Evening Prayer 2-15-11

Reading:
John 5:19-29

"We all worship the same God"

In today's pluralistic society we are very concerned about offending people.  We are neighbors with people that are potentially from different religious backgrounds, how can we say that we as Christians have the corner on truth and what does that mean.  We hear so often in our society that Jewish people, Muslims and Christians all worship the same God, but is that really true?

It is true that the Christian faith was given birth from within the Jewish race.  Our great God and Savior when He became man took flesh of the Virgin Mary.  This is the same God that spoke to Abraham when He promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations.  (Romans 4:16-18) It is true that all three religions are monotheistic.  But there is a major dividing line between the three religions, and that is the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He is God in the flesh.  The Scriptures teach us today that He has the authority to judge and to give life, just as His Father who sent Him.  For the Muslim this is blasphemy to think that man and God are one, for the Jew it is folly to believe that Messiah would die the disgusting death on the cross.  Either way they deny the One that comes to give life by His death and resurrection.  Jesus is quite clear that is we do not honor the Son we do not honor the Father.  (John 5:23)  Jesus is also clear that He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Him.  (John 14:6)

Our God left the throne of Glory to become man.  He came to find us where we were, dead in our trespasses and sins.  He took our pain, our sorrow and our sin upon Himself.  Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary for the sin of the whole world.  Do you see this, you do not work yourself to God, He came to you and calls you by the Gospel to Himself.  Our God knows that our works would never make us good enough, so He paid the price for us.  He now gives Himself to us through the proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.  To deny Jesus is to deny God.

Do not be deceived into political correctness.  In a true and false test, there is a true and a false.  Same with Christianity, it is either true or it is not.  If it is not true, then mankind is truly lost.  But thanks be to God that He sent His Son to die for me and for you so that we do not need to fear death, but can lay hold of the promises of God that He will call us again at the end to raise us up in the resurrection.