Who is this Jesus?

Today my niece shared on Facebook a beautiful photo of Jesus accompanied by a quote from 2 Nephi 25:26. The quote basically said “we believe in Christ” and my niece affirmed that this is indeed what she believes.

I’m pretty sure that her cross-posting is an attempt to help those who don’t know about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints understand and know that they too are indeed believers in Jesus, and therefore entitled to be considered Christian. This topic, as most of us know, has really entered the consciousness of our nation, as Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon, marches forward to become the Republican Candidate for President. 

It reminds me of another argument LDS folks make for being Christian when they say something to the effect of “well of course we believe in Jesus, His name, after all is in the name of our church.” Truthfully, LDS folks are quite offended and perplexed that we’d ever consider them anything but Christian when they so obviously embrace Jesus Christ, more or less as depicted in the pages of the Gospels.

I once read a clever analogy written by an acquaintance of mine about buying a truck. His analogy went something like this: I wanted to buy a truck, and I saw a truck that looked great to me. I couldn’t see any obvious problems, the price was right, and I was ready to buy it. However, he happened to live next door to the owner of the truck and knew that this truck was a real lemon. It had recently been to a mechanic who said it was on its last legs, and wouldn’t even last six months. To top it off, the body was full of rust that was carefully hidden by wax and a great detail job, so while I saw a few cosmetic defects, I was missing seeing that it was ready to fall apart. Would it be kind, or fair for my friend to not tell me the truth about the truck I was buying? The answer to that question is obvious.

The analogy applies here in that Jesus, and who He really is, isn’t just cosmetic either. He’s not an unimportant point in our religious discussions, but instead who Jesus is, is very probably the most important issue in our religions. Unfortunately it’s not really a discussion most LDS folks want to get into.

The LDS Jesus is a man who also is a God, the son of God really. He’s also the brother of Satan, and coincidentally you and I. The LDS Jesus is a man who is working and striving to learn and improve to achieve full-godhead so that someday He too can be a “God the Father” on another planet and another time.  The LDS Jesus is eternal only in the sense that his intelligence is eternal, just like all of our intelligences are eternal. In a very real sense the LDS Jesus is a man—very much like you and I, except of course that he’s perfectly sinless, and we, alas sin.

The Biblical Jesus on the other hand, is God Almighty (Is. 9:6) who also chose to be God with us (Matthew 1:23). He is eternal, and was always eternally God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere all the time. He, in many ways, is indescribable and certainly can’t fully be understood by our finite minds. In short, He is God (John 1:1) and because He’s God, He really is too big, too awesome really, for us to understand.

The difference between the two is the difference between us and God, the difference between the finite and the infinite. The difference between a God who really is a man, with a man’s limitations saving mankind by their own works, and his sacrifice, and a God who became a man for a time in order to save us from ourselves.

It’s the difference really of limiting Jesus to His barest reality found in the gospels, that of a great, important, and even awe-inspiring man walking among men. It’s forgetting or ignoring those parts of the gospel that scream out that Jesus was not just a man, but He was also God, the God who walked among us, the God who could have called down 10,000 angels to fight for Him, but instead chose to die a horrible, cruel death on the cross and a death that none of us, no man among us could die because no man, no matter how noble is good enough to pay the price He paid.

It’s the difference that Thomas saw when he fell at Jesus feet and cried “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28) worshipping Jesus as God, as God Almighty, as the Prince of Peace, and as the Lamb who was slain.

It’s a difference that’s important; fundamental really.

Worshipping an Awesome God

One of the things that I appreciate most about my church is the time of worship. Not all Christian churches do this, but in ours, after (and sometimes during) the time of singing there is a time when everyone is encouraged to vocally praise God. It’s a time when I can speak out the things that I am so very grateful that God does, or just spend time listing some of the things God is as I reflect on those very things.

The fact is that I’ve come to love the act of praising God and find it a very powerful experience to be in a room full of people who are doing the same thing.

I didn’t always appreciate who God was. I used to view Him differently. The God I grew up with was in reality a man who had progressed to a much higher level than I had: a PhD so to speak when I was in, and lived among Kindergartners. His accomplishments were something I could achieve, although it’d take a lot of hard work and dedication to come close.

The Bible however, and God’s chosen people, saw God as something more: someone who was so amazing and so great that even to speak His name, or to spell it out in a way that we’d recognize it was to possibly blaspheme it. That’s why, in Hebrew Scripture we have a tetragram for the most sacred name of God: a series of consonants that we’re not sure exactly even how to pronounce. It’s also why those scribes who copied the Sacred Writings had to wash themselves and change their clothing every single time they inscribed those four sacred letters.

This God that they worshipped caused people to prostrate themselves in times of worship: not to just lift their hands in worship, like we do today, but also to fall fully down with their face pressed to the floor in worship.

The ancient Hebrews knew for instance that God was the Creator of the Universe. Because they understood this fact, and lived so closely to creation, they knew something of the immense force that had to be exerted to do that, and yet they knew too, that God—their God and my God, merely spoke and the world came into existence. He created the matter, and even though they didn’t understand atomic theory they instinctively knew that He created even the atoms and the very subatomic particles that held all of creation together. The God they worshipped had immense power, unlimited power, power beyond anything a man could ever imagine having.

It’s why I appreciate the time of worship our pastor gives us. You see it’s a time where, as a church, we can together appreciate the super, amazing, awe-inspiring power that is God. As we do that too, we see how that Power can and will be applied in my life. After all, the Power that created the universe can certainly take on my biggest problem, not to mention that of the lady in front of me who is hurting financially after her husband left her for another woman, or the one behind me who is burdened with family members who are struggling with addiction, or the one six rows back who has mental illness, and struggles to live independently from day to day.

And, yeah, even as I think about the various problems around me, and how God is going to act in each situation, the thought occurs to me that with such an awe-inspiring God, doesn’t it make sense that we’d be awe-struck worshippers?  And, yeah, while we in the modern American church seldom see face-down-lying-on-the-ground awestruck worship, we sure feel it, and someday . .. . maybe. . .  we should try it?  One thing is certain, our God deserves it!

The Best Valentines Day Ever!

I am blessed to be married to a wonderful and godly man, and I wanted to take a moment and post about what it means to really, really be loved on Valentines Day.

First, my husband loves God with all his heart, might, mind and soul. (Duet 6:4, Matthew 22:7, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27)  He then loves his neighbor (me) like he does himself (next verse). Because he loves God and walks in a personal relationship with Him, he allows himself to be corrected by God, forgives my mistakes, and loves me in a better way then he could by himself. In fact, he loves because God first loved him (1 John 4:7-11, 18-20) and wouldn’t really know love, or how to love if it weren’t for God’s love.

My dear husband also tries to love me as Christ loves the Church. (Ephesians 5:25) This means that he loves me sacrificially, often giving up his time, his finances, and his desires for me. It means he loves me even when I’m unlovely (something I am from time to time).

He also gives honor to me (1 Peter 3:7), honoring and respecting my opinion, my feelings, and my desires. He shows this by doing things I like, by trying not to do things that I hate, and by daily showing me that he respects and trusts me.

He is patient. He is kind. He does not envy, does not boast and is not proud.  He does not dishonor me, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects me, always trusts me, always hopes in me, and always perseveres with me. (1 Cor. 13: 4-7)

Like the next girl I wouldn’t mind a dozen roses, and a box of chocolates for Valentines Day, and, a romantic get-a-way, or even an evening out sound pretty good too.  But, honestly, girls, wouldn’t you rather have a godly man, who is striving to live like God wants him to live? I sure would. Thanks Steve for being that man! You’re the best!

Is Losing Out on Eternal Marriage Really a Loss?

“Don’t you feel awful for giving up the chance of eternal marriage?” is a question that my LDS friends and family ask me fairly often, usually accompanied by a look of deep concern.  I can understand the question: I’ve asked the same thing myself.

When you’re LDS the pinnacle of your religious experience is a temple marriage, and the thought of spending your eternity with your spouse, and family. (How that actually works out is a bit more complicated because presumably each of your children and their spouses will have their own eternity together so they can’t possibly be with you since they’ll be with their spouses, and then there’s the in-laws—like I said, it’s a complicated matter, but it’s still a nice thought if you have a good marriage.)

This Valentines Day I was thinking about this whole topic, and decided that I really would like to share why the loss of a temple marriage and eternal family really isn’t a loss at all.

A Christian marriage is based on the premise that God created that marriage—that He ordained the concept of marriage from the very beginning. God saw that Adam was alone, and decided that “It is not good that man should be alone.” Because of that, He created Eve. It’s also based on the premise that God made marriage for this lifetime, and He’s planned something really amazing and great for the next one. The terms the Bible uses are things like “eternal life,” “the kingdom of God,” “living water,” and “life,” and the converse as “the wrath of God” and “death.” 

Nowhere in the Bible though, does it teach that this eternal life has anything to do with an eternal marriage. In fact, the Bible teaches explicitly against eternal marriage in Matthew 22:30.

A Christian marriage therefore is a marriage for this life only, and yet that thought isn’t sad. Instead, the Christian knows that God has a far better plan, a plan that is better than the human mind can imagine. It lies in the character of God, and in a Christian’s relationship to God. God, to a Christian, really is unfathomable. Truthfully we just can’t imagine His greatness, but occasionally when we least expect it, usually, God gives us a peak into Him, and when He does we see something desirable, something amazing, something beyond our biggest dreams and we know instinctively that this Something will fulfill our every desire much, much better than any earthly thing ever could.

Truthfully we’ve experienced human marriage: even good ones, and even those heavenly moments when we think we’re already in eternity. But, when compared to what God—the God who created the universe—has for us, well we know that there really is no comparison.

So, the next time someone asked me that question, I think I’ll point them to this blog, and ask them: which would you rather have, a earthly imitation, or the Real Thing?

Happy Birthday Jesus

I love Christmas carols, do you? I love them so much that I’ve been known to play them in the middle of the summer. As I sit here writing I’m playing Phil Wickham’s song At Your Name. (click here to hear this song ) My daughter would argue with me and say that isn’t a Christmas song, but isn’t it? I mean, isn’t knowing Jesus’ name the reason for the season?

When telling the first Christmas story it seems that Jesus’ name was pretty important: so much so that God made real sure we’d know it—He actually mentions it several times.

In one of the many prophecies of Jesus’ birth, Isaiah tells us that Jesus should be called Immanuel, and later in Mathew 1:23, this prophecy is reaffirmed and translated, to say that Immanuel means that Jesus would be God with Us.

Just a bit further down the road, Isaiah tells us that Jesus would be called by a whole string of names. They are: Wonderful, Counsellor, (or in some translations it’s Wonderful Counselor) The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. In Luke 1:31, Mary is told by God she should name Jesus, Jesus, and in Matthew 1:21, Joseph is told he too should name the baby Jesus.

I mention these names, not because you’ve not heard about them: if you’ve ever listened to Handall’s Messiah you’ve heard them, but instead because all too often I think we kind of skip over this part of the Christmas story. Somehow the innocent baby in the manger, with his homeless and very pregnant teenage mother, and noble step-father gets more of our attention, than the facts of who that baby was. 

I don’t think God used these titles by accident though, but instead wanted us to know who that Baby really was.

It’s very important, for example, for us to know that Jesus is God with Us when we look at what He’d do on the cross some 33 short years later. You see, if Jesus was a man, like you and I, He would have been tainted by the sin nature that He inherited from his earthly mother. This sin nature would have made it so that although he might have been very, very good He never, ever could have lived a sinless life and paid the price required for our sins. (Remember the sacrificial lamb who was a picture for Jesus had to be absolutely perfect, something no man could ever achieve—see Romans 5:12 for what the Bible has to say about this).

It’s important too to know that Jesus the Wonderful Counselor. In John 14 Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit and this is the very title He gives Him. Jesus could only be the Wonderful Counselor because of His triune nature.

Jesus is also the Mighty God. This name that Jesus bears denotes the full power of God. Jesus wasn’t a demi-God, or an understudy for God, but instead was the very God—God with Us, and because of this He carries the title of the Mighty God.

The Everlasting Father is another title that shows us a bit more of Jesus’ character. I honestly, don’t really know how to explain the fact that Jesus can be The Everlasting Father: Father God, but this is another example of how Jesus’ triune nature shows up (this is God who said it, not me).  

The last title is the one we’re most familiar with in reference to Jesus. Scripture tells us that Jesus literally becomes our “peace” when he paved the way for us to be restored into a relationship with God the Father. Romans 5 tells us that Jesus actually “became our peace” when we were in a state of utter enmity with God the Father, when we were rebellious and not seeking God at all. It goes on to tell us that we now have “joy” in God because of what Jesus has done.

This particular aspect of Jesus is why the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

You see, Christmas songs aren’t just for Christmas, but real Christmas songs are for every single day of our lives. That’s because real Christmas songs tell us who Jesus is, and lead us into worship of Him. Check out this one: another great Christmas song