It's that time of year again, folks. The time of year that we call Easter is here. For most of us it's simply a time of family, friends, Easter eggs and bunnies, among other things. However, for me it's a time to reflect on WHY I celebrate: to commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of the one who is called Jesus Christ. That's why I have to rant. I was reading in my local newspaper (the London Free Press) and I came across a panel discussion concerning human suffering, God, and other topics. The panel featured a Jewish rabbi, a Muslim imam, and many influential local Roman Catholic, United Church and Orthodox figures. Some of the comments I read simply STUNNED me beyond belief, but the main thing I noticed was how MAN-CENTERED the whole discussion was: no talk was made about God's absolute sovereignty (control over all things), his justice and holiness, our true condition of depravity and sin and abject REBELLION against God, what it really means to sin, the "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) aspect of the Christian life as a result of faith alone in Christ alone, what it truly means to be regenerated (set apart as holy) by the Holy Spirit, etc. What WAS brought up was God giving human beings free-will, understanding our role in life, know that God "suffers" with us, etc. Other conversations with these leaders revealed their contempt for God's holiness and justice which they termed "the vengeful God". Basically, their idea is that God is just all about forgiving and "loving on people" because folks have been beaten down by preaching about sin and hell, so we need to "reach people where they're at". However, the Scriptures do indeed talk about wrath and sin. I'll just give you a few references to get the point across:
- "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who supress the truth in unrighteousness..." (Romans 1:18, NASB)
- "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:46, ESV)
- "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4, NKJV)
I also read another article in the same Saturday edition of the paper that was written by a retired United Church minister named Bob Ripley. His column gave the standard liberal view of the gospel accounts providing us with "sketchy" details: who really went to the tomb, who did Mary Magdalene see, etc. My reaction is "who cares?" What really counts is that Christ atoned for sin on the cross, and was buried and then rose again three days later for our justification (being declared to be righteous before God). My thinking was the following: "Let's discuss what THE GOSPEL actually is and WHY Easter is so important in the first place. After that, the discrepanicies don't matter so much. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that the Bible itself is God's perfect, inerrant and inspired Word. Let's not get lost on the main points though. The main points are:
God created us in his image so that we could have a relationship with him. We however rebelled against God and chose to go our own way in the Garden of Eden (Adam and Eve). Romans 5:12 tells us that death came through one man and sin entered our world. Since God's standard is holy and perfect, he cannot tolerate sin. He must judge it and remove it from his presence. Jesus even said that lust and hatred were akin to adultery and murder during his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. However, God also loves us since we are his creation and were made in his image (Genesis 1:26-27). This means that a sinless one must atone for our sins because we cannot do it. That person was Jesus himself, the Messiah. Past generations of people could only atone for sin through animal sacrifices, which many of us Christians believe was a representation of what Jesus would do for us on the cross. Christ was prophesied by many writers of Scripture, and Jesus has fulfilled many of those prophecies. The reality is that we have broken God's laws and have been condemned by God to be eternally separated from him in hell. We cannot attain salvation by works for our righeousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) Salvation is a FREE gift (Romans 6:23) and we become saved by trusting completely in Christ's substitutionary work on the cross for us ALONE (John 3:16, John 3:36, Acts 16:31). God justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5), and imputes Christ's righeousness to us when we trust in Christ with a believing and repentant heart just as he did to Abraham (Genesis chapter 15). When we become believers, we are a new creation and the Holy Spirit regenerates us (Titus 3:5). However, we still struggle against sin (Romans chapter 7), so we must rely on God to give us strength in order to see us be victorious over the sin that can still so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12:1). We do this by keeping our eyes (focus) on Jesus (verse 2 of the same chapter). One day, Christ will come back to judge the world and its sin and his people will be finally free from the very PRESENCE of sin. (Revelation 21:4) Until then, we must rely on God for protection and help. There is the true Gospel. There is the essence of Christianity, or "mere" Christianity as C.S. Lewis once called it.
Bob Ripley got one thing right in his article: "we are left with an empty grave." Sadly, he skipped past explaining that and giving REAL hope to people, the hope of eternal life. That is sorely needed in the world today and we must give this message to others. All of these articles that I read remind me of an old-school Christian thrash metal song that I've heard. It is called "Prophet of Idiocy" by the group Deliverance and it was recorded for their "What a Joke" album which was released in 1991. Here are the lyrics:
The preacher speaks his idiocy
in the name of prophecy
Submit to me to be allowed
into the Ministry
He knows what to say
to make you feel good
But your mind is plagued with confusion
something's left not understood
Who is man to formulate
the way God uses men?
They pervert the Word to indulge
In their lusts
You fool you're being lied to
In the name of Christianity
Sixty six books tell it like it is
Not an act or liturgy
Prophet of idiocy
The website for the lyrics is here.
If you want to hear the song, I'll embed the video below:
Deliverance's song "Prophet of Idiocy"
Sad, isn't it? That's how Biblically illiterate and self-centered we've become, and the articles reflected that. That's all for now. I'll catch you later.
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