Explaining The Inexplicable

Explaining The Inexplicable

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Sharing the life of Christ with young children is actually much harder than one may think.  The healings, the raisings from the dead and the other miracles are accepted readily enough.  But the rejection, the blind hatred, and the suffering—how to frame that?

It’s a serious question and a vitally important one, because every youngster deserves the chance to know the Savior and to understand the meaning of His death and resurrection. 

Any adult—be it a parent, Godparent, Sunday school teacher, relative or friend—who tells a little child about Jesus, must deal with the confusion that results from hearing Christ described as a wonderful person—tender, gentle, loving, and so on—who went around doing good, but who was cruelly put to death, although He had done nothing wrong.  Their shocked and puzzled expressions speak volumes.  “Why would anybody want to do something like THAT, to HIM?” they seem to say.  Why, indeed.

To avoid having to make awkward explanations, many books of Bible stories for children candy coat the cross, make only a furtive and hasty reference to Jesus’ suffering, or skip passion week entirely.  It is not clear who the publishers expect to connect the dots for the kids or how they’re to do so despite the glaring gap in the narrative.  But for the sake of tender little hearts, somebody’s got to.

Fast forward to the point where a child first learns of the reality of anti-Christian persecution.  Once more, confusion reigns.  Are there really people in the world who would threaten, mistreat, assault, imprison, torture or kill Christians just because they want to worship Jesus and tell others about Him?  Yes, there are.  Just because they hold a different belief?  Yes.

Equally mind-boggling is the fact that Jesus’ followers do it anyway—yes, that’s right—despite the obvious dangers and the known risks, they share the good news of forgiveness of sins and the salvation to be found in Jesus.  Their number one prayer request is not for escape or for financial aid, or medical supplies, but that they will not deny their Master, no matter how intense the pressure gets.  Their number two prayer request is that God will somehow continue to provide opportunities to share the Gospel—the very thing that gets them in trouble in the first place.

I’m no psychiatrist, but even I can see that that’s not rational—unless…well, unless their personal safety is not their highest concern.  In fact, with the top two spots on their priority list occupied by loyalty to Christ and the spiritual well-being of others, their own lives must be no higher than third place in order of importance.  Why is this so or rather, how can this be so? 

The first reason is that Christ commands His followers to love others and share the gospel with them, and what Jesus says, goes (see priority #1).  

Reason number two is that Jesus was sent because of the Father’s love for all people.  It is a love His Son shares.  Jesus loves those who are already saved by God’s grace (undeserved favor), through faith in Christ. He also loves those who have not yet repented of their sins, accepted the pardon Jesus purchased with His own blood, and confessed Him as Lord of their lives.  

But the fact that God loves us does not remove the stain of a single sin.  Only the blood of Christ can do that.  Christ died for the sins of the whole world.  Yet, God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life in His presence must be received before it can be applied to an individual.

Reason number three for the Christian to put Christ and others above himself, is that just as the Son shares the Father’s love for humanity, Jesus’ followers share his love for people.  The follower of Jesus has learned to love others and truly cares about where they’ll spend eternity.  How will the unsaved respond to the gospel if Christians don’t share it?

Reason number four for having a priority list that’s upside down by the world’s standards, is that Christians have an insider’s knowledge of Bible prophecy.  They know what’s coming and that vast multitudes of unbelievers do not.  Jesus’ followers are not only motivated to share the gospel for the sake of the spiritually vulnerable and unprepared, there is an urgency to do so, like never before in human history. 

Given all this, it seems more than a bit ironic that sharing one’s faith in Christ today is often caricatured as a hostile act, a form of aggression, a means of oppressing non-Christians.  The real motivation for sharing the love of God (unselfish concern for the wellfare of others) is denied and falsely ascribed to, of all things, hatred.  

If I were Satan, the great enemy of God and of humankind, which He has made, that’s just what I would do—use a pathological inversion of the truth to keep those in the grip of a sin-sick psychosis from listening to the gospel, while inhibiting every sincere impulse on the part of Christians, to share it.  In this, the Devil is powerfully aided by the natural tendency of human beings to lash out at the messenger, when talk of sin and the need for repentance hit too close to home.

Do not be deceived.  Good is not evil.  Love is not hate.  The truth is not a lie.  To warn someone of certain disaster if he or she continues down the path of godlessness is not mean-spirited—it’s evidence of deep caring.  Followers of Jesus naturally want to tell everyone, young and old and everywhere in between, about the Savior and what the Lord has done for them.  They long for everyone to have their sins forgiven and to enjoy a personal relationship with God, that endures to eternity.

So, they press on, in the face of awkwardness, ridicule, persecution and even martyrdom—just as you’d expect them to, if they truly loved those whom they’re trying to reach with the good news of God’s grace by faith in Jesus Christ.  When you are on the wrong road, a word of warning isn’t your worst enemy, it’s your best friend.  But only if you listen to it and act in time.  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says…” 

HOW TO BE SAVED:

  • Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
  • Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
  • Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
  • Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
  • Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

  • “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
  • “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
  • “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
  • “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
  • “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
  • “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
  • “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
  • “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
  • “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
  • “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
  • “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
  • “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
  • “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)
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