Creation; Jesus of Nazareth

Most ancient pagan religions believed the world was created through struggles and violent battles between opposing gods and supernatural forces. Unique among the creation accounts, the Bible depicts a world that is brimming with dynamic, abundant forms of life that are perfectly interwoven, interdependent, and mutually enhancing and enriching. Furthermore, the Creator’s response to this is delight. He keeps repeating that it is “all good.” And when he creates human beings he instructs them to continue to cultivate and nurture the vast resources of creation as a gardener with a garden. No other religious text outside of the Bible claims that God created the world out of love and delight.

Let’s turn now to the uniqueness of Christianity’s founder. All other major faiths have founders who are teachers; teachers that point the way to salvation. Only Jesus of Nazareth claimed to actually be the way of salvation himself. The founders of every other major religion came as teachers, not as saviors. They came to say: “Do this and you will find the divine.”  While Christ says “I am the Divine.” – “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

A few months back this question was submitted: “I know many people who accept Jesus as wise, even a prophet, but why must they also accept that He is the son of God?”  In a related account in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, we hear a rich young man address Jesus as “Good teacher.” Jesus responds – as he typically does - with a question: “Why do you call me good?”  In the same way we might respond with a question, “Why do you think of Jesus as wise? Or even possibly a prophet?”

Out of space, I’ll finish this thought next time.  In Christ…