As I try to keep up with the news, especially in trying to link current events to Scriptural timelines, I find myself wondering just how many of us who call ourselves by the Lord’s name actually worship Him, and how many of us worship our own, personal Jesus? And do we even realize that there is a difference, and the difference is a matter of eternal life or eternal death?
I took the title of this post from a Depeche Mode song, but the question I pose goes to the very heart of what now ails the Western world: the idea that we can and do create our own, personal reality. That’s a lie, but many believe it. Just as many who call themselves Christian do not worship Jesus, but their own personal creations which they call Jesus. In other words, these people worship an idol, a lie, but they are blind to this because they are blind to Truth.
Jesus is in the Jewish (Old Testament) faith. They know Him as ‘The Messiah.’ He is also in the Mormon religion, but to Mormons, Jesus is a man who became a god. Muslims also have their own version of Jesus. To them, Jesus is also ‘the messiah,’ though they do not define what that means. Mostly, to Muslims, Jesus is a great prophet. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seven-Day Adventists and others all have their own versions of Jesus, as well. And then there are Christians: those who follow the Jesus proclaimed by Scripture. All are called ‘Jesus,’ but no two are the same person. One is Genuine: the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The rest are all creations of man — or, if you will — ‘personal’ versions of Jesus. The first Jesus can save you — if you accept Him and Him alone. All those other versions… Well, not so much.
So which is the ‘true’ Jesus? And why do so many find it offense that I would say there even is a ‘true’ Jesus? Well, I suppose the answer is a bit of a paradox (and more than a little ironic), but the simple answer comes from the True Jesus, Himself:
20 So then, you will [a]know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [b]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
The Two Foundations
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and [c]acts on them, [d]may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the [e]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not [f]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the [g]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
Now, for those who still do not understand, let me do my best to explain:
Jesus is Who He claimed to be — God! He is Yahweh: the One, True, Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He has revealed Himself in and through the Scriptures: both Old and New Testament. This is the ‘Real’ Jesus: the Jesus Who reveals Himself in and through His living Word. Those who believe in and trust in this Jesus are building their hope on solid ground. They will not collapse under the weight of their own sin, but will be rescued out of it by God’s Grace, through His Son, Jesus.
All other versions of Jesus are lies. Those who place their hope in lies build that hope on sifting sands, and they will be swept away to ruin for it. This is because they never knew the One True Jesus. They knew a creation of their own desires: they knew their own, personal Jesus.
The question for you now is, which Jesus do you worship? Or, better yet, how can you know you worship the True Jesus? And the answer is simple: if your Jesus always agrees with you, then you might want to keep seeking Him until you start to see you and He have very different ideas of what is right and wrong, and that you are usually on the wrong side of His right. You can do this by reading the Scriptures and, just as the Scriptures promise, you will find Him — but only if you are humble and sincere. If you are humble and sincere, you will accept the Jesus of Scripture. But if you are not, you will create a personal illusion and chase after that Jesus, and that Jesus will lead to ruin. So choose wisely.
The Oil for Your Lamp 