Friday, November 22, 2013

Follow Jesus Christ Not Mere Religion





Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

There is only one door, one bridge, one ladder, between earth and heaven: the crucified Son of God (J.C. Ryle).

Luis De Leon said of Jesus: “Christ is given so many names because of His limitless greatness and the treasury of His very rich perfections.” Napoleon admitted:  “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”


   James Froude spoke of Jesus as “the most perfect being who has ever trod the soil of this planet.” Antony of Padua professed that “Christ is the dazzling bright start.” John Knox confessed: “No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshiped; no other man has been so devoutly loved.”


   “There is something so pure and frank and noble about Him that to doubt His sincerity would be like doubting the brightness of the sun,” so said Charles Edward Jefferson. Chardin declared that “Christ is the Alpha and Omega; the principle and the end; the foundation stone, and the keystone; the plentitude and the plentifier.” T.S. Elliot inscribed: “Christ came as a tiger.” 


   Philip Schaff famously recorded: “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”


   Crashaw delighted as he contemplated Jesus: 

“All wonders in one sight; Eternity shut in a span; Day in night; Heaven in earth; and God in man.” Augustine added that Christ is the “best husband.” Eusebius exclaimed: “Christ is the divine and Heavenly Logos; the high priest of the world; the only King of all creation; the only Arch-prophet of the prophets of the Father.” Rolheiser professed that “Jesus is the vein, the blood, the pulse, and the heart.” Even H.G. Wells had to acknowledge: “I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”


   Blaise Pascal observed: “Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.” Einstein adds: “As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.... No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” “An unsurpassed master of the art of laying bare the inmost core of spiritual truth,” writes Geza Vermes apropos Jesus.

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me (Saint Patrick).

“Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived,” avowed Ernest Renan. Honsell ascribed that Jesus is “rest for the weary; joy for the sad; hope for the dreamy; light of the glad; home of the stranger; strength to the end; refuge from danger; and Savior and friend.” Isaiah the prophet announced that Jesus is “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.” 


   But the most important designations given to Jesus were from the Father who declared: “Your throne O’ God is forever and ever.” Jesus as God manifested in the flesh is the altogether lovely one.



Look unto Jesus


Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith … (Hebrews 12:2).


see my new book Killing Christ: Contesting Trendy Critics Regarding Jesus HERE
killing jesus book


 

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