Christmas offers a great opportunity to talk about Jesus Christ once more. Ever since Christ came to earth, He has been debated, accepted by some and rejected by many.
In our days when the word ‘dialog’ and ‘ecumenism’ are thrown left and right, you are required to avoid talking about total absolutes. To say that Jesus Christ is God and The Only Way to God and Salvation irritates many. In the opinion of some revisionists, such claims will close the door to dialog between Christianity and other religions. Christ’s claims are unacceptable to many. We are told we cannot be exclusive. It is politically incorrect to say that everyone who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ and the truth He reveals about God is wrong and they do not have the truth.
Not long ago I heard the military chaplains weren’t allowed to pray in the Name of Jesus Christ. How can this be in a nation built on Christian foundation?
The coming of Jesus in our world transformed the way we view God and life itself. Jesus defines the shape of a life that is pleasing to God. He speaks absolute truth. Wow! That is overwhelming and awesome at the same time. If we take it seriously and implement the truth in our lives, it will be rewarding. With the coming of Christ in the world we don’t have to walk in the darkness anymore, He brought us light. Jesus is the light that shines in the world. (Isaiah 9:2-7)
From the beginning of the world, man had to decide between God and other gods. Repeatedly, God is calling Israel to forsake the false gods and choose Him as the only true God. It was always a struggle and later on it because a matter of life and death. During the Roman Empire Christians were martyred because they choose Jesus exclusively over the gods of the empire. The early church was very meticulous about the names they used for God and Jesus. “They refused to address the emperor as “lord” (kyrios), clearly on account of their belief that this term was appropriate to God alone.”[1]
Christianity faced opposition from the Jewish belief system, according to which God is one. (Deut. 6:4-6) Claiming that Jesus was one with God was simply unacceptable. Yet, by faith and through God’s grace some have believed this truth.
The bottom line is Jesus cannot be mixed with anything else. It’s either Jesus alone or nothing.
[1]Alister E. Mcgrath, “Christian Theology” (3rd edition), p. 354
