What if? Yeah right! Over and over in the following article the author (James Flanders) asks "what if" questions and encourages the reader to "imagine" some pretty unbelievable things.
Time and again the heretical writer attempts to portray Christ Jesus as one whose blood shed upon the cross has more power than the act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden.
He also once again refers to the statement of John the Baptist when he called Christ "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" as it it is actually true! That statement only applies to those who believe, receive, are baptized, and do the appropriate religious works, primarily tithing. It does not apply to the whole "world."
Christ is the Savior, but He doesn't do all the saving. It is left to us to do our part of the saving. It's a joint effort. Christ has done His part. Now we are to do ours.
Proceed with caution as you read the article below.
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What if the story of this universe has a much better ending than
what you've been led to believe? What if it actually wraps up with the
words, "And they all lived happily ever after?" Could it be that God's
plan is more beautiful than most of us have ever realized?
Is it
possible that the Only Begotten Son of God Jesus Christ will ultimately
be seen by all creation as a far greater success than the religious
establishment has ever given Him credit for? Do you believe there is a
possibility that the time will come when Christ actually receives all
that he purchase with his own blood on Calvary? Was the Apostle Paul on
track when he spoke of a time coming when all people would bow in awe
and adoration before the Lord as an expression of genuine and authentic
love? What did the Apostle mean as he spoke of every knee bowing? What
about every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father?
What would bring God more glory losing the
majority of humanity forever (as taught within the confines of
orthodoxy) or God reconciling all things to Himself at the end of the
ages?
Imagine all things that seem so wrong in the universe
eventually being made right. Imagine all who are at odds with one
another and seemingly at odds with God being reconciled. When Paul the
Apostle speaks of all things on earth and all things in heaven
ultimately being reconciled to God, was he in the least bit on track?
Can
it be possible that the work of Christ is greater than the work of
Adam? What do you consider to have the farthest reaching affect, the
eating of the fruit or the blood of Christ poured out upon the cross?
When
the Apostle Paul talked about all dying in Adam and all being made
alive in Christ did he really mean it? Is it possible that all really
means all? What percentage of humanity do you believe was affected by
the "fall" of Adam? Is there any reason to believe that God would be
satisfied with a smaller percentage ultimately affected by the blood of
His Only Begotten Son?
Was John the Baptist correct in calling
Jesus "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?" What about
the Samaritans calling Him "the Savior of the world?" What about the
Apostle Paul calling him the "savior of the world." We're those
statements about Christ inspired by the Spirit of God?
Jesus said,
"The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Who do
you believe He was talking about? What percentage of humanity do you
believe was lost at the "fall" of man? Do you believe that Christ is
ultimately a success or a failure in what He came to do?
Do you
believe that Christ is the good shepherd? If a good shepherd is not
satisfied until every last sheep is brought back into the fold, how
could we believe that Christ would be satisfied with less than all being
redeemed?
If the good shepherd is not content with only ninety
nine out of a hundred, why have we been led to believe that God will be
satisfied with the vast majority of humanity remaining lost?
Do
you believe that the wages of sin is death? Do you believe that the gift
of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus? Whose wages earned
humanity the death that we are all born into? Whose work purchased the
gift which is free for you and me?
Did the death sentence for humanity rest upon each individual believing in the existence and work of Adam in the garden?
Does the free gift in Christ rest upon what we do or what He has done?
Are
you and I called the savior? Or is Christ Jesus called The Savior? If
He is the Savior, what percentage of the saving is left on your
shoulders? If there is even a small percentage of the saving left to
you, would that make you a co-savior? Would it make Christ less than The
Savior?
Think about it in very simple terms. Is it the redeeming
work of Jesus Christ or a redeeming work based upon your own effort,
performance, and good works?
Who does the Bible refer to as the Redeemer?
This
is just a sampling of the questions that pushed me to begin to dig into
the message given to Paul by Jesus Christ and which eventually took me
to the place of seeing the work of Jesus as something far beyond what I
had ever been led to believe growing up in church.
James Flanders is a blogger and musician
(not a pastor) with a passion for proclaiming that the work of Christ
is far greater than the work of Adam and that the evangel given to Paul
by Jesus for the Gentiles is far more glorious than most of us have been
led to believe.
