Police Devotion 3-11-16
“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5)
The Lord Jesus said these words right before He described the trouble that would come in the last days. He knew that His name would be famous long after He died for our sins, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven. Obviously, He knew this because He knew that many deceivers would come along claiming to be Him. We see that His prophecy has come true because many religions profess to have a reverence for Jesus Christ. The problem is that the Jesus Christ of many religions is not the same Jesus Christ of the Bible—they’re false Christs. The Lord warned: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,” (Matthew 24:24).
If you ran a warrant check on a John Carter using just his name and a warrant showed on the computer for that name and you arrested him without checking further, you could easily arrest the wrong man. You need more info such as his birthdate and Social Security number to ensure that you have the right man. The Bible has no shortage of information on how to know the true Jesus Christ from a false Christ.
The true Jesus Christ is God—every bit as much as God the Father. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The One called “the Word” here is identified as Jesus in John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” He was God and flesh at the same time. 1 John 3:16 also says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us:” The God who “laid down his life for us” is the Jesus Christ of the Bible. In Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses’, and Islamic doctrine, Jesus Christ is not regarded as God. Even if these religions regard Him as a prophet or a lesser god, the Christ of these religions is still a false Christ.
The issue of Jesus being God really is important. Some may say that He was just a great moral teacher, but He laid claim to being God when He said, “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30). So either He was God or He wasn’t. If He wasn’t, then He lied. If He lied, then He wasn’t even a great moral teacher. If He was a liar and blasphemer (which the religious leaders accused Him of being), then His death on the cross was just the death of a sinner and did nothing to pay our sin-debt. Yet He rose again and “was seen of above five hundred brethren at once” (1 Corinthians 15:6) which proved that His claim to being God and dying to forgive our sins is true. A liar and sinner wouldn’t have risen from the dead.
Being God, the true Jesus can also do something only God can do: forgive sins. Jesus once told a lame man, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (Mark 2:5). The religious leaders nearby said, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” (Mark 2:7). That was the point—only God can forgive sins, and since Jesus is God, He could forgive sins. To prove His point, He also healed the lame man which was something else that only God could do.
The true Jesus also saves repentant sinners who come to Him to be saved. Some may say that going to heaven is a matter of doing good or having religion, but that’s false. Jesus said that He is the only way to heaven: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
The true Jesus Christ forgives sins, saves souls and gives eternal life by His grace, but a false Christ is deceptive, as our passage says, and can do nothing for anyone. If you’ve never seen in the Bible how to receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, please go to click “Helpful Links,” on the top menu and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 3/11/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822