an Al Qaeda extremist who straps a bomb to himself and walks into a coffee shop is somewhat sincere and passionate... somewhat. However, I pray you don't believe that he worships the God that you do, just because he is passionate and sincere!

I am going to leave the investigation up to you. Below... you will find what various religions believe about Jesus. Let me know if that sounds like the same Jesus in the Bible:

Hinduism - Jesus was one of many of god’s sons. He was a teacher, or guru. He didn’t rise from the dead.

Buddhism - Jesus was a man who had good teachings. He may have been an enlightened teacher. He was not god.

Judaism - Jesus was a good teacher who taught things that were similar to the teachings of other rabbis of his day. He was not God. Some in the faith, say that, Jesus was a heretical, or a crazy – troublemaker.

Islam - Jesus was a very highly esteemed messenger of Allah. Jesus was one of the greatest prophets, but was not God. Jesus did not die on the Cross, but “was made to appear so to them.” Allah saved Jesus from the cross by raising Him to Himself before death. Many believe that Judas was the one on the Cross.

Mormonism - Jesus lived as a sinless human to show people the way to earn their own exaltation. Jesus was also the brother of Satan, and He had several wives.

Jehovah’s Witnesses - Jesus is God’s created son. Jesus was a perfect human being, but was not god. His death and resurrection earned humans the right to perfect life on earth.

Quotes from Some Famous People:
“Jesus of Nazareth, was a moral man, but I have some doubts about His divinity.” – Benjamin Franklin
“We’re more popular than Jesus. We’ll be around longer than Christianity.” – John Lennon, of The Beatles 1966
“Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age, He would have repudiated His own doctrine.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, German Philosopher
"I regard Jesus as a great teacher of humanity, but I do not regard Him as the only begotten Son of God.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“One of the biggest mistakes we has humans make is to believe that there is only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to what you call God. There are many paths and many different names that end up at the same spot, God.” – Oprah Winfrey in 2002.
“Jesus is not God, I believe I am God.” – Marilyn Manson


However, make no mistake... the Jesus from the Bible is very different from any of the above!

1) Jesus claims the power of forgiving sins showing that He claimed to be God.
"And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven." - Matthew 9:2

2) Jesus Christ is to be Judge of all mankind. Only God could do this.
"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." - John 5:22 - 23

3) Jesus existed and had ultimate glory before the world was created.
"And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed." - John 17:5

4) Jesus claimed that only through Him could someone get to the Father!
"Jesus said to him, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6

The Jesus of the Bible is very, very different than the Jesus of other religions. Be very careful... just because a religion or a person uses the name of Jesus, it doesn't mean that it is the same Jesus... the Son of God, the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings.

Just another rant!
Shane

1 comment:

Anson said...

I like the way you used the other religions view points in your rant. I get alot of those ideas of Jesus thrown at me on a regular basis.