Which Christ?

With in the pages of this book I was given there is an illustration of a married couple(Stan and Diane) who have accepted Christ. Diane displayed a total change in thought and lifestyle, Stan on the other hand continued on in his old lifestyle. The author of the book, at one time, lived just down the street from this couple and Diane called him to come over and talk to Stan, who was in yet another of his drunken stupors. This is not the first time the author has been in this situation, and he has, at this point, run out of things to say to try to help this man break out of his alcohol prison. On the way over the author, desperate to help this man, prays and asks for guidance on what to say.

When the author gets to the house Diane lets him in, they sit down with Stan and begin the same conversation they have had many times before. During the course of the conversation the author, out of the blue, asks a question that he has never asked before. And I'll tell you this question in a moment first I want you to do a little thinking.

Most Christians, when asked questions about their faith give the same "cookie cutter" answers that we all know all to well. The question "How were you saved?" gets the answer "Through Jesus Christ's death on the cross". When asked "What does it mean to be saved?" typically get's an answer something along the lines of "Jesus died for my sins, so there will be a place for me in heaven." "What is the significance of Christ's death on the cross?" has answers similar to "He died for the forgiveness of my sins." Now there is one question that most people don't have an answer for...."What is the significance of Christs resurrection?".....Now one can argue that his resurrection proves him to be the Son of God, and while that's true, that's not the answer I am looking for so let's reword the question: "How does His resurrection apply to our everyday lives?" Now I have the book in front of me and could just copy the answer to that question word for word out of the book, but I'm not going to, I'm going to give you the answer that came to my mind. The word resurrection is defined as the act of rising from the dead, with that definition comes the implication that life was restored to the resurrected. Now if in beginning our walk with Christ we are baptized, that baptism represents our joining Christ in death, burial and resurrection. It should be readily obvious to us that we are a changed person, but as I have seen and experienced with my own 2 eyes that is not always the case. Now why is that?? Because of one simple error in thinking, the same error in thinking that Stan had and the same error in thinking I had for quite a bit of my Christian life.






Okay now I'll get back to the question this author asked Stan:

"When you accepted Jesus, which Jesus were you accepting?"

I can see the look on your face now, what do you mean which Jesus did he accept, there is only one right? Well, there is probably only one to most people, but I'm afraid I accepted the same Jesus Stan did when I originally accepted Christ. I will propose to you that there are two different Jesus' you can choose from, and your understanding of the teaching you receive will determine which one you accept.

There is the Jesus that was a good man from Nazareth who, while on this earth 2000 years ago, performed miracles, causing the blind to see and the deaf to hear. The man who taught people to love each other, and eventually died on the cross. This is the Jesus that Stan accepted, and the Jesus that for a long time I believed in, but let me show you the other Jesus.

Then there is the other Jesus, the Jesus who is God's Son, the Jesus who sits at his Fathers right hand and intercedes for us. The Jesus who was resurrected from the grave, the Jesus who, when given the choice between Heaven, its Glory and Power included, and a lowly earthly birth in a manger, no prestige, no earthly title, He did not even get a bed, He choose to come to this earth and endure the torment and the ridicule. Why? Because He cared about his Father's creation and He wanted to reconcile the relationship that Adam had with God. The reconciliation is what the coming of Christ was all about, the reconciliation of power and relationship. The truth is when God created Adam and Eve he created them in his own image, not the physical image that many Christians to day think, but in His spiritual image. He also gave Adam and Eve the free will to choose what to believe, when Satan tempted Eve with the fruit of the forbidden tree, she ended up with an error in her thinking. That error in her thinking led to the stripping away of the life and the "image" that God had given them. Jesus came to restore life to the dead and to restore us back to the image of God. This is the Jesus that we should all know. This is the Jesus who is wanting to come into our lives and "resurrect" our lives out of the shambles most of us are in.

The recognition of which Jesus we have accepted will go a long way in explaining why you have a dramatic change in some people and no change in others.

Until not very long ago I had accepted the Jesus who lived 2000 years ago, and while that Jesus is important, the other Jesus is essential to living the Abundant Life so many of us are looking for.