Tag: Jesus Christ

Persecution, Followers, and Stalkers

“And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.” Mark 12:13

Since the inception of the Christian Church, mankind has witnessed the blood of martyrs  splattered across the pages of history.  And although manifested in different forms, Christian persecution persists to this very day: across continents, within countries, in communities, at places of work, within families.  How and when did the persecution begin?

It began with Jesus Christ.  He died a violent death, put to death on the cross.  Why? Because he proclaimed that he was the Son of God, that he was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. These were his very words, as witnessed by his apostles, his disciples, and as documented by four separate Gospel writers.

Some of those who heard him may have said: “how brazen, what gall.”  The scribes and Pharisees in particular were beside themselves.  They rent their clothes. They screamed. They plotted. They got their pound of flesh. They were not followers, but stalkers, trying to catch Jesus in His words, doubting Him from the very start, and at every turn.

But Jesus Christ had followers, and his followers believed in Him. They believed His words, His teachings, and the things He said about Himself. No one comes to the Father except through Him. They cling to this as truth.

How insensitive this view is towards other religions. How politically and sociologically incorrect! Who is this Christ, this carpenter that compels a person to leave everything and follow Him? What sheer madness.  Emperors got riled that their subjects adored this Christ, this carpenter, above them.  The world is irritated at their peculiar behavior, at the light in their hearts and in their eyes, their faces shining with joy. So the powers fed Christ’s followers to the lions, led them to their deaths at the hands of gladiators. They stoned them and spat upon them.  And some they crucified.

Christ polarizes people.  Either His claims about Himself were those of a lunatic, or His words are truth.  He requires total commitment.  Either you believe in Him, or doubt His words.  Either you are a follower, a stalker, or something else.

And if a follower, then at this very moment, you share in the fellowship of His sufferings. You become a target for persecution.

By D.G. Vachal © 2012

*** posted at Narita airport, en route to somewhere in Asia

Is Christ The One Or Shall We Look for Another?


“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  Matthew 11:3

 Of the most vital and central importance in our earthly existence is our concept of who Jesus Christ is. When John the Baptist sent his followers directly to Christ to confront him about who he was, they in fact asked a crucial and pivotal question: “Are you the Savior of the world, or shall we look for another?”

In spite of his physical and mental depression while he was in prison, John the Baptist did the right thing when he told his disciples to go at once to Jesus, to ask and see for themselves. In the same manner, we can go to the Gospels and consider Jesus Christ, his words, his miracles, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, to see for ourselves whether we find our answer in Him, or keep on searching.  And as we read the Bible, let us analyze and discover whether we come to recognize, as Martin Luther did, that “Christ is the key to Scripture”, that “everything must be understood in relation to Christ” (1).

 The message of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ Himself, and the astounding claim that He is the Son of God who came into this world and dwelt among us, and that there is “no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

“He is central, he is first, and if we are wrong about him, it does not make any difference, even if we are right everywhere else.” (2)

Part of the difficulties we confront about the person of Jesus Christ are aspects which cannot be understood in terms of abstract or philosophical reasoning.  And if what the Bible tells us about him is true, then it transcends human intellect and comprehension.  It comes to us as a revelation, an announcement of good news in a world beset with problems, sin, misery and death.

Hence, instead of trying to grasp, reason out and span the “infinities and the immensities” about what and who Christ is, let us be guided by what John the Baptist advised his followers: just go to Him, confront Him and learn about the many aspects to His nature and character as portrayed in each of the Gospels. We look at Him in the Bible, speak to Him in prayer, and consider the testimonies of other Christians.  And when we do this, it may well be that we shall arrive at the same conclusion that many others in a similar quest have come before us:

They have considered Jesus and made the decision to look to no other: Jesus Christ is the incomparable One, the Son of God, the Savior and Light of the World, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Footnotes:
(1) Lectures on Romans in vol. 25 of Luther’s Works (1515; ET Concordia, 1972); Gloss on Rom. 1:5 (p.4)
(2) Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Heart of the Gospel, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1991, p. 13

References:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Heart of the Gospel, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois,1991, pp. 11-25
John Stott, The Incomparable Christ, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove, Illinois, pp. 15-42

*** Image courtesy of firepress

God is Light

“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” I John 1:5

God has many facets to His character, but the Apostle John’s proposition is that we must start with the holiness of God: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”  In other words, if we are to grasp an understanding of the Creator, we must not start with His power, or His greatness, or even with the fact that God is love, even though all of these traits are stupendous truths in and of themselves.

Why must we start with the holiness of God rather than with the love of God?

It is by considering His holiness that we can understand God’s plan of salvation for mankind, a strategy achieved only through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary.  If God’s attributes were limited to love, mercy and compassion, then the cross would have been inconsequential because all God had to do was to forgive our sins.  But the whole message of Christianity is that the cross is vital and central, and apart from Christ’s sacrifice, our sins could not be forgiven, and the deep chasm would still persist between our sinful human nature and God’s absolute and perfect holiness.

Why was Christ’s death on the cross absolutely essential?  Because God is light, He is just and righteous, with such purity that He cannot behold and look upon iniquity. (Habakkuk 1:13). “It is the holiness of God that demands the cross, so without starting with holiness, there is no meaning in the cross.” 1

If we start with the holiness of God, we realize that Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection had to take place.  And we recognize that fellowship with God, communion with Light, is only made possible in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has reconciled us to the Father by His great sacrifice on the cross.

1 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Safe in the World: The Assurance of Our Salvation”, Crossway Books, Illinois, 1988,  p. 108

*** References:

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Safe in the World: The Assurance of Our Salvation”, Crossway Books, Illinois, 1988, pp. 99-110.

Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, “The Holiness of God”,  www.fivesolas.com/watson/wat_holi.htm

*** Photography: The Hand of God by Rich Goldman

How the Christian Glorifies Christ


“… and I am glorified in them.”  John 17:10

As God sent His Son into the world to glorify Him, we who believe in the Son are given the sublime privilege and responsibility to glorify Christ in our lives.  How do we accomplish this? Let us consider the progression of ways wherein we glorify our Lord.

First, we do so by believing in Him. The Pharisees did not believe in Christ. They dismissed Him as just a “Carpenter from Nazareth”,  the son of Joseph and Mary.  And the world to this day does not know Who Christ is and hence they disregard  Him.  To acknowledge Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God Who came into this world is to give Him glory.

Second, it is to apprehend why He came and what He has done while He lived on earth.  It is to be persuaded that the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s only way of salvation, that through Him we are brought back into right standing with God, into joyful fellowship with the Father.

Third, to glorify Christ is to know the meaning of the cross: that by Christ’s death and resurrection, our sins are forgiven and we become children of God.  And because of what Christ has done, He is everything to us.  We put an end to our self-reliance and realize that what we have become as a result of His sacrifice is entirely by the grace of God.

Fourth, it follows that we glorify Christ by telling other people about Him, pointing them to His Person, proclaiming Him as the Son of God, and His great sacrifice to free us from the bondage of our sins.  The world delights in lauding and talking about people: sports heroes,  politicians, actors, and other interesting personalities.  The Christian is one who delights in talking about Christ and praising Him.

Fifth, we glorify Christ by being living proofs of His life in us.  We are to be such men and women that the moment others meet us, they think about Christ.  People took note of the apostles when they performed miracles and spoke in a manner inconsistent with the speech of ignorant fishermen: they came to the conclusion that the apostles had been with Jesus.  The test of the Christian is that he or she cannot be explained apart from Christ,  and by this, Christ is glorified.

Finally, we glorify Christ by being the manifestation of His power, having been separated from the world. It is only by the power of Christ that we can leave the mentality of the world, and we become different.  The Christian is a person who strikes others as somebody who is distinct, somebody peculiar, not possessing the self-pride and self-assertion that the world applauds as strength; one who belongs to the lowly and humble Christ.  And he is spiritually alive, interested in spiritual things, making the affairs of the soul the top priority in his life and thinking.

As Christians we have been given a new life and a new understanding, a new outlook upon everything that faces us.  To the extent that we reflect this to the outside world, we glorify the Lord.

What a privilege and a great responsibility it is to be given this high calling, that Christ should be glorified in our lives.

*** Reference:  Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Safe in the World: The Assurance of Our Salvation”, Crossway Books, Illinois, 1988, pp. 79-92.

*** Photography by Artemis