Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:22
Recently I watched an entire 30 minute “sermon” presented by a very well known and popular television Evangelist. During the 30 minutes I spent with him I laughed a little, felt really good about myself knowing that I had the idea that God loved me so much repeated over and over. I also left with the thought that I probably needed to pray a little bit more since I didn’t have all the really wonderful things God had in store for me. (sarcasm fully intended here) If I just asked in the right way.
Maybe I’ve been doing something wrong?
For 30 minutes I heard a lot of really good stuff, lots of feel good motivation and go take on the day rhetoric but as the show came to a conclusion one thing was surprisingly absent from the 30 minute pep rally I just participated in…
Any mention at all of Jesus or the finished work of the cross.
So I ask myself and now you, “If a Preacher claims to be a Christian but can complete a 30 minute monologue without mentioning Jesus, has he denied Christ”?
Is a message lacking any mention of sin and its consequences, regardless of how good it makes you feel, really a Christian message?
Does God want you to have all the things you want or does Jesus want to be all that you need, surpassing the need for things?
As simple as it can be put, the Christian message is that Jesus died and suffered the cross, then was raised from the dead 3 days later so that you and I could have access to Heaven. No more access to God through a system of priest and sacrifices, but access to God through the final and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But the single point this whole thing hinges on is the death and the resurrection of Christ.
If Christ wasn’t raised from the dead then there’s a few million people running around this planet that are just a bunch of fools. I hear the argument all the time that Jesus was just a great man with a great message. Anyone that would say that is pretty dumb.
There are really only three choices we have to make when it comes to our decision about what we believe about Jesus.
1. He’s a liar. In John 10:31 Jesus states with complete authority and no question, “I and the Father are one”. If Jesus is not the son of God then he’s a liar and created the largest following of fools in history.
2. He’s a lunatic. In John 8:51 Jesus responds to the Jewish leaders claiming He was demon possessed by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."
3. He is Lord. If he’s not a liar and not a lunatic the only choice left is that He is the Lord.
The Christian message seems to have been reduced to the idea of making people feel good. Make them feel good and then they will come back for more of the deeper stuff. But what if we only get one chance to let someone hear the truth? Do we want that person to hear that all they have to do is pray real hard and God might give them a Cadillac or do we want them to hear the full Gospel message and equip them to grasp eternity?
The Apostle Paul said:
If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
1 Corinthians 15:16-20 Message Paraphrase
This life is essentially a multiple choice test. Which answer do you choose; Liar, Lunatic or Lord?
Be encouraged!
Jeff
It's interesting that you brought this subject up because it is something that Bethany, my family and I have discussed. We've brought up the fact that today's society is all about tell me what makes me feel good and don't offend me. When we look at Chrisitanity in the beginning, Jesus never really had any feel good moments. He made promises but He made it very known that it's an ugly task at times to be a disciple of Him. There are a lot of preachers, youth pastors, and teachers that deliver great messages with no sustenance. We sorely miss the mark when we think that life is about us and our pleasure. Life is about glorification of the Father and gettin' the Word out there. I liked that you noted about "What if there is only one chance with this person?" It's true. We don't have to preach damnation of sin with fire and brimstone but we certainly need to have all things point to God and the message of the cross.
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