“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-3, 14.
Some of the most beautiful passages in all of the Bible. Jesus,
second person of the triune Godhead became one of us. That is something
to meditate on and to grasp. Jesus, even before the foundation of the
world already knew that He would become one of us and voluntarily lay
down His life for mankind. “He indeed was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave
Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1Peter 1:20, 21.
Jesus came despite the fact that He would be reject by His people, He
came into the world as prophesied long before by the prophets. He became
the suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah 53. It blows my mind,
thinking about Jesus becoming one of us, because God’s love for us is so
big that He gave His only begotten Son. “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John
3:16. God in the flesh, who died for the sin of the world.
He was full of grace mercy and love. He demonstrated the love of God on
the cross at Calvary. His ministry lasted only about 3 1/2 years and He
healed the many sick and forgave their sins. He showed love to everyone,
without any partiality. Although He is God, at that time He humbled
Himself. Paul put it this way: Let “this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming
in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross.” Phl 2:5-8. Jesus was in full obedience
to the Father, fulfilling the plan of redemption for mankind. This
humbleness is something to be behold and comprehend. Even the night
before His death on the cross, Jesus was the servant. The disciple on
many occasions, argued who would be the greatest among them. Jesus knew
man’s heart and He gave the disciples an example that night, that they
would never forget. “Jesus, knowing
that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had
come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His
garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water
into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them
with the towel with which He was girded.” John 13:3-5. It
was custom in the middle eastern culture to wash the feet of guest
before entering the home. It was regarded however one of the lowest
task. Here Jesus who is God in the flesh, stoops down and washes the
feet of the disciples. I think they must have felt pretty bad,
considering that they argued so many times about who’s being the
greatest. Jesus was giving an illustration and He explained it to the
disciples after Peter wanted no part of the washing, acting like he was
so much more humble than the other disciples over there. “Peter
said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I
do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Simon Peter said to Him,
“Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to
him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely
clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would
betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” So when He had
washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to
them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and
Lord, and you say well, for so I am. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher,
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I
have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
John 13:8-15. Jesus makes a point here, the believer in Him is already washed of his or her sins, but being
human we will not be sinless in these fleshly
bodies. We need our feet washed, the body is already clean but we
stumble into the dirt with our feet from time to time. We need to
confess and get our feet washed.
Oh, the humbleness of Jesus. I see many so called servants of God
today exalting themselves, the wear fancy religious outfits, giving
themselves titles and have others bow down to them. The wear gold,
purple robes and live a life of luxury, getting served and they love to
rule over the people. They are put in offices exercising power over
people. They drive around in a bullet proof car, allowing themselves to
be worshiped. There are many that think very highly of themselves.
That is not humble and a far cry from what Jesus demonstrated. Jesus my
Lord and Savior who is God, humbled Himself. He left the glory of heaven
to come down to this fallen world to redeem man. He shed His blood for
man, it is He who should be exalted and not these arrogant puffed up so
called religious leaders. Thank you Lord Jesus for your love and your
mercy and grace. I bow my knees before you and thank for your sacrifice
and that by believing in you I will have eternal life and spend eternity with You.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,..” 1Peter 5:6.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn
from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mat 11:28-30.
This to me looks like a lot of work, to archive the ultimate goal of eternal bliss. Just as many other religions, Buddhism is a man centered religion/philosophy. It is man's vain attempt to reach perfection or a higher consciousness, i.e. a higher state of mind. It is another attempt of man to be either a god or god like, archiving this by a set of rules, by rules that were implemented by man. The dilemma to me with Buddhism is that the teachers tell the people to live a certain way and if they do and follow all the rules, they will reach Nirvana. It's like somebody telling you, here is Mount Everest, when you reach the top you will have Nirvana. But Buddha and his teachings did not give them any kind of equipment to climb Mount Everest and so people slip and fall, trying desperately to reach the top. I guess that's where the reincarnation comes into play. If you don't make it in this lifetime, try it in the next. If that fails, keep on trying and one day you will arrive. Buddhism is man's attempt to become a higher enlightened person by their own strength and set of rules, just as other religions wanna come on their own merit to God, making their own version of god. A god that caters to them, a god that no one needs to be accountable to. They have a made themselves a Burger King god, "have it your way."
Christianity teaches the opposite of what many Buddhist believe. The Bible declares that there is only one true and living God and that is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Creator of all things. There is only one absolute truth and that is the truth that comes from God. There are many that will claim to be a good person, but by who's standards? Man's standards or God's standards? God has declared everyone guilty, we have all violated His Holiness and perfect standard. In God's eyes no one is good: "Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one." Psalm 53:3. In the eyes of God there is none righteous: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God." Rom 3:10, 11. People seek all kinds of ways to be spiritual and many claim to be spiritual or enlightened. They are either following a man made religion or attempt to reach God on their own merit. The problem is that man is spiritually separated from God because of sin and there is not one that has not sinned before God. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Rom 3:23. It is the sin nature that everyone inherited that keeps man from fellowship with the true God. We are spiritually separated from God because of sin. God is a Holy God and in Him there is no darkness at all. Mankind apart from God is in darkness and the heart of man is the problem: "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Jer 17:9. People are deceiving themselves by following teachers, philosophies and religions that promise them eternal life if they do certain things. People wanna come on the own righteousness before God, but no matter how hard someone may try to reach Him or to achieve a higher consciousness, it is in vain, because they are all man driven and self centered.
The Buddhist tries to achieve a higher consciousness, Nirvana the ultimate goal, eternal bliss. The problem with that thinking is that the Bible does not teach about reincarnation, that people can come back and try over and over again until they get it right. Quite the opposite is true: "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.." Heb 9:27. There is only one life to live and death will come to everyone sooner or later. The Bible also tells us that there is either eternal life or eternal damnation. Humans have a spirit, in fact we consist of the flesh i.e. the body, a soul which is our consciousness and a spirit. The spirit of a person will not die after the death of the flesh and there are only two places for the spirit to go, either eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. Since God has declared everyone guilty it would seem that all go to one destination, Hell. But wait, there is good news, God in His mercy and His grace has provided a way to be reconciled to Him. That way is through Jesus Christ, He died and rose from the dead, so that those who would believe in Him by faith would be saved from the wrath and judgment of God to come upon sinful man. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. By believing and trusting in Him alone as Lord and Savior, people are born again of the Spirit and there is now no more gap between them and God the Father. God has reconciled those who believe and trust in the finished work of Christ on their behalf, it is the righteousness of Christ that the Father looks at, not the righteousness of man. The righteousness of Christ is imputed onto all who believe by faith. That to me is so much better than trying to transform myself into a higher consciousness. God did for me what I could not do for myself, a true transformation through His Son Jesus Christ. Buddha, Krishna, Allah cannot truly transform a person, people may try to better themselves, to become good, but in the end they will fall short of God's glory. Jesus is the only one that truly transforms the life's of people. I thank God for His revelation, His mercy and His grace. I thank Jesus Who became one of us, that loved me so much that He laid down His life for me, so that I can be with Him for eternity. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Mat 11:28-30.
Only Jesus can give us rest and it is only through Jesus that anyone can be at peace with the Father. Jesus is the only way to heaven and eternal life. Buddha is dead, Jesus lives, He is the true an living God.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6.
