Yesterday we celebrated Easter. For the Christian world, the cross and the empty tomb represent what Christ did for you and me through His suffering, death and resurrection. For those of you that question the validity of whether or not the story of the cross is true, that Jesus Christ did in fact take on the body of a human, living amongst us a perfectly sinless life - I’m not here to argue with you, but instead perhaps offer some thoughts that might at least challenge your beliefs enough to do some research on your own.
This post actually came as a result of some thoughts I had while showering this past Friday, which also happened to be Good Friday. I won’t go into a lot of detail other than to let you know that when I shower, I think. I think a lot. During the week I’ll plan out my day starting the preparation necessary for the things that are on my calendar for the day and/or week. My wife and kids were home for the long weekend meaning my normal Friday activities would be on hold this week given my desire to spend time with them.
Going back to my thoughts though. I got thinking about how much argument and debate there is regarding the cross, and what Jesus did there for us. Yes - I lean to the hardcore “radical right” in thinking that every word of the Bible is in fact true - and inspired by God through man. I believe that Jesus did in fact, come to earth as a sinless human being. I believe that he led a sinless life but suffered humiliation, shame and torture at the hands of man leading to a death fit for a criminal.
But here’s where my thought direction took a hard left for a minute. Do you realize, that throughout history there have been hundreds of people claiming to be “god” inspiring people to follow them, often to disastrous ends. I’ve been around since 1974, and in my lifetime we have seen supposed “gods” like Jim Jones who led the Peoples Temple to mass suicide. David Koresh and his Branch Davidians for whom he led folks to believe he was their final prophet.
What about Scientology? Its founder L Ron Hubbard started his career writing science fiction moving over to the creation of religion. And let’s not forget Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church and author of the Mormon Bible which to date, has had over 4,000 corrections, revisions and changes made - changes necessary to account for prophesy and other predictions that simply never came to be in the timing stated by the original text.
I’m not here to debate those other religions though, but to suggest to you the following. Although throughout history there have been hundreds if not thousands of folks claiming to be “god”, why is we don’t have churches devoted to the teachings of the Jim Jones and David Koresh’s of the world? Why is it, people aren’t setting aside days of reverence to recognize accomplishments done under those supposed “gods” watch. Why is, a little over 2,000 years since the Cross, the Cross of Christ is still so relevant and talked about if it was a myth or fairytale?
If Jesus Christ the man, and yes - there is ample historical evidence in secular writings of the era to not only support but decisively prove that Jesus was in fact who He said he was, including but not limited to post-resurrection - was just a man like others who claim to be “gods”, why hasn’t his memory slipped into obscurity along with the rest of them. Remember, from the beginning of time there have been “gods” amongst us, but I don’t know a single person who worships an ancient Pharaoh or the river god, and the sun or moon god.
Nope. Not one person, and in 44 years of being alive, I haven’t met a single person who does. And yet each and every day all around the world people humble themselves to the one true living God and His son Jesus Christ. That doesn’t happen with those other supposed gods, nor should it.
Before I wrap up here, I do want to stop for a minute and state that I am not a religious scholar nor am I an expert on cults that have existed. I, like most of you, get my information from Rabbi Google and the nightly news. However, I know enough to know, that if Jesus Christ wasn’t real, why would He still be so relevant over 2000 years later.
The challenge is simple this week. Do not be afraid to shake up your thought processes. The reality is, you can write off every preceding paragraph and still take away something from this post by simply shaking up your thought processes and seeing if there is something in your thought process that can be changed or made better. For those of you who are still digesting the previous paragraphs and would like to dive deeper into the discussion, I am ready and willing to engage in a conversation.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. This exercise in shaking up your thought processes is the anti-insanity exercise. If there is something in your life that drives you crazy, this is the week to make a change. The effort will be worth it, and if you adopt the thinking I have regarding Jesus and the work He did on the cross, it has the potential to be life changing for both now and eternity.
I know, I’ve ran long this week - I appreciate your humoring me and sticking with me until the end. For those of you who want to learn more, you can reach me direct at Jason@PSCoachTN.com and we can discuss further.
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