When the New Year Doesn't Feel New

It’s inevitable. All things corrode, wear down or die. Atrophy and Entropy are the norm. We fight it through refrigeration, face-lifts, diets, make up and New Year’s resolutions. Everything falls apart. The apostle Peter, quoting Isaiah 40 had this to say about human existence in I Peter 1:24-25,

All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

All of this energy is driven by a desire for eternity. We want to live forever. Something in the human psyche drives us to fight against the decay. The apostle John, at a very old age, wrote these words found in Revelation 21:1-7. They tap into what we know to be true.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Just a few days into the new year and you can identify with these two equal but opposite realties. We know we are dust and we long to last forever. This longing is there because we know we were made for another world. C. S. Lewis put it this way,

If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

So how do you tap into these promises and begin to experience the newness that has begun in the coming of Christ? The clue is found in verse 6. Do you see the word thirsty? That is where it begins. Thirsty people are aware that they need something outside of themselves in order to survive. You can’t look within. The beginning of newness is not found within yourself. You have to humble yourself and ask for help. 

Jesus said that he did not come for those who were well but for those who were sick. Admit that you need a physician and He will be there for you. In John 7, he also said that he was the living water,

Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. 

Are you thirsty for living water? It is yours for the asking. Start drinking and keep drinking!

Copyright © 2014 Timothy S. Lane. All rights reserved

Domesticated Jesus

The first time I heard the song “Jesus is Just Alright” was in the early 80’s (on an 8-track mind you!) The Byrds covered it in 1969 and the Doobie Brothers three years later. Arthur Reid wrote the original in 1966 as a gospel song.

 The Byrds and Doobie Brothers did not sing it with its original intention. Rather, they were using the phrase “just alright” which was a popular way of saying something was “cool”. Other popular celebrations of Jesus during this time period were expressed in rock operas like Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. These Broadway musicals portrayed Jesus as a loving person whom we should admire and imitate. Neither portrayed him as the Son of God. The hippie counter culture was seeking to rescue Jesus from the bourgeois culture of the middle class and its materialistic life-style. The middle class used Jesus to justify their lifestyle and how we could all be prosperous and nice if we just followed Jesus’ ethical teachings.

 What is remarkably similar with the hippie movement and the bourgeois middle class is both sought to domesticate Jesus. He became safe or cool depending upon your sub-culture.

 Surprisingly, this is the least honest option of all when you consider Jesus at face value. Consider this line of reasoning from C. S. Lewis.

 Jesus ... told people that their sins were forgiven. ... This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin.

... I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three effects — Hatred — Terror — Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.

  Mere Christianity and God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis

As you can see, Lewis lays bare the rationale of either the hippie or bourgeois interpretations of Jesus and makes us come to terms with the only honest assessment Jesus, himself, offers us. This Christmas, the last thing you should do is “like” Jesus. He does not want you to like him and he does not give you that option. The formidable anti-theist, Christopher Hitchens got this. He said that Jesus is Santa Claus for adults, and that was no compliment. Hitchens got Lewis’ logic and chose to see Jesus as a madman or a narcissistic leader, certainly not a nice fellow or God. You have to admire Hitchens' honesty.

And you? What do you make of Jesus? If you are searching, here are a few books I would recommend you read. If you are a Christian and find that you may have downsized the greatness of the Christ and made him fit into your kingdom rather than you living in his, these books might serve you as well.

The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable, F.F. Bruce
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
Basic Christianity, John Stott
Who is Jesus, Michael Green
Reason for God, Timothy Keller

Copyright © 2013 Timothy S. Lane. All rights reserved.