Reader’s responses to the ACLU’s protest of the City Council’s invocation of Jesus, translated into “confusion”—at least for some—about the true Jesus. The comments went something like: “Jesus wouldn’t be so narrow-minded about this issue;” “Jesus was a good teacher, but not God”; “Jesus wouldn’t care how we pray,” and so on. Please understand: You can be sincere about who Jesus is, but you can also be sincerely wrong.
Many of those readers who commented in favor of the ACLU also only presented one side of Jesus. While Jesus is a God of love, patience, and forgiveness, He will also judge the living and the dead. He is also very clear that He does not tolerate other gods—identifying them as “false” gods. The worship of false gods has repeatedly led to the downfall of man. As an interesting side note, whether the god be Semiramis, Tammuz, Baal, Pan, Aphrodites, Zeus, Eros, Venus, etc., the prevailing “spirit of demise” was generally associated with vanity, sexual perversion, promiscuity, child sacrifice (consider abortion today), etc. This is very sobering in light of Hollywood’s influence, and the state of our nation today.
Not only does the Constitution allow for the invocation of the name of Jesus alone as Founding Father Benjamin Rush confirmed, “My only hope of salvation is in the infinite transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of his Son upon the Cross”, but more importantly, Scripture demands it and forbids the worship of other gods: Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).
As I said in last week’s column, Philippians 2:9-11 says that God has highly exalted Him and has given Him a name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Yes, Jesus is the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth, but He’s also the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the good Shepherd, but He’s also the solid rock on which our faith rests. He was beaten beyond recognition, but he will come again with the armies of heaven. “That makes me both love Him and fear Him! I love Him because He is my Savior, and I fear Him because He is my Judge” (A.W. Tozer). As you can see—balance in our understanding of Jesus is foundational.
We have faith in banks, businesses, vehicles, buildings, friends…an endless list, but when it comes to having faith in an all-knowing and all-powerful God, we seem to have difficulty. Many find it hard to accept Jesus as the Son of God. They don’t understand why God sent Him, if they believe at all. Ravi Zacharias, a leading apologist, said, “The denial of Christ has less to do with facts and more to do with the bent of what a person is prejudiced to conclude.” In other words, people often reject Jesus Christ as the Son of God not because they lack facts, but because they do not want to surrender their will and give up the so-called “good life”; they don’t want there to be a God. They want to be lord of their life. It’s often an issue of the heart, not the intellect.
We are sinners who need a Savior. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no removal of sin. His blood was shed for our sins; we should be forever thankful. Jesus isn’t an option; He’s the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Two words from Jesus: “Follow Me”—have changed more lives than all the words of famous men combined. As the great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, once said: “The grace that is not strong enough to change me will not be able to save me.” We don’t need to be ashamed of Christ and what He did for us. The apostle Paul said: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
When our nation and our community calls on the name of Jesus for wisdom and direction, it’s because we understand the critical role of Christ throughout our heritage, man’s history, and the future to come. It’s up to you whether you accept, or reject Him. Where do you stand? You don't want to end your life with a question mark here and be sincerely wrong.