November 2, 2014
The Jesus Myth – Part 3: Mission and Message
NOT EVEN CLOSE
In the last few posts, we’ve been looking at the myths created and/or promoted by Satan and the Mystics in order to lead people away from salvation. But how do they succeed and misrepresenting someone who is known or acknowledged by most of the world’s population? You’d think the fact that Jesus is such publicly known figure would make this difficult, but it’s actually just the opposite!
The problem with being a familiar icon in culture is that people take for granted that they know the truth about Jesus as opposed to actually seeking out the truth.
This fact – along with comparative thinking and man’s desire to make God in to his image instead of being conformed to God’s desire, allows Satan and the mystics to use deception to alter, de-emphasize, or eliminate the true message and mission of Jesus.
Let’s look at some of the more popular myths about Jesus’ mission and message.
Jesus came to preach Love and tolerance
Love is the chief attribute ascribed to Jesus, not only by believers, but by secularists and mystics. While believers look at Christ’s redemptive work as the exemplar of His love, the secular world uses the “love” of Jesus to promote the idea that He is universally tolerant and accepting of anything and everything we do.
The problem is that Jesus (and the Bible) do not use “love” as the ill-defined, ambiguous set of emotions and urges that constitute the popular modern notion of the word. Jesus never espoused this kind of “love”. Biblical love is about commitment and sacrifice – an act of the will, not a feeling.
The command to love your enemy (one of the most mis-applied of Jesus’ teachings) would be contradictory if love was a feeling or emotion. You cannot manufacture an emotion. Emotion is a chemical reaction to stimuli. It is the effect of a cause. The law of cause and effect states that an effect cannot be independently created, and Jesus cannot command us to do the impossible. Thus loving your enemy can only be an act initiated by your will.
As far as Jesus being the epitome of tolerance and acceptance, I’m afraid that is total fabrication – a widely pervasive fabrication, but a fabrication nonetheless. Jesus didn’t say we could enter heaven by being “just the way we are”. He said
Jesus didn’t say we could enter heaven by being “just the way we are”. He said we have to be perfect! (which we can’t manage on our own, hence the need for a Redeemer). He doesn’t say “a little sin is ok”. He said to
He doesn’t say “a little sin is ok”. He said to stop sinning period. He said that getting into Heaven is going to be
He said that getting into Heaven is going to be difficult and that most of us won’t make it! And (brace yourself) He gave a
And, (brace yourself), He gave a clear definition of marriage. If Jesus walked the earth today, He’d be ostracized as an intolerant extremist! (But He could probably get His own show on Fox News)
If Jesus walked the earth today, He’d be ostracized as an intolerant extremist! (But He could probably get His own show on Fox News)
He came to teach morality and enlighten all men
Many people want to see Jesus as some kind of cosmic guru who came down to give man instructions on how to live an optimal life. And while that idea is promoted by secular and religious mystics alike, it doesn’t match reality. As we see above (and in
As we see above (and in the last post), many Jesus’ teachings were inflammatory, difficult, and divisive. Furthermore, there was a point in His ministry after which Jesus deliberately concealed His message from the masses!
Despite the common thinking that Jesus used parables to make His message easier to understand, in truth, the opposite was true! He used parables so that ONLY the chosen few would understand Him.
He came to preach “social justice”.
“Social Justice” is the latest marketing term used by the mystics who want to put a positive spin on their long-term goal of decreasing individuality by taking what you’ve earned and giving it to someone who has not earned it (thus making sure everyone is equally poor). They try to make Jesus their spokesperson by using His advocacy to help the less fortunes as proof He was some kind of Social Justice revolutionary (like a first century Che Guevara).
This claim has no real Biblical support Jesus does speak about the merits of voluntarily giving to the poor, but He never said or implied that the Government should forcibly take from some and give to others in order to create “equality”. Furthermore, there is no record of Jesus ever taking anyone out of poverty during His time on earth. Moreover, He stated that the poverty would always be prevalent in this age.
The REAL mission and message
In spite of efforts to the contrary, an honest look at Jesus words and deeds show that his mission was clear – He came to fulfill the law, to redeem man, and…to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth (more on that in a moment).
Jesus stayed “on mission” during His entire ministry and constantly reiterated it to all who would listen. The world resists looking at His mission holistically because of the parts that they find offensive .
Instead, they pick out their favorite personal characteristics of Jesus or their favorite euphemisms regarding Him and try to make those things His mission. But a truthful and contextual examination of the scriptures does not allow that.
I brought up the idea of the “Kingdom of God on earth” above. That is a part of Jesus’ mission that I didn’t address before because:
- It didn’t happen during the 5th dispensation due to the Jews rejection of their Christ.
- I plan to detail it much more when we get to the 7th dispensation.
However, in the next post, we will wrap up our examination of the 5th Dispensation with a “tease” of the Kingdom by looking at what would have happened if the Jews didn’t reject their Messiah 2000 years ago…
