True Freedom

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but, in humility, consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 Insecurity is the greatest challenge to a Christ-like life of selflessness and the personal freedom that always accompanies it. If one consistently feels threatened and unsure of his/her value and purpose in life, it naturally follows that the driving force of that life will be comprised of repeated attempts to validate and reinforce personal worth through an unwavering focus on self. The essential ingredient of the forbidden fruit was selfishness, a replacement of the divine order of [(1) God, (2) others, and (3) self] with a corrupted order comprised exclusively of self…but man and woman were not created to live like this, and devastation in various forms will always result when we rebel against God’s order. Jesus, however, came to reverse the effects of the curse by reversing the curse itself through an act so profound, so full of the mind and love of God, so complete in power and glory that all of creation, lost as it was through the fall of God’s image-bearers, was, and is, being re-created in accordance with the exact specification and plan of God, to build an eternal dwelling place for Himself, constructed of living stones, with Christ Himself as the Capstone. Paul states triumphantly that “we are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit” (Eph 2:22) and that, therefore, “God’s will for us is our sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3); because of this, we must continually strive above all things to enter His rest by walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Jesus said that “everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40)…which brings us back to our theme passage in which we learn that, when we are most like Christ, we are selfless, we are servants, we are love. The first step in this process is to realize how infinitely valuable we are as God’s children; our value is, in fact, unassailable, being firmly rooted in God’s heart...so we have nothing to prove. We can drop the onerous burden of continually striving to defend and promote ourselves at the nail-pierced feet of Christ who said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mat 11:30). We don’t have to work to uphold ourselves any longer because the God of all creation holds us securely in His very heart! What a relief to have done with that awful work of promoting and defending ourselves! So beloved, “the Freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21b) is this: - We are immensely valuable and eternally loved. - We’ve been called to join our great God and Savior in the greatest mission that ever was or ever will be, to work at His side to restore what was lost and expand His eternal Kingdom “until it fills the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:35b). - We now have the freedom to love and serve others, to consider other human beings, made in God’s image, as more important than ourselves, to take the time to understand their needs and then to meet them through the power and love of the Holy Spirit… …until that glorious day when faith shall be sight, and we will become like Him completely, “for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2

The King of Glory

When God crowned His glorious creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) by creating man and woman as dual expressions of His very image and likeness, He saw that “it was very good.” (Gen 1:31). Man and woman together were completely untainted by sin, selfishness, or corruption of any kind, but that was short-lived. God said to Adam and Eve, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16&17) The tincture in the poison of that deadly fruit was selfishness, a desire to replace God’s perfect Lordship with a corrupted focus on self…so mankind, created uniquely to reflect the very character of God Himself to all creation, revolted against that purpose and sunk into the oblivion of self-worship…an oblivion that only God could rescue him from, at a cost so great as to defy explanation. God’s One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, described by the apostle Paul as “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45) came into this world to reverse the effects of the curse…the very curse that we had brought upon ourselves, and to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). It should not surprise us, therefore, that self-less-ness characterizes Christ at every point, from His birth as an infant in a horse trough, to His death on a cross. “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master,” (Mat 10:25) Jesus said. God’s purpose for each one of us is to mold the character of His One and Only Son within us by the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit “to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13), which is why Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23&24). Make no mistake about it, our flesh, our old natures which are, in fact, an aberration of who we were originally created to be, will not go down without a fight…every minute of every hour of every day. We must be intentional about this sanctifying work as we partner with God’s Holy Spirit; there is simply no other way if we are to be successful…which is why only our love for Jesus Christ is a motivator sufficient to the task…and that love will only develop as we surrender completely to Him and exercise our God-given wills to yield the throne of our lives to the rightful King, “the King of Glory” (Psalm 24:7-10) without hesitation, without reservation, and without stipulation. This is the critical proposition for every human being. Will you stop…and listen to the voice that spoke you into being…will you let that voice resound in your life…will you follow that voice, the voice of God Almighty, out of the “dominion of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Col 1:13)…for…”The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18)

Ears to Hear

Several miraculous events occur simultaneously when a person truly surrenders his/her life to Christ: 1) Saving faith is granted them, 2) Their eyes are opened, 3) Their spirits are awakened from the sleep of death and estrangement from the Creator. This is referred to by The Master as the process of being “born again”.  Once this occurs, the vital relationship between Creator and created begins – and communication is a critical component of that relationship. The communication process is referred to in scripture as “prayer”. Breaking this down further, prayer involves both speaking and listening. If one of these components is missing, the relationship will suffer. We often think narrowly of prayer as supplication only, asking God for things…but it is actually so much more. From my perspective, THE most critical element of prayer is listening to God and worshipping Him, as Solomon boldly says: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.” (Ecc 5:1&2) While I’m always mindful of God’s intense love for us, and that He, therefore, delights in hearing of our needs in prayer...and even commands us to tell Him of those needs, viz., “Knock and it will be opened to you…” (Mat 7:7) there is, actually, a proper order in the process of prayer that involves a constant abiding in Him (John 15) and a listening, attentive, waiting spirit that will ensure we step in the cadence of the Holy Spirit and pray according to His will. The art and discipline of listening to God requires tenacity, patience, and prolonged periods of silence before Him – hence, the critical importance of the spiritual disciplines. The prophet Elijah learned to discern God’s voice on the mountain, not in the world wind, nor in the fire, nor in the earth quake…but in a still, small voice. “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus says, “and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27). How are we to follow Him if we don’t hear His voice? We must cultivate our listening skills with a personal resolve and by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Indeed, since “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut 8:3) our very lives depend on it. Perhaps there is no greater passage in scripture that underscores the life-giving importance of listening to our Creator than John chapter 1, verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Indeed, God has spoken completely and perfectly, to all creation for all time…in the person of His One and Only Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“This is My Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” the Father said, “Listen to Him.” Mat 17:5b

Do You Love Me? What does it mean to love Jesus?

“Do you love Me? Do you really love Me”, Jesus asked Peter on a sandy beach after His resurrection and Peter’s denial of Him. “Oh yes Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus, in His beautiful way, gently asks us this same question: “Do you love Me?”

In scripture, we’re told that, if we love Him, we will obey His commandments.

But how can we obey if we can’t hear?

…and how can we hear if we’re holding anything back?

…and how can we let go unless we fundamentally understand our own brokenness and need for Him every second of every hour of every day?

…and how can we understand our own brokenness until we stop…and look into His eyes.

Do You Love Me?

Then, and only then, will we respond to Him in the way that anyone would who has truly looked into those beautiful eyes…by “putting off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:22-24

Be free. Let go…that you may want nothing that He doesn’t want.

We have One Life – It is His. We are not our own, but have been bought with a price, the highest price that was ever paid or ever will be paid.

Do You Love Me?

“In the world, we will have tribulation”, Jesus says, “but, take courage, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!” John 16:33b…and we are in Christ, and so, are overcomers with Him and in Him!

Let us, therefore, “grow up into all aspects into Him who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Eph 4:15&16

Let us continually “put off the old and put on the new”.

Do You Love Me?

Then you must trust Me completely by yielding everything to Me, including your patterns of thought and behavior. I made you. I fashioned you. I created you to be a specific person, a unique and beautiful expression of My glory that only you can be…but will never be unless you really, in truth, lay everything down at the foot of the cross.

Unless you take up that cross, as I did, daily and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple. Not that I won’t let you be My disciple should you fail to do this, but it will be impossible to be Mine unless you do so.

I will help you bear it, for “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Do You Love Me?

I Am Sovereign.

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’”

Isaiah 25:6-9

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust is your strength.’”

Isaiah 30:15

Let us rest in His arms and sleep in His boat, trusting ourselves daily to Him who judges righteously.

Do You Love Me?

Place no confidence in the flesh.

Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.”

1 John 5:4

Do You Love Me?

Why are you holding back My child?

Hold back no longer. Lay it down. Have done with the tremendous burden of being your own god, with all that that entails: 1) Defending yourself, 2) Elevating yourself, 3) Defining yourself apart from your Creator.

“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

I John 1:7

Do You Love Me?

The Parable of the Obedient Candidate

There once was a political candidate who was sincerely convinced of the merits of his positions. He was grateful for the opportunity to persuade others and thrilled by the prospect of implementing his ideas in the event he was elected.

One morning while in prayer, he read in the bible that he was to “love his enemies”. He resolved that morning to say nothing negative about his opponent during the upcoming campaign. As time progressed, he worked tirelessly to convince the electorate of the positive results that would likely ensue should his proposals be implemented. At the same time, his opponent levied ceaseless attacks on his character and even reviled beloved family members. In response, our candidate said nothing but continued resolute in his effort to create understanding among the voters.

As time went by, people began to notice – while one candidate exuded consistent optimism as he passionately articulated the merits of his proposals, the other eschewed virulent contempt by ceaselessly castigating the character of his rival.

As the election drew near, our candidate was leading in the polls. His opponent challenged him to a public debate and promised a “blood bath”. On the night of the debate, while approaching the podium, our candidate detected a low, steady groan from behind the stage. Motioning to the proctor, he rushed to the sound. There, propped against the wall on the floor, lay his helpless opponent. Our candidate rushed to action, speedily administering the proper treatment that would rescue him from certain death.

The next morning, a humble apology was published in the city newspaper. Our candidate’s opponent expressed deep regret for his baseless public attacks and sincere gratitude for the timely and expert administrations of our capable candidate. Although the election was two weeks away, there were no further attacks. To the contrary, both candidates periodically sited areas of agreement as they focused their efforts on clearly explaining their positions to the voting public.

After the election, as our candidate stepped down from the lectern following his victory speech, he was met by his smiling opponent. “I promised you a ‘blood bath’ that night”, he said, “Little did I know that I was the one who would be bathed.”

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” Matthew 5:43-46

When we make the decision to obey God and live our lives His way, we elevate those around us and can even change the course of an entire culture or society. Conversely, when we insist on ignoring God, following instead the dictates of our own selfish hearts, we submerge those around us in a sea of back-biting, social instability, and moral chaos.

“If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Matthew 16:24-26

The Lesson of the Old Tree

When trees are young, they can be straightened if they grow crooked by using a rope and a stake to force them into a straight position.

If the rope and stake are  left in place long enough, the tree will begin to grow properly and its entire destiny will be changed.

As trees grow old, it becomes more difficult to change their growth patterns. The older they get, the thicker, harder and more brittle they become. At some point, any attempt to straighten crooked growth may kill the tree.

It is the same with people.

The writer of the book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 as follows:

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

If we harden ourselves to the call of our Creator, it will become more and more difficult to hear Him and, thus, to be mended by His Holy Spirit.

Finally, after a time, we will become completely estranged from Him and will no longer be able to hear His call to return to Him who created us and who loves us so deeply.

...and our lives will then assume the characteristics

of the idols we worship...

...yet we were made for Him.

“See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven? At that time, His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Once more, I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming Fire.” Hebrews 12:25-29

How about you?

Regardless of your age, you can ask God to make you as supple as a young tree.

The secret is humility before Him.

"Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Learn the lesson of the old tree.

God can make you as supple as a sapling…and fulfill His great purpose for you and in you...

...only then will you know "the Life that is truly Life."
1 Timothy 6:19b

“The Breath of God” by Jeffrey Small - A Critique by Hank Booth

The “Breath of God”…or, is it? Following is a critique of Jeffrey Small’s action-packed thriller, “The Breath of God”:

The central proposition of the book is that Jesus traveled to India sometime between His 12th and 30^th years, when the bible is silent about His activities. While in India, Jesus learned all He needed to know in order to say and do all that He did. Mr. Small sites as historical reference a 19^th century Russian journalist named Nicholas Notovitch who supposedly discovered texts while on a journey to the Himalayas that describe Issa’s (Jesus’s) interactions with Buddhist monks. “These Issa texts go to the very heart of who Jesus was,” exclaims the “Breath’s” chief protagonist, the winsome, if beleaguered hero Grant Matthews, who consistently and courageously stands strong throughout the book against the mad clamor and repressive tactics of those who ruthlessly espouse Christian orthodoxy. Grant ponders, “Was Jesus receiving his message from God directly, or was he a man whose revolutionary teachings were derived from his studies of Hinduism and Buddhism?” The response to this question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) thus forms the heart of what “The Breath of God” is all about.

Mr. Small begins painting the portrait of his central proposition on the very first page of “The Breath of God” as he juxtaposes a verse from the Tao Te Ching (6^th century BC) with the first four verses of the Gospel of John as follows:

“In the beginning was the Tao. All things issue from it; all things return to it. Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao. The Tao gives birth to all beings, nourishes them, maintains them.”

The Tao Te Ching, 6^th century BC

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

John 1:1-4

Although quite different in meaning, these excerpts sound similar. The implication, of course, is that no one religion embodies all essential elements of truth, a key tenant of both the ancient Greek skeptics and modern “enlightened” thinkers. Grant Matthews highlights this point later in the book by concluding that “if different nations speak different languages within their borders, why wouldn’t God speak in different religious contexts to different cultures?” Mr. Small thus provides his readers with a near perfect illustration of the “begging the question” logical fallacy, which is repeated at regular intervals throughout the book.

Although Mr. Small utilizes the medium of fiction, the messages contained in his book are serious propositions about God, man’s relationship with God, cosmology, and epistemology (the study of how we know what we know). Although Mr. Small’s academic credentials are extremely impressive (The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Yale, Harvard Law School, and a stint at Oxford) he fully leverages the medium of fiction to elevate his case by casting his opponents (in this case, traditional Christians) in the worst possible light, thus exploiting to full advantage the straw man and ad hominem logical fallacies. For example, the chief antagonist in the book, the mainline evangelical Reverend Brian Brady, up for election to high church office in his denomination, exhibits every repulsive characteristic one could think of in such a man, from unrestrained, self-aggrandizing ambition to the most egregious forms of manipulative behavior. His second in command, the odious William Jennings, an obvious reference to William Jennings Bryan, viz., the attorney defending the Christian position at the infamous Stokes Trial, is the real evil wizard behind the curtain. Not to be outdone, however, is the next example of the self-absorbed evil Christian, Tim Huntley, a crazed psycho-killer and repressed homosexual whose driving ambition is to think of new, creative ways to torture and annihilate the infidel, defined in this case as anyone who doesn’t subscribe to Reverend Brady’s self-serving “Christian” agenda. Indeed, some of the most impassioned expressions of Christian orthodoxy in “The Breath of God” are announced through the lips of the utterly despicable Mr. Huntley. By the end of the first quarter of the book, there is no doubt about the score - winsome, long-suffering Buddhist monks 24….Christians 0…and the route continues…

In his tireless efforts to demonstrate the superiority of Buddhists and Hindus over Christians, Mr. Small implies that Buddha was nobler than Jesus because:

“throughout his life, the Buddha’s followers tried to deify him, but he  resisted. He [Buddha] insisted that he was nothing more than a man who understood the truth. He had been enlightened, and he taught that others could become similarly enlightened.”

Mr. Small’s opinions about Jesus’s perceptions of himself notwithstanding, it is clear in both the old and new Testaments that Jesus was (and is) immediately aware that he was both human and divine. The following examples from scripture support this conclusion:

“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten You.’”

Psalm 2:7

The Father: “I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he shall prosper in his way.”

The Son: “Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.”

Isaiah 48:15&16

“But you, O Bethlehem Ehprathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.”

Micah 5:2

“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

Matthew 25:31&32

“And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, ‘How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’ (Psalm110:1). David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?’”

Mark 12:35-37

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

Luke 21:33

“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

John 8:58

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Matthew 5:17

This last verse is very important because it demonstrates that Jesus was quite conscious of His messianic mission as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29). Indeed, the Passover itself and the entire system of Levitical sacrifice was a foreshadowing of this Lamb of God “who would bare the sin of many, and make intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12b)

Mr. Small sites, among others, John Shelby Spong as a source of inspiration. Spong’s theology, which, in many ways, mirrors that of the John Dominic Crossan-led “Jesus Seminar”, is evident throughout “The Breath of God.” For example, Mr. Small weaves the following theological propositions into the book, spoken as fact by the book’s chief protagonist, Grant Matthews:

1)     “The oldest copies of the gospels in existence were written more than two hundred years after the originals. For decades after His death, stories of Jesus would have circulated first among His followers in Aramaic, and then later they would have been translated into Greek and then written down in various forms.”

2)     “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not apostles of Jesus who had known the historical man. They were men who were part of the later Jesus community who compiled the stories that were in circulation about him and composed the Gospels.”

3)     “The majority of biblical scholars believe those tales” [e.g., the virgin birth stories] “to be later additions to the Jesus tradition, part of the myth that grew up around Jesus after his death. Grant grinned. And if Jesus was somehow divine from birth, why don’t we have a history of miracle stories from the first thirty years of his life, instead of only one final year?”

4)     Jesus’ ministry “began around the age of thirty and lasted about a year.”

Contrary to Mr. Small’s assertion that these and other similar theological positions he espouses in “The Breath of God” represent an implacable scholarly consensus, in fact, they’re considered fringe speculations by a wide body of past and contemporary Christian scholars. Perhaps Mr. Small would be willing to consider doing what his protagonist, Grant Matthews, did in “The Breath of God” when he debated the effusive Reverend Brady. Maybe this time we could make a careful search for a less offensive and more articulate debating opponent with whom Mr. Small could engage so that he could test his assertions in a more balanced context.

Mr. Small also implies in the book that, since flood stories can be found in other works of literature, e.g., “The Epic of Gilgamesh” which pre-date the flood account in Genesis, the bible has no exclusive claim on truth. But why should the fact that we see other accounts of the flood in ancient Babylonian and Assyrian texts surprise us if, in fact, as the Bible states, the flood actually happened? This fact should simply reinforce our confidence in the historical accuracy of the Bible.

Perhaps Mr. Small’s reasoning can be distilled in the following two logical inferences: 

Statement of Logical Inference #1:

1)       Premise 1

All world religions derive from the same common source and represent different variations of the same theme [of and from] the incomprehensible “Divine” to mankind.

2)       Premise 2

Buddhism, which preceded Christianity, contains several examples of themes common to both traditions. *

3)       Conclusion

Therefore, Jesus must have interacted directly with Buddhists on a trip to India between the time He was 12 years old and the beginning of His ministry, a period of time not alluded to in the Gospel narratives.

* The fact that Buddha was born prior to the incarnation of Christ is not a matter of concern for Christians since, as the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, who is co-equal and con-substantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, always existed and was born in the form of a man at the appointed time according to the pre-ordained plan of God.

Statement of Logical Inference #2:

1)        Premise 1

Any “supernatural” occurrence described in a religious text, e.g., the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, etc., is explainable only as a human attempt to lend authoritative credence to positions taken in those texts. A supposed violation of the natural physical order sited in any religious text should be interpreted as having a subjective, spiritual meaning vs. an objective physical (or literal) one.

2)        Premise 2

The Bible contains many examples of violations of the natural physical order, i.e., miracles.

3)        Conclusion

Therefore, any mention of a supernatural occurrence in the Bible did not really happen.

Mr. Small’s operating premise seems to be that truth, which is really an incomprehensible term in “The Breath of God”, is largely unknowable in our present state and has not been revealed to us by the Deity in any intentional, exclusive form, either in books like The Bible or in “great men” like Jesus Christ, Mohammad, Buddha, etc. This point is repeatedly reinforced in the final chapters of the book wherein we are told that “Jesus was a man who woke up to the divinity that is inside us all.” The culmination of this monument to nihilism and self-worship is expressed by protagonist Grant Matthews who, in the epilogue, as a wizened professor, responds to his student’s questions as follows:

“These [Issa] texts point to a deeper truth underlying all religion, a truth independent of the historical details, which we will never truly know (italics mine). And that ultimate truth is what? Hodges [a student] called out from the front row. Without missing a beat, Grant replied, “The answer to Mr. Hodges’s question can only be answered by one person”…Mr. Hodges.

So there it is…we are, in effect, our own gods, autonomous creatures caught up in a meaningless vortex of arbitrary cause and effect, accountable to no one but ourselves, and ultimately, perhaps mercifully (we don’t know) consumed in the cosmic OM of the universal, but eternally incomprehensible, FORCE…”having no hope…and without God in the world…” Ephesians 2:12b

Since Mr. Small left the classroom without offering anything but the same tired themes of the hegemony of self and the applesauce of divine resonance in response to his student’s questions, I’ll conclude by telling a little of my own story. I believe it is appropriate to do so since, early in my life, I reached conclusions similar to those of Mr. Small but, unlike Mr. Small, was deeply troubled by the inadequacy of the answers. I could relate well with T.S. Elliot in his poem “The Wasteland” (written prior to his Christian conversion) when he said, “I have heard the key turn in the door once and turn once only. We think of the key, each in his prison; thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.”

In my desperation, I cried out to the God I didn’t know…and He answered me…and He was Jesus Christ, “Word of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).  Jesus reached His arms out to me and raised me from the dead as surely as He raised Lazarus, and “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to my God.” (Psalm 40:3). That was 40 years ago and, since then, He has patiently walked with me and loved me every day and, when my time on earth is finished, He will take me home so that I can live in His presence forever. As wonderful and joyous as my awakening was, and it was indescribable, my love for Him continues to deepen as I learn more about the depths of suffering He endured to rescue mankind from its desperate predicament. Following is a brief summary of the greatest story of love, courage, and sacrifice ever conceived…and it was conceived in the very depths of God’s heart.

-          God is infinitely holy.

-          God created mankind to uniquely bear the stamp of His image.

-          Mankind chose to rebel against God, thus separating himself from his Creator.

-          Although God is the very essence and definition of Love, He is also the essence and definition of Justice. He will not violate one aspect of His character in favor of another. God loved mankind but justice had to be served, so…

-          God made the most loving and sacrificial decision that has ever been made by anyone, at any time, in any situation. He poured out the divine justice and retribution that should have fallen on us upon His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, as Isaiah says “Behold My Servant shall act wisely; He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at You – His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind – so shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him.” (Isaiah 52:13-15a). “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

-          “The true Light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)

The glorious truth is that reality, and all of life, is full of meaning, dignity, beauty, and purpose - yet we can only discover this as we yield our wills and our lives to our Creator through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.

Neither Buddha, nor Mohammad, nor any Hindu deity died for you in your place Mr. Small…but Jesus did…and He says to you and every person in the world today:

“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.” Revelation 21:6

I mentioned at the outset that the central theme of “The Breath of God” revolves around the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” While I’ve attempted to outline the contrasts between Mr. Small’s answer to this question, which necessitates an early journey by Jesus to India to learn the wisdom of the east, with my own and tens of millions of others who have been awakened by the risen Lord Jesus Christ down through the centuries, I’ll conclude with an appeal to reason.

Is God impersonal and capricious? Did He leave mankind with a myriad of incomprehensible sets of puzzle pieces so that, if we were somehow able to put a few of them together, we could, perhaps, glean at least a modicum of understanding of Truth?

When I think of a mother looking into the eyes of her newborn child, or a Daddy watching vigilantly over his family to protect, nurture and provide, I know that our Creator is not impersonal or capricious.

When I witness His creative genius in all that we see and experience in this world, from the human eye, to the vast panoply of animal and plant life, to the atom, whose centrifugal properties are replicated in everything from the smallest cell to the universe itself, I know that our Creator is not impersonal or capricious.

When I think of Jesus Christ who, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-8) - and, from that cross, in mortal agony, cried out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)…I know that our Creator is not impersonal or capricious.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son.”

John 3:16-18

“And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our Righteousness.’”

Jeremiah 23:6b