Let’s not fall for a different Jesus

The Bible shows us that people began to preach a “different” Jesus not long after He ascended into heaven. The same can be said today, some 2,000 years later. If the true Jesus is the only way to heaven and believing in a different Jesus leads to eternity in hell, then it is certainly vital for us to know the Son of God for who He really is, and what He really came to do for mankind.

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 我们不要相信一个假的耶稣 | 繁體中文 > 我們不要相信一個假的耶穌)

2 Corinthians 11:4 ESV  For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Acts 4:12 ESV  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 3:36 ESV  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Let us, therefore, set aside any preconceived notion about the Son of God and take a hard, honest look at the words and life of Jesus from the Bible. Knowing the truth can make a difference in where we end up for eternity.

The true Jesus is not easy to follow

Following the real Jesus is not for the half-hearted.

Large flocks of people followed Jesus during His ministry on earth. He was so popular that the chief priests in the Temple in Jerusalem became worried and began to plot his death.

Matthew 4:25 ESV  And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Yet many eventually left Him after a while because they became offended by His teachings. They even complained about Him. Such “followers” were satisfied to listen to His teachings, be fed by Him, and witness His miracles – but not to follow Him all the way as their King and personal Saviour (John 6:26-27,30).

John 6:26-27,30 NLT  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?

John 6:60-61,64,66 ESV  Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? .. some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) …At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

Like the builders in Luke 14, they had a basic foundation set up, and then failed to finish the entire building. In the end, they deserted Jesus and forsook their salvation and relationship with God. This is a cautionary parable that we too need to take heed of. Many of us may initially heed the call of Jesus to follow Him but in the end, only the few who faithfully endure to the end will be chosen. Beginning with faith in Jesus alone is not enough. Without true faith and endurance to obey Him until the end of our lives, we will not inherit eternal life.

Matthew 22:14 ESV  For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 24:12-13 ESV  And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 6:1,11-12 NLT  So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God… Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

The challenge for us is that the true Jesus is not easy to follow. Here are some of Jesus’ own words:

• Jesus was homeless during His years of ministry | Luke 9:58 ESV And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
• His actions and teachings offended people, even His own disciples | John 6:61 ESV But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
• He warned us we, as His followers, will have many trials and sorrows | John 16:33 ESV  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• Jesus was hated and we will be hated for His sake too | John 15:18 ESV “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
• Jesus told His followers to love Him so much that every other relationship paled in comparison| Luke 14:26 NLT “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison–your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.
• He told His followers to sell all their possession to follow Him | Luke 12:32-33 ESV “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.
• He told His followers to “leap for joy” when they were rejected and hated on His account| Luke 6:22-23 ESV  “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
• He sent His followers out without material backing, except for the Holy Spirit| Luke 9:1-3 ESV  One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.
• He rebuked and disciplined His followers when needed | Luke 9:54-56 ESV And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.  

Jesus does not call us to do anything for which He has not first led by example. When He calls us to renounce everything in order to follow Him with wholehearted dedication, it is because He has already done the same for us by dying on the cross for our sins.

Luke 9:62 ESV  Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 14:33 ESV  So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Jesus showed us how to live life His Way through the power of the Holy Spirit

The truth is, we do not have the power to live like Jesus. But praise God that He gives us the same Holy Spirit that Jesus had who enabled Him to do the things that He did, since He was fully human like we are too. Jesus demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit to love others, speak the truth with great wisdom, and work miracles. The same Spirit who worked through Jesus and raised Him from the dead lives in those of us who have been baptised with the accurate understanding of turning to Christ. We all have the privilege to live by this same power, love, and self-control.

Also, see Preparing our hearts for baptism.

Romans 8:11 ESV  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Many Christians look at Jesus’ life on earth and think, “Jesus could perform all those miracles because He is God. But I can’t!”

In reality, Jesus made a startling claim about all of us. He said that everyone who follows Him can do greater works than Him. His life showed us the baseline for our lives, not the ceiling.

John 14:12 ESV  “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Over and above His miraculous works, Jesus demonstrated an outstanding love, one that was humble, tender, compassionate, and self-sacrificing.

Jesus will meet our every need

Not only did Jesus come to show us how to live and love others, but He also came to fulfill a long list of roles in our lives, to fulfill our every need.

Jesus will return as our Judge

God is just. As in any justice system, every one of us will be called before God one day to account for every one of our offences, even each single careless word we have spoken.

That Judge is going to be Jesus Christ. Father God has left ultimate authority for all judgement to Jesus when He returns. Jesus may have first come as a despised human being who bore our sins on the cross, but He will return with terrifying glory and power. There will be those who celebrate His return and those who will melt in terror.

Matthew 12:36 ESV  I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

John 5:22-27 NLT  In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man.

Isaiah 53:3-5 NLT  He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

We live in exciting times because many biblical prophecies about Jesus’ return are being fulfilled with increasing speed; from warnings about the environment, the stars, and the nature of people, to financial, religious, and political systems. We may not know the exact of Jesus’ return but we know it will not be too long before He does.

When Jesus called us to believe in Him, it is that we would believe all that He teaches us and obey Him out of reverence and gratitude. It is not merely an intellectual belief, because even demons believe that Jesus is God. It is a form of belief that is imprinted deeply in our hearts and brings genuine repentance and worship.

 James 2:19 ESV  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

What do you envisage Jesus will say to you when He comes in all His glory? Will we be ready for His return or are there things we urgently need to put right in our lives? Jesus has warned that He will return “like a thief in the night” and catch many of us all unaware and under-prepared. Let us be prepared.

Matthew 25:31-34,41 ESV  “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. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  

2 Peter 3:9-10,14 NLT  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment… And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

Testimony: Getting to know Jesus through the Bible and relationship with the Holy Spirit

“I started going to church in my teens, hoping to find friendship and meaning in life. Because I changed schools and also moved a couple of times, I ended up going to different churches of different denominations, whichever happened to be closer for me at the time. I didn’t put down roots in any place, but what I did notice was that different denominations seemed to present different faces of Jesus. I found this disturbing and confusing. It wasn’t until I had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit some 20 years later that I began to diligently study the Bible to find out more about this personal God who spoke to me in the middle of the night when I felt so lost and desperate. I realised that one cannot rely on any human being to teach you about who God is, the best Teacher is God himself through His written “logos” word (Bible) and spoken “rhema” word (by the Holy Spirit. Since then, my mind has been renewed and I am constantly amazed by this amazing God who has come to live in my heart.”

May this sharing be a blessing to you, as you seek to love the Lord, with all your heart, and to know Him for who He is.