If Scripture is true in its claims, and I believe it is, there is no legitimate way to reduce, dilute, substitute, or deny the meaning of Christ. The commission in his name is for obedience to the faith among all nations. If immortality may be found in other religions, why would Christians be called to be missionaries, and send missionaries to all peoples? If there is hope in some other approach to God, why would Jesus die to provide just another recipe for hope found in religion’s concepts? The uttermost of the gospel, the sacrifice of Christ, gives Christian authority.
In an article explaining the Muslim interpretation of Jesus, a newspaper reporter wrote simply: Muslims honor, even revere Jesus, but say…He’s no ‘Son of God.’ The writer continued: Muslims believe that the first Christians got all hung up on who Jesus was. . . .Muslims say that Christians perverted the faith because they made Jesus part of the trinity – the three parts of God [which is] a lapse back to polytheism. Serious Muslim literature honors Jesus as a prophet adding: that he was saved from the death of the cross by God and translated to heaven; that he will come again to fight evil, living out a normal life; and, that he will die. Muslims accepting the Koran, must believe in Jesus as a prophet of God or they are not thoroughly Muslim. They believe Christians confused the messenger with the message. Christians firmly disagree, based on Jesus’ words.
There are sufficient passages of Scripture to demonstrate that Jesus was, and is, the Message. He often emphasized the concept with the disciples. He responded with high recognition to Peter when Peter announced that Jesus was the Son of God. On this testimony Jesus promised to build his Church. And, he did. Further, if we are to accept Jesus as a prophet of God, how can we deny what he said in identifying himself as God? I and my Father are one: he said. How can we miss the cause of his crucifixion? He was crucified – not for thievery, not for murder, not for adultery, not for some other crime of the age, but, in the minds of religious leaders, for blasphemy. (He makes himself equal with God.) For the Romans, it carried elements of sedition in that he might set up another kingdom in competition with Rome. He identified his kingdom clearly as one that: is not of this earth, else my father would have sent legions of angels. If these are words of the prophetic Jesus, from God, how can they be passed over? Can so great a divine prophet repeat lies in his sermons? The documentation defies the lesser and diminished interpretation.
Orthodox authorities ordered the disciples to cease communication in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:18) The disciples were definite about the meaning of the name of Jesus. (4:12) They determined to obey God rather than men – so they set the standard and direction. We affirm Jesus, as he affirmed himself, as the provision of God for troubled mankind. Christians have, or should have, only one response: My Lord and my God. We then decide in our faith, that when we have talked to Jesus, we have talked to God. Immortality is found in Jesus. Proof to the world for this faith may be found in the performance of devout Christians, in conduct and character, as outlined in Scripture. The ultimate proof of God is spiritually discerned, not measurable in nature, as students of nature measure human life contexts. The biblical Christian wants to get along well with others of whatever orientation, but the matter of the evaluation of belief and practice is in the processes of God, not of human variant legal systems or religious cultures. A faith must be analyzed on the basis of its own claim and applicability, not that imposed by others. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020