The Holy Bible is the source of all information about Christianity. Those Christians who find no joy in some passages of scripture are obviously not in sync with the Creator of the universe. For the truthful people, there can only be one test to know whether one is on the Lord’s side or not.
If there can even be one passage of Scripture that makes one uncomfortable in one’s standing conviction to Godly principles, one is not in line with God. One can choose to ignore such scriptures, in hope that, eventually, what is misunderstood would come to light.
That could be alright, but then there would be no need to fool oneself into believing that one would be a Christian. Under those circumstances, one would only be aspiring to become a Christian, but not yet a Christian.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32) (ESV).
These words are similar to what Jesus also said further:
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this; that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:10-150 (ESV).
The apostle John, as the author of the words of Jesus, further clarified the significance of true Christianity, as compared with falsehood:
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:14-18) (ESV).
These words have got nothing to do with law-keeping. They also have got nothing to do with being under grace, or not being under grace. These words are a matter of principle, to do with the mind pattern of the person concerned.
That person’s way of thinking is not different from how God thinks. He is the man or woman, who the advocates of Trinity, would choose to dissociate with. This is because the advocates of Trinity believe that it was only Jesus who was qualified to receive the status of being God’s Son.
But a true Christian is also like Jesus, who, though being God, was also the child of Mary, reducing Himself to being the Son of God. However, Jesus’ seed was not associated with sinful humanity. His human capacity was not God, necessarily, but serving to enable Him to acquire Son-ship to God, like us:
“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (John 5:19-21) (ESV).
Jesus is the only human ever known to have come directly from God, so that there is no question about His behavior not linking up to God. We also came directly from God, so that there ought not be a question about our behavior not linking up to our Heavenly Father.
But we lost that identity through the sin of Adam. It is only through Jesus that, once again, we could be reunited with our Father. As the above Scriptures reveal, only the truth will enable us to access that reality. Any other route would not be workable.
A person can be comfortable to hold on to whatever gives contentment. But, as long as that object is not aligned with God’s Word, there would be no truth in it. This statement is outside intellectual, philosophical, Theological or common understanding.
But, here is a formidable question; what is truth? Nothing else can be more important than adequately answering this question. Truth is what remains to be; and this can only be the Word of God, by which all creation is established. See [Truth is outside religion and philosophy].
What remains to be, does not need influence from anything else, except the source. A truthful person establishes His understanding from the source, without via anything. This is a challenge that confronts only the truthful people, just as the pioneer of Christianity, Jesus, was viciously confronted in His time.
It takes a person of integrity to withstand pressure from established traditions, desiring to maintain the truth. Just for the benefit of those in search of truth; unlike Jesus, we are all not born equipped with the knowledge of everything.
Depending on background, some people are born with the acquaintance of Christianity, through their believing parents. But the truth is that we are all on equal footing. Being born in a Christian environment can actually be a disadvantage, to some people.
It is easier to understand truth from a position of ignorance, than it is from a position of falsified information. Penetrating the area of unchurched people, actually, can be easier than engaging people who are confused in assuming that they know, when the opposite is true.
The process of unlearning error is more difficult than it is to learn and adopt the actual truth from the position of ignorance. There is a section of Scriptural passage that unveils the hidden truth about the God who created everything:
“And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And it was so. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day” (Genesis 1:16-19) (ESV).
The scientifically available information is that the moon and the stars have got no light in themselves. They only project light at night, as they reflect it from the Sun. In other words, the reality of light comes only from the sun, whose reflection, projects it through those stars, to illuminate the planet earth at night.
Without the reflection of the light from the sun, there cannot be a semblance of light at night. The above Scripture, in the process of creation, reveals the greatest miracle of God. Jesus, the author of Christianity, declared:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (John 5:19) (ESV).
The words of Jesus could be appended on the reality of the nature of the moon, in its relationship with the sun? Can the moon project any light without its interface with the sun? What about the stars, across the expanse universe?
Nature simply shows us that, according to God’s creation, the light in our physical universe, as associated with the earth, comes from one source, the sun. If the Sun was to stop giving light, there would be no light to illuminate our physical earth.
The projected darkness would not even make it possible for anything to survive on this planet. The existence of the moon and stars make it possible for the reflection of the sun to also be projected, so that we would not have pitch darkness at night.
Even an avowed non-believer cannot stop to marvel at God’s creative designs. It can only be a fool who assumes there being no intelligent and methodical design in God’s creation. King David could not keep such wonderment to himself, as inspired to declare:
“When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?” (Psalms 8:3-4) (ESV).
Just as in the physical universe the light that illuminates the earth comes from one source, the sun—all righteousness comes from one source—the God Almighty. Just like the moon appears greater than the stars engulfing our universe—Jesus takes that position and therefore expects us to do the same in our appropriate measures?
Please bear in mind that, though as human as we are, Jesus was also God. The humanness of Jesus is the one that should be considered in terms of it reflecting the light of God. In Jesus, as a human , there was nothing good with Him, except as he reflected the righteousness of God (Matthew 19:17) (KJV)
There is no righteousness that humans can reflect, except the righteousness of God Almighty. While Jesus was our representative—leading the way in this endeavor—Jesus was the true direct reflection of the righteousness of God. Jesus took the position of humanity—hence, calling God His father, just as we ought to do the same.
Jesus was the Son of God who reflected the righteousness of God in Him. In smaller ways, as viewed in stars, Christians ought to reflect the righteousness of God individually. But the truth remains in that there is only one God, who created the entire universe and is the source of all righteousness.
The lesson drawn from the Sun, moon and the stars is that, just as the light is projected from one source, righteousness is also projected from one source. If we cannot interface with the true source of righteousness, we fool ourselves in assuming that we are God’s children.
The only time we ought to be comfortable in calling ourselves God’s children is when we can reflect the righteousness of God, as demonstrated by Jesus Christ. The starting point is in acquiring the rightful information, possible when taking verbatim, the Words of Jesus.
Any other way would be fallacious, as Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life. Jesus did a lot of good things to humanity. Today, what is it that causes us to fail to do good things to humanity? Jesus sacrificed His own interests, in order to save humanity.
Today what is it that causes us to fail to follow in His footsteps? The answers to these questions appear vague, but I think I understand what it is that causes our failure to uphold those standards. We want to pretend to be what we are not, thinking that would be the only way to impress God.
But God is not interested in our righteousness, at all (Isaiah 64:6). God is not looking for pretenders. If a sinner, there is no reason to pretend to be not a sinner. God knows everything about you. The responsibility of cleansing you up is His, as long as you submit to Him in all earnestness.
He promises to do that without requiring you to pay anything for that service. This is how truthful God is. The invitation is for free (Matthew 22:1-14). But God will not allow anyone who is self-confident of him/herself. My heart bleeds for the Theologians who think that they have it, because of their intensive study of Scriptures.
They do all this without even heeding Christ’s warning in (John 5:39-40). But on the other hand, whilst I grieve, I also take comfort in that I would be on the Lord’s side, in feeling for those people, just as the Lord also lamented: See [God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge]
The stubbornness of these people can be so unbelievable. Especially as they appear as not prepared to consider anything from those not meeting their standards? In as much as I get worried about such people, God actually prefers that they remain in their condition of hardened hearts (Matthew 13:14-15).
One of the most marvelous things about God’s Kingdom is that it is not possible for people to access it at their own terms. It has to be God in control of everything, so that there is no room for proud people to ever see the simplicity of God’s invitation. I pray that God keeps His open arms, just in case?
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing reliefs to those having witnessed strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long awaited providential oasis of hope.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99
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