At fifty years old, I’m only now realizing how much this world lies to us about who we are. I look at my past and see years of unnecessary discouragement because I believed so many of the world’s lies.
- Humans are not special, therefore you are not special
- You are a clump of cells that chanced into being
- You don’t have a sin problem
- You are too broken to be fixed
- Life is hopeless
Those are just a few. I’m sure there are many more.
Something Is Very Wrong
I can say with certainty that something is very wrong with Western society. Yes, we pride ourselves on being open, free, and democratic.
Then why are so many people so hopeless? Why are there so many suicides, so many shootings, so much depression and complacency? What are we doing wrong?
I wish the answer was as simple as, “This world needs Jesus.” The world does need Jesus. But which Jesus?
The Cosmic Christ?
The Ticket Out of Hell Christ?
The Christ that promises riches and blessing in this life?
The Christ that doesn’t ask us to repent and change?
The Christ that winks every time we commit a habitual sin with little to no remorse and says, “It’s okay, I still love you?”
There are many counterfeits out there, and some of them can be as damaging or more damaging than no Christ at all.
How Do We Find the True Christ?
To find the true Christ, we must:
- Want to know Him.
- Know that we may be wrong in our understanding of who He is.
- Read the Bible and seek to understand the author’s intent. In other words, what does the Bible say about Jesus? Not what do I want the Bible to say about Jesus?
- Pray continually for guidance and discernment.
As we learn who Jesus is, we start to learn who we are. The lies start to fall away, one by one.
Humans are special because we are made in God’s image, and God loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us and bear the punishment of our sins.
Before we were born, God knew us: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Jeremiah 1:5
God knows us so intimately that He knows the number of hairs on our head: Indeed, the very hairs on your head are numbered. Luke 12:7
We are born sinners who are separated from God, but Jesus redeems us and restores our relationship with our Father.
There is no sin so big that Jesus won’t forgive when we humbly repent.
This Life is a Shadow
This life is a shadow of the life to come for those who follow Jesus. There is hope. It only gets better from here.
It grieves me that the world, increasingly, hates Christians. What is so horrible about what we teach? You are special, you are loved, you are redeemable, you can be forgiven, you can commune with the God who created the universe and everything in it!
Is this such a horrible message?
The rejection of it brings so much confusion and despair. It’s difficult to watch.
What Do We Do Now?
So, Christians, what do we do in a world that is so lost and hurting? In a world that hates our message of hope so much that it will kill us to silence it?
I don’t yet know how I will personally tackle this question. I just know, I can’t be silent any longer. If I am silenced, so be it. Until then, I will share that there is hope, not in this world, but in Jesus Christ of the Bible.
We must find our identity in Christ, not in this world! The world lies. The world deceives. Don’t ask the world who you are. Ask Jesus: Lord, who do you say I am?
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