Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You (5 page)
Here is the last chapter of the Bible as it describes the new heavens in the future.
And the angel showed me a pure
river
with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the
Lamb
, coursing down the center of the main street. On
each side
of the river grew a
tree of life
,
bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
No longer will anything be cursed. For the throne of God and of the
Lamb
will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will
see his face
, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there — no need for lamps or sun — for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will
reign
forever and ever.
Then the angel said to me, “These words are
trustworthy
and true: ‘The Lord God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you what will happen soon’ ” (Rev. 22:1–6; NLT).
Is the Angel Right?
Are these words “trustworthy and true?”
You have just read the biblical history of redemption and God’s future plan for the world. Is it true?
You cannot be postmodern about this. You cannot say that this is “true for you but it is not true for me.” That is not an option. Why? Jesus didn’t make it an option when He said that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).
The postmodern worldview collapses under Jesus’ exclusive truth claim. It makes no sense to say that His statement is true for some but not for others. If it is someone’s truth that EVERYONE will be judged and either be found guilty or in Christ, that means you are a part of the EVERYONE.
Nobody is exempt from this scenario. You simply cannot dismiss Jesus’ claim by stating, “That may be true for you, but not for me.” If it is true for me, then you will be included.
There is no escaping this: the biblical story of Jesus is either false or true.
Where Is Your Name Written?
Everything that God has done and is doing in this world is to bring honor to Himself. Humans exist to glorify Him by either receiving His mercy, grace, and lovingkindness, or by receiving His wrath.
The Bible is a supernatural book that foretold the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as God’s plan of redemption. The gazillion-dollar question is, will you be punished in a Lake of Fire or be reigning with the Lamb of God?
Now What?
What must one do to have their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? You must do what the men of Israel did in Acts chapter 2 when they heard the preaching of the Apostle Peter.
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
this
Man
, delivered over by the
predetermined plan
and
foreknowledge of God
, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
. . .
“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all
witnesses
.
. . .
“Therefore let all the house of Israel
know for certain
that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren,
what shall we do?
”
Peter said to them, “
Repent
, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the
promise
is for you and your children and
for all
who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself”
(Acts 2:22–39).
What must you do to be saved? You must repent and put your trust in Jesus. You must turn from your sins and place your faith in Christ as if your life depended on it, because it does.
If you are already a follower of the Lamb, you have much to look forward to.
If you have not repented, what are you waiting for? Why would you delay?
Congratulations!
You just rocketed through four thousand years of human history in two chapters. Well done! Now that we have taken a high-altitude look at the entire Bible, let’s touch down throughout the Old Testament to see more types and shadows of Jesus.
As we make our way through the Old Testament, you are going to see three things.
1. Lots of types and shadows of Jesus.
2. The timeline of the Old Testament. You will have a clear understanding of the order of biblical history.
3. Explanations for why the world works the way it does.
Where shall we begin? The beginning is a very nice place to start.
Chapter Six — Jesus Is the Ark
It sure didn’t take long for humans to make a hash of things. God created a perfectly perfect earth, Adam and Eve sinned, and the next thing you know, the world is the
Lord of the Flies
.
William Golding’s
Lord of the Flies
is a fictional story of a group of boys who survived a plane crash and lived together on a remote island. No adults. No government. No laws.
The result? The civilized British chaps fell into savagery faster than you can say, “Gilligan’s Island.” One wonders if Golding plagiarized Genesis 6. Less than seventeen hundred years after creation, we read of the depravity of
. . .
us.
Then the
Lord
saw that the
wickedness
of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually
. The
Lord
was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart
(Gen. 6:5–6).
Contrary to the modern-day self-esteem movement, the people described in Genesis 6 were not a special class of humans; they were people just like you and me. Left to ourselves, we too are evil continually. Nothing has changed.
Totally Depraved
Human beings are not only not perfect, we’re bad, we’re bad, we’re really, really bad. Without the curb of laws, government, and shame, we are not law-abiding citizens, we are wretches like the one the song refers to. “
Every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
Just 17 centuries after God created His image bearers, humans were behaving so badly that God was “sorry that He made man on the earth” (Gen. 6:6). That doesn’t mean that He made a mistake in creating us, it is simply an anthropomorphic term used for us to understand how God felt about our sin; it grieved Him. This is the first verse in the Bible that tells us God has feelings.
God Has Feelings
God is not ruled by emotions, because He is impassible (without passions), but He does indeed have feelings.
1. God grieves.
Do not
grieve the Holy Spirit
of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
2. God rejoices.
The
Lord
your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you
with joy
,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will
rejoice over you
with shouts of
joy
(Zeph. 3:17).
3. God is angry.
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up
wrath
for yourself in the day of
wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
who will render to each person according to his deeds:
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
wrath
and
indignation
(Rom. 2:5–8).
4. God can be sad.
Jesus wept (John 11:35).
God Is Not Emotional
Even though He has emotions, God is not careening from one emotion to another. He does not whiplash from one sentiment to another. In other words, God is not a teenager.
We get our emotions from God, we certainly didn’t evolve them. Why would we? Our emotions come from God because our Maker has emotions.
God has some attributes that are uniquely His (incommunicable attributes):
> He alone is totally powerful: omnipotent (Matt. 19:26).
> He alone is all knowing: omniscient (Isa. 46:10).
> He alone is everywhere: omnipresent (Ps. 139:8).
God also has attributes that we share with Him as image bearers of God (communicable attributes):
> God thinks: we think (Isa. 55:8).
> God works: we work (Ps. 139:13–14).
> God has emotions: we have emotions (cf. above).
God is not emotional, but He has emotions. When He sees the wickedness of man on full display, it displeases Him and grieves Him and even angers Him. Why?
Sin Is Really, Really Sinful
Sin is not simply a violation of His rules, sin is contrary to who He is. God is not merely a judge who sits on a courtroom bench and hands down sentences in compliance to standards written by others. God is the standard.
He did not write the laws as a moral code that He Himself must keep. The laws of God are a perfect representation of His character and nature (Rom. 2:20). God is the law.
When we break a law (lie, steal, murder, fornicate, blaspheme, lust, hate, covet, gossip, dishonor authority) we are striking out at God’s character and in essence saying, “I hate who you are.” That is why sin is exceedingly sinful (Rom. 7:13).
We Are Naturally Good at It
We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. If man has one innate skill, it is our ability to sin. We sin naturally because our natures are sinful. Pour a carton of milk and milk comes out, because milk is in it.
From birth we are totally depraved (Rom. 5:18–19; Ps. 51:5). Ask your mother.
Just like the humans in Genesis 6, our thoughts are evil continually. Does that mean we sit around plotting how to rule the world? Well, in a sense, yes.
We are not like Hitler, who wanted to rule the planet, but we do want to run our own little fiefdoms. We don’t like to be told what to do from birth. To verify that statement, simply visit your local Chuck E Cheese’s.
Our desire to run our own universe starts when we take our first gulp of air.
> We cry because we want food. Now.
> We collapse limply to the ground when we are told to go to bed when we don’t want to.
> We sulk when our parents tell us we can’t have what we want.
We act like little
Lord of the Flies
savages when we are children. Do we need to talk about how we behave when we are teenagers?
Just like the folks in Genesis 6, we sin constantly. No, we don’t rob banks or strangle cats, but we sin continually. Wanna bet?
> How many meals have you wolfed down without bowing your head to thank the One who provided it for you?
> How many times have you thanked God for the air that He provides for you?
> How many hours a day do you spend loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength?
> How many times have you taken God’s name in vain?
> How many times did you dishonor your parents?
> How many times have you lusted or looked at pornography?
> How many times have you lied? A recent study claims that the average person lies three times per ten minutes during a conversation.
> How many times have you complained and impugned God’s integrity?
> How many times have you desired something that did not belong to you?
> How many times have you driven past a homeless person?
> How many commercials have you seen that show the plight of the hungry and you just keep on clicking?
You get the point. Just like the sinners in Genesis 6,
every intent of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil continually. Whether we are aware of it or not, our actions are earning us a reward. Unfortunately, our sinful actions only earn us wrath stored for us in a little ol’ place called hell. Prepare for an understatement: that is a bummer.
Why Sin’s Punishment Is Really, Really Bad
While our sins are bad in and of themselves, what makes sin truly horrific is the One against whom we have committed the offense. Think of it like this:
> If a father takes money from his child’s piggy bank, nothing is going to happen to that dad.
> If a child takes money from his father’s billfold, he might find himself being introduced to Mr. Wooden Spoon.
> If an employee takes money from his boss, he will receive discipline or a pink slip.
> If you don’t pay your taxes and, in essence, steal from the government, then say hello to your new bunky, Bubba.
In each instance theft has taken place, yet the punishment for the same crime increases. Why?
While the identical crime was committed, the one against whom the crime was committed was greater or more powerful. Punishment increases for the crime based on the offended party’s status.
Now, imagine stealing from the Creator of the universe. Because He is eternal and infinitely great, powerful, holy, righteous, and good, the penalty for any crimes against Him demands an eternal and infinitely awful punishment.
It seems extreme to the atheist, and perhaps to us, that God would say that all liars will have their part in a Lake of Fire (Rev. 21:8). Why would God condemn someone to eternal, conscious torment for a fib? It is not the spectacular nature of the sin per se, but the One against whom the sin is committed.
Furthermore, God hates lying because deceit is contrary to His character and nature. God is truth. He does not write the standard of what is true and false, He
is
the standard of truth and everything else is false. Therefore, God loves what is true and hates what is false.
You Hate Lying, Too
EHarmony.com is the on-line dating service that has 29 “dimensions of compatibility” to match people with similar likes and dislikes. Applicants must take a test to determine the most desirable attributes in a possible mate and the least desirable qualities of a potential spouse. Which characteristics do you suppose is the number one “I can’t stand” attribute for both males and females?
>
Wrong political party
>
Bad manners
>
Boring
>
Uneducated
>
Not ambitious
>
Not kind
>
Not successful
>
Not rich
>
Not fashionable
While all of those things are important, the number 1 “I can’t stand attribute” is: lying. We hate it when someone lies to us. Why? Because we are image bearers of the One who is Truth. We hate lying because God hates lying.
We also hate lying because it is more than just fibbing, it is a personal slight. It is the liar’s way of saying, “I don’t respect you.” That is precisely what we tell God when we lie. Lying is our special way of saying to God, “I hate the truth. I hate you.”
That is just one reason why the Bible calls us “enemies of God” and His wrath abides upon us (Col. 1:21; Rom. 5:10; John 3:20). Humans are not neutral toward their Maker. The Bible is clear: we are haters of God. He is our enemy. We do not love Him, we despise Him.
The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:7–8).
For everyone who does evil
hates
the Light [Jesus], and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:20).
[Jesus said to His disciples,] “If the world
hates
you, you know that it has
hated
Me before it
hated
you (John 15:18).
He who
hates
Me
hates
My Father also.
If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and
hated
Me and My Father as well.
But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, “They
hated
Me without a cause” (John 15:23–25).
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is
hostility
toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an
enemy
of God (James 4:4).
George Burns and Morgan Freeman played God and the world adored them. Perhaps that is the way it works in the movies, but the last time God came to this earth, His name was Jesus Christ and we killed Him.
Nobody is ambivalent toward God. We all hate God and we are earning wrath for the day of wrath.
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are
storing up wrath for yourself
in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
who will
render to each person
according to his deeds:
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
wrath and indignation
.
There will be
tribulation and distress
for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For there is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:5–11).