I’m a Christian
There are a lot of us out there. Some of us read the Bible…….many, perhaps most, don’t. We go to church and Sunday school. But, many of us give little thought to the foundations of our faith. This week I want to dig into the bare bones basics of Christianity. What does it mean to be a Christian…….what must you do to be a serious Christian? Some of you may find this a little uncomfortable. I know quite a few people who consider themselves to be Christian who have missed some of the crucial “pillars” of our faith. If I make you uncomfortable, please understand, I am not damning you…….that is way above my pay grade. Rather, I hope to encourage you to look a little deeper into your faith.
I want to explore two central “pillars” of Christianity:
The first and most important thing:
You must recognize and accept the divinity of Jesus as part of the trinity…….father, son, and spirit. We like to think of Jesus as a “nice guy”. We don’t typically think of him as the guy in charge of the destruction of this world as described in revelation. We are told to love God……..and that includes Jesus. But we are also told repeatedly……..to fear him.
Jesus is God and he has all of the characteristics of God:
Jesus has the unlimited capacity to create and destroy…….to reward and to punish.
Jesus is right……all of the time……in everything that he does and in everything that he allows to happen…….whether you or I approve or not.
Jesus is the definition of good…….even when you don’t understand what he us up to.
Jesus is the definition of right…….not you……not me.
Jesus loves you…..even when you mess up. But, he will hold you accountable.
Jesus is the guy who refused to condemn the promiscuous woman by the well…….but he is also the guy who smashed the money changers in the temple.
The second thing follows from the first:
You and I need to obey him and follow his teachings……because he is God……not you…..not me. This requires us to study his teachings……..all of them….we don’t get to pick and choose.
If you are a Christian…….you simply must study the Bible……..otherwise, you are a “poser”.
I know a lot a Christians who latch on to the warm and fuzzy teachings of Jesus, but who ignore or outright reject the harder teachings. They believe in paradise……but ignore or deny hell. They hear, “I have prepared a place for you”…….but don’t hear “I don’t know you”. I know a person who is a leader in her church…….a really good person who serves her community………but who has serious reservations about Jesus.
A good place to start to learn how to act like a Christian is to read the “words in red”. By studying both the warm and fuzzy side of Jesus and the harder side of Jesus, you will develop a more reverent perspective.
In paradise, I have no doubt that I will get a big hug from Jesus………I also have no doubt that I will bow down before him.
Because Jesus……..is a nice guy……….who is also God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5……Jesus as creator
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelation 1:17-18……..Jesus at the end of this world
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus, Mathew 7:21-23, ESV