Christ's Victory Over Man-Made Religion
By Patrick Roberts
Be encouraged that the Christ was raised amidst the most
religiously hindered people in the world, yet He used these same
people to spark a worldwide spiritual fire.
The Jewish people of the first century where part of a religious
tradition so hopelessly engrained in self-centeredness that they
reserved the exclusive right to hoard all the answers for
themselves. They thought God was impressed by their religion.
However it was for their know-it-all mentality that they
remained utterly clueless about God's priorities. The same thing
applies to us modern, callused Christians. In Christ, we can
embrace this truth and at the same time find encouragement.
We can look hopefully upon ourselves only so far as it reminds
us how God chooses some of the most unlikely, weak, hard-hearted
people the world has ever known to make His greatness all the
more obvious.
We religious Americans resemble the Jewish nation of New
Testament times both in our callousness as well as in our
horrifying treatment of Jesus Christ. The Jews rejected Him
because He didn't fit their small-minded bill. So also we
western Christians crucify the Lord on a regular basis with our
rebellious faith-performances. If Christ came to the United
States again in bodily form, we would have to either give up all
the religion we hold dear or we'd have to reject and kill Him to
preserve our traditions.
Therefore we have encouragement in God's irresistible grace. He
has a track record of using the most stubborn, religious hearts
to benefit of His eternal goals. For example, Jewish-background
believers accomplished some of the most widespread,
ground-breaking work for God's kingdom soon after Christ's
resurrection. God used those first few Jewish believers to send
such shockwaves through the greater, unsuspecting, gentile world
that we are still feeling their effects today. Who would have
guessed? Not only did God spare those rebellious, little people,
He also transformed their stubborn hearts and then put them to
work advancing His world-wide kingdom. In light of all this, we
might dare to esteem ourselves useful to God. We Americans are
not out of reach of God's grace.
Be encouraged also by all the prophets that went before Christ
who seemed to accomplish nothing more than rejection, suffering
and, ultimately, getting themselves killed. Christ's ministry on
earth also seemed to end horrendously. But God draws miraculous
success out the most unexpected scenarios, a truth that is
epitomized for all time in His Son's resurrection from the dead.
The prophets and finally Christ obeyed God by dying so that
there would be no doubt that God alone accomplishes our
spiritual success.
Prophets of old and then finally Jesus Himself died fleshly
deaths from which God grew glorious, renewing, spiritual growth.
Christ's faithfulness in particular was the crown of all
spiritual success forever. Such heavenly, Spirit-led victory
flies in the face of all the hopeless self-destructiveness of
men, who have been hell-bent from Adam onward.
Christ conquers situations which, in men's estimation, seem
beyond hopeless. He triumphs over heinous tragedy and shameful
death so far as to use it for His own eternal glory.
And Jesus is still making all things possible for those of us
who belong to Him. He continues to be the same just as God is
still the same Lord over all.
Therefore, shouldn't we Americans trust Him to establish His
kingdom here in our own land, right now? If He is not the same
Fullness of God that He has always been, then we have believed
in vain, and we might as well eat, drink and be merry with the
remainder of our futile existence.
Can the kingdom of God exist here in the United States or in any
other society affected by westernization? Can men and women in
westernized societies have anything to do with Christ?
Patrick is an average Christ-seeker. His goal is to turn people
to Jesus Christ.
Find additional resources at
www.BooksByPatrick.com
