IS JESUS CHRIST A CHRISTIAN? And men said, “let us create God in our own image”… so in the image and likeness of man they created God and made Jesus Christ a Christian. As shocking and as unbelievable as this title may seem, you will be surprised at how much we have attempted to create God in our image. Here are some of the more rampant ways we do it without even thinking about it. We have ethnicized God. The Yoruba God is a different God from the Igbo God. I am not talking about Sango and Amadioha. I am talking about Oluwa and Chineke – the God of heaven. It appears that Edo Christians worship a different God from Hausa Christians. The American God is definitely not the African God. It is common to hear such statements as “you can’t get a sincere Igbo Christian”. I thought Christianity was what superseded all cultural traits and made us one body? So if the Igbo Christian is different from the Tiv Christian are they not worshiping different Gods? It’s even worse when you look at it in the international context. What is the picture of God you have in your head? Is it not of a deity that is “White”? Is God a Whiteman? Or is the “White God” image that we have of the eternal creator actually a man made God? The Indian was created in the image of God, the Arab was created in that same image, so are Africans, Chinese and every other tribe on earth. So how come we have a God that is a Whiteman? Is that “God” not a man-made one? We have denominationalized God. A friend once told me that God nominated us, then we denominated ourselves. Each Church extols its own “God”. The God of one commission is different from the God of another commission. That is why when you seek healing, there are some churches you prefer to go to; when you seek material prosperity you know which churches to approach. Why is that? Is it not because you believe the God in one church can provide salvation but not prosperity? Yes the God we now worship is like a footballer. He is either a good striker or a good midfielder or a good goalkeeper. So depending on what we want, we choose our God and where to worship him. I know that different ministries carry different unctions and different manifestations, but to reduce or constrain God to anyone of those manifestations, is to recreate Him in our own image. Worse still is our attempt to exclude some churches from heaven because we believe “our” God will judge them based on “our” standards. It is as if there is a different heaven for Catholics another for Orthodox churches, and yet others for Protestants, Pentecostals and Charismatics. If heaven is what I think it is, then it is not for any denomination. In fact, I can mention at least 10 persons that are in heaven that were not even Christians. Abraham, Job and David are on the list. You can mention the rest. It was from my mother that I learnt of God as “the man upstairs”? “Man” upstairs not “God” upstairs. How much worse can we get? Because He is the man upstairs, we give Him our daily to do list. Protect my child as she goes to school today. Bless my business negotiation today. Cause my husband to give me the money I requested for today. Our prayers are basically a to-do list for God each day. After all, we have created Him in our image so what can be wrong in sending Him on errands? Am I saying these prayer requests are not legitimate? Far from it. Even Jesus taught us to request and depend on God to make these provisions. But the difference comes when the “man” upstairs fails to carry out the job we have assigned Him. What if He refuses to save your child from that accident? What if He fails to stop death from snatching your husband? What if He permits that you be sacked from your job for no wrong doing? Would He still be God worthy of your praise and adoration or would you serve Him a quit notice? We create God in the image of man and so we feel justified to judge His actions and to tell Him where He could have performed better. We can advice Him, because we have created Him. If there is something worse than calling God the “man” upstairs it is the even more derogatory term of “something”. A child of God when prompted by the Holy Spirit to take or desist from a particular action or decision would prefer to say, “something stopped me” or “something told me”. Are we ashamed or afraid to place the credit where it is due? What is wrong with saying, “God told me…” or “the Holy Spirit stopped me…”? It is strange that even our beliefs often get in the way of our concept of God. For instance, is Jesus Christ a Christian? If you are a Christian your first impulse is to answer yes. What else could He be? But that is because you going by the norm. Jesus is God. He is neither a Moslem, Budhist, Christian or whatever. God is not into religion. He is simply God. When Jesus came to earth there was nothing like Christianity. He practiced Judaism. He worshipped in the Jewish temple and followed the laws of Moses. He was not a Christian. Christianity originated from his death. People started living a life style that mimicked His. People talked the way He talked, prayed the way He prayed, loved the way He loved and did the miracles He did. These people were said to be imitating Christ. They were eventually called Christians- Christ-like. Christ cannot imitate Himself! He is Christ. He cannot be “Christ-like” that will make Him a dupe, a fraudster. Don’t try to box Him into your little worldview or try to make Him look like you. He cannot look like you or me. We strive to look like Him. So what are the implications of this truth to you? For me this is what it means: Christ is bigger than anything I have imagined Him to be. He is sovereign and can reveal Himself in ways and manners He chooses to whoever He pleases. I cannot therefore judge your experience of God by mine. Abraham is the father of faith, yet in Exodus when Jehovah breaks into the boxed-up world of Moses, He declares that Abraham knew Him only as God Almighty, but not as Jehovah Ex 6:3. No matter how deep you have known Him, there is always something new about this wonderful Saviour. I invite you to know Him in a different way today. (c) THE NEW NORMAL DeepWords Devotional Merry Christmas to you.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 10:19:09 +0000
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