Four Attitudes Toward Jesus
The celebration of Christmas is once again behind us. Most of us appreciate the spirit of good will that is often present at Christmas time. The joy and gladness of the season are worthy virtues. But now the trees have been dragged out of the house, hauled away, and recycled. The pretty wrapping paper has been torn from the packages and tossed aside. Mechanical toys eventually break. The mirth of Christmas festivities is over. Friends and loved ones, who had come home for the holidays, are now scattered to the ends of the country.
Sometimes the Lord Jesus Christ is crowded cut of the special day that is meant to honor Him most —but no human being can ignore Him and the demands He desires to make on our lives. The Baby born in Bethlehem was sent in order that He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The Scriptures again and again—from the first preaching of the gospel in Genesis 3:15, to the final praise of the ransomed hosts in heaven (Revelation 5:13)—declare the necessity of Jesus’ birth so that He could die for sinners. It was man who sinned; it requires a Man to atone for sin. Jesus was “manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). God’s perfect justice demands that sin be punished; He cannot just pass it by. But being a God of love—and not willing to see mankind perish—God sent Jesus into the world, born in human form so that He could become the sacrificial offering for man’s sin. His death brings peace and reconciliation between our guilty souls and a holy God (Colossians 1:20-23). Christmas is much more than decorated trees, sentimental carols, office parties, and good will calls on neighbors. The Baby laid in a manger was God’s answer to sin.
Those who hold the popular view that there are many roads to heaven, make sincerity the way of salvation. Hinduism claims salvation through a series of reincarnations. Buddhism calls for an elimination of “desire” which supposedly leads to peace of mind and ultimate salvation. Islam contends that we must commit ourselves to the laws of Allah, and hope that good deeds will outweigh bad deeds. The Christian message claims that salvation comes by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross—provided solely by the unmerited grace of God.
Dr. Dale Bruner (professor at Princeton Theological Seminary) speaks clearly about Christ as the only way to salvation and heaven. He calls the belief Christo-exclusivity. Christ is the exclusive way to God, but we remember that Christ is also inclusive because all are invited.
The first chapter of Hebrews exalts Jesus the Son as the eternal God (Hebrews 1:8). He is the One who laid the foundation of the earth (Hebrews 1:10a). Even the heavens are the work of His hands (Hebrews 1:10b). Jesus is the effulgence of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3a). In Hebrews 2 Jesus is lifted up again. He died in our place (Hebrews 2:9). He conquered our enemy the devil (Hebrews 2:14b). Jesus secured our salvation (Hebrews 2:17). He will some day reign over the entire earth (Revelation 19:11-16).
The question each human being must face is this: “Do you see Jesus as a helpless baby in a manger, or as the Authority to whom you must some day give an account for the way you have lived?” The cornerstone of the Christian faith centers on Christ’s humanity, His deity, His death and resurrection, as the only basis for our eternal salvation. Many view salvation through Jesus Christ alone as judgmental thinking, and see that belief as a form of bigotry. For some, Christians sound intolerant and narrow when they insist that there is only one way to salvation and heaven. But in declaring that fact, we are only being faithful to what Jesus himself said in John 14:6, and to what the apostles said in passages like Acts 4:12 and 1 John 5:11-12. The real question is: “What attitude will you take toward Jesus?”
The message featured in the current issue of the Witness is the reprinting of a sermon preached many years ago by the British preacher, W.E. Sangster. He was, for a number of years, minister of the Word of God at Westminster Central Hall, a noted preaching center in London. Before his death in 1960, he had written more than a dozen books. He held the conviction that each Christian can strive to live perfectly in an imperfect world. The sermon printed here names four judgments people over the years have held about Jesus.
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