Are we Denying Jesus?

Recently, I noticed that especially amongst some Bible-believing Christians, people do not speak too much of Jesus.  And, when it comes to witnessing, we tend to talk about God because people are more readily open to hear about God.  Perhaps this is because God's name has become generic, and people do not feel threatened at the mention of His name.  But when we mention Jesus, sparks fly and people will shut down or react negatively.  I find it disturbing and even alarming, and so I'd like to write about why we must never fail to mention Jesus, and to lift up His name.  To fail to mention His name and to fail to openly identify ourselves with Him, aren't we taking on the same attitude as the disciples did when Jesus was crucified?  It is well known that Peter denied Jesus three times.  Are we any better than Peter?

I want to add as well that from what I've seen and experienced in many evangelical churches is that they will talk about God, and they may even touch on the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  But except at Christmas and Easter, the person and life of Jesus, many times, is not taught beyond Jesus as a baby born in a manger, and Jesus dying on the cross and rising again.  Yet, by not teaching beyond these holy days, (which are the cornerstone of the Christian faith), and talking about the pre-eminence and personhood of Jesus, people are not receiving a true representation of who God is. So I'd like to point out some important Scriptures to emphasize the importance of proclaiming who Jesus is at every opportunity. 

For one thing, and this is an extremely important Biblical fact, we can only belong to or come to know God through Jesus.  

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Jesus said to Thomas that there is no other way to the Father God without going through Jesus.

Joh 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus said to His disciples that because they had seen Him, they had also seen the Father.  

Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Salvation is only possible through Jesus.  It is more than a casual belief in God.  We have to come to Jesus in order to be saved.

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

There is something very important to consider.  We cannot know God if we deny who Jesus is. 

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn 2:23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

As I've touched on in a previous blog, people may say that we are all god.  Some say that we are all children of God and we all have His spirit in us.  This is a grave error and a very serious one.  Jesus has followers, but not every one is His child.  One day He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We cannot truly say that we know God without knowing Jesus.  We can know "about" God, but not know God.  As an example, I was raised in a Christian home and knew a lot of the Scripture through Sunday School.  I knew about God, but I didn't know Jesus in a personal way.   I didn't really "know" God until I recognized that Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is how God manifests Himself.  Jesus revealed Himself to me and then I knew this is who God is.  I no longer saw God as a generic God up in heaven uncaring, cold, and knowing nothing about me.   

It's important to note that Jesus came to me.  He began talking to me and walking with me. This was outside of the church walls. He came to me when I walked and I needed to get away from the busyness of my studies at Bible School.  He taught me about myself and about Himself.  I checked everything out in the Word, and verified that Jesus words to me were true.

We must confess who Jesus is. When people do not want to hear about Jesus, or talk about Jesus, they do not belong to God, but are of the world. We do not want to fall into that category!

1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

We can only begin to know the one and only true God when we hear the Word of God.  The Word of God will create a reaction in people.  We will either receive it and believe it, or immediately put up a fight and reject it:

Rom 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Rom 10:15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Rom 10:16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We are only reconciled to God through Christ (verse 16). We only have access to God through Christ (verse 18).

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

We are bought with a price:

1Co 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

He loves us fiercely and unconditionally, and we owe Him our life:

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The importance of confessing Him before man is emphasized here:

Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

It is a chilling thought to consider that if we deny Him, we will be shamed on the day that He denies us.

The importance of confessing Jesus as Lord:

Rom 14:11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

We have to give an account to God.  We must take every opportunity now to ensure that Jesus is at the front, center and core of our being, that He is truly the Lord of ALL of our life. It is something we need to work at every single day.  

Scripture teaches that Jesus is above all, fills all things, and He is Lord of all.

Eph 1:15  Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

Eph 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Finally, for every blood-bought believer of Jesus, we must exalt Him, speak of Him, and share about the incredible salvation He provides, so rich and free.  Jesus must be exalted, for this is the only hope of salvation for all that are lost.

Finally, we have every indication that He is coming soon, and so we must be ready.

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

God Bless you today, and may God’s Word take root in our hearts, and we respond accordingly.

Are we all gods?

In my previous blog, Beware of "Feel Good" Religion, I talk about a religion that believes in a universal goodness that we can all tap into.  It is part of a New Age philosophy that believes all things created are part of one universal essence, which includes god (I say small "g" god because it is not the same God of the Hebrew Bible).  They believe that we must meditate to tap into this universal essence, and so benefit by the goodness it provides.  And so it requires great human effort to realize one's full potential.  Wayne Dyer calls it "self-actualization."  Some will participate in Yoga, which combine the science of mind, body and spirit and attempt to reach a meditative state that way.  Others will use chants and tap into mediums for guidance.  To some, vegetarian diets and other diet rituals are believed to cleanse and purify the body, and ties into the idea of reincarnation.  So to clear up the confusion surrounding the New Age mention of “god,” and that we are all gods, I’d like to take a Biblical perspective and talk about us as humans, and our relationship with the God of the Hebrew Bible.  This should clarify that the “god” mentioned by the New Age has nothing whatsoever to do with the God of the Hebrew Bible. 

So let’s start with how and why we got here in the first place.  First of all, Scripture tells us that we are created beings, and we are created by God:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Many medical doctors and scientists marvel at how intricate the human body is, and will often recognize that only an infinitely wise and beyond intelligent God could have created such a masterpiece.  Medical research is ongoing, and scientists continue to discover more and more about the human body and the medicines it needs for healing.

Secondly, we are created for His purposes, more of which we’ll discuss later:

Rev_4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

It is necessary to state right at the beginning that we as humans are born in a sinful state.  We must be fully aware of this before we can appreciate any true and right concept of the Biblical God, the same God of all creation.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

It is by divine revelation of God that we recognize our sinful state, and that our sinful states is not the one that God intended for us originally.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

 

To say that we are good is an impossibility because although we may succeed momentarily in one area, it won’t take long for us to fail in another. God created us, loves us as we are, and He wants the absolute best for us.  But because His righteous standards are very high, they cannot be reached apart from Him.  He tells us that the only way we can reach them is through Jesus Christ, His own Son. We don’t have to worry about trying on our own with self-effort because God knows we could never succeed that way!  He has a far better way.

Okay, let’s back up a little.  What got us into this unrighteous state in the first place? Well, it's interesting that the New Age philosophy that "we are all gods" is a twisted version of the first original lie ever fed to mankind.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it waspleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they werenaked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The first thing we notice is that the serpent couldn't be trusted; he was "more subtil than any beast of the field."  His promise was that if they ate of the fruit "ye shall be as gods." Notice he said "be as gods," not "be gods," as the New Age philosophy believes. God acknowledged the similarity, that now they knew both good and evil, even though they had only previously known good. 

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 

Gen 3:23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So God knew He couldn’t trust Adam, but He still loved him.  So He had to remove Adam from the Garden so that he wouldn’t eat of the tree of life, and then live forever in his sinful state.

If we read all of Genesis 3, we discover that not only were they (Adam and Eve) removed from the beautiful Garden of Eden, but they now had sorrow upon sorrow.  The garden would no longer yield fruit without thorns and weeds.  Eve's children would be born, causing her great physical pain. In Genesis 2, their son Cain would kill their other son Abel out of a jealous rage.  They would experience in full measure the knowledge and "experience" of evil, and they would physically die.  This would be the experience of all of mankind, which we all experience in varying degrees.  But God already had a perfect plan to get us out of the terrible mess that sin had created.

Was it wrong that Adam and Eve knew both good and evil?  Not necessarily. Then why were they punished so severely?  Interestingly, it had to do with their relationship with God.  They disregarded his loving warning, and lusted for more than the life of perfection they already had.  They were in paradise and they literally walked and talked with God, the Creator of everything.  Adam was friends with God, and God cared about Adam.  He let Adam name the animals. God cared that Adam didn't have a companion, so He created a woman for Adam.  What they did was no small thing because God knew that if they couldn't trust Him (not eat of the one tree among many), they couldn't continue with this beautiful friendship.  Relationship would be broken, and Adam and Eve would now be self-reliant and independent of God, going their own way.

Some may be reading this and think, "So what is so wrong with that?" "Don't we need to be self-reliant and independent to get anywhere in this life?" Maybe so, but not apart from God! How can we succeed in life (and after death) if we are made for relationship with God, and then we turn away, and go our own way?  He made us to need and know Him, and without Him we can never find our true fulfillment or purpose in life!  And, if you ever wonder why so many people suffer with loneliness, it is because they don't have a relationship with God, the One who made them for the purpose of relationship with Him! Does this begin to make sense?

And He didn't create us just to worship Him, although that is a very important part of it.  He is worthy to be worshipped – He loved us when we didn’t do anything to deserve it, died for us, and He created us!!  He had already created legions of beautiful angels that worship Him day and night.  Creating humans was an astonishing act of love and kindness on God's part, that we would be able to know Him, and do so out of our own choice.  He would stop at nothing to ensure we would know Him and know His love for us, and be able to have a close relationship with Him.  Look at what the Psalmist David wrote:

Psa 8:3  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Psa 8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psa 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Clearly, His intent was relationship and fellowship with us.  Because God is a God of love, He loves to give, and He hopes we will open our heart and receive Him, and receive from Him! When we do, we become the constant recipients of His affection and loving heart.  He promises us that no matter what, He will never leave us or forsake us!  His great love for us is why He promised in Genesis 3 that He would fix and reverse the damage that Adam and Eve's fateful decision had incurred.  He would send His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and bridge the separation that their sin (and ours) had created.  He paid the cost for us with HIS OWN LIFE!!

Joh 3:16   For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

When we take these words and believe them, and we receive Jesus as our only hope of salvation, then we become new creations.  

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Then and ONLY THEN, do we receive the Spirit of God, and He becomes our Lord and Savior.  This is a wonderful thing. We become what God had intended us to become all along.  It is not by our own self-reliant efforts either.  It can never be by our own good works or our idea of righteousness.  It is always a partnership.  God provides the way, and we make the choice to follow Him.  This is relationship, with nothing ever forced upon us.  He makes us new by His supernatural power; we will never desire to go back to our old unreliable ways that have never brought more than a few moments of fleeting happiness.

So it is a pretty big stretch of the imagination if we believe that we all have a part of god in us, for the Bible says just the opposite!  We are made in God’s image, but that's all.  We can only have His spirit when we receive Jesus into our heart, and we have to invite Him in for that to happen.  God doesn’t force anyone to believe in Him or receive Him, even though He loves each one of us as we are.  He waits for us to respond to His great gift of salvation with outstretched nail-pierced hands!  Then once we do, He recreates us by His Spirit.  How do we know we have His Spirit? "All things become new." We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have the spirit of God because He shows us in His Word.  We experience a freedom we never knew before, peace in our heart, ongoing joy (even in the midst of sorrow), and a deep-down knowing that we truly belong to Him, and we have nothing to fear.  There is much more that we will experience as we take this daily walk with Him, seek His face, and read and apply His Word to our lives.  So I hope this has helped to clear up any confusion surrounding the New Age reference to “we are all gods,” or “we all have a part of god within us.”  Clearly, this is NOT found anywhere in Scripture, and this is not the way God works.

Perhaps today you are looking for a change in your life. You are tired of self-reliance, and facing life alone with so many challenges and so few answers.  Reaching out to God and receiving Him and His love for you is easy. All you have to do is ask, then believe that He will do the rest.  If you'd like more explanation on how you can have a new life today, please go to this link.  If you feel a stirring that you want to know more, do so right away, and don't delay!  You will never regret it.