At What Point Does He Become

Another Jesus?

II Cor.11:3-4 - But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (NIV)
There is no greater issue than the Biblical presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now to be clear, anyone who teaches that a sinner can be saved through someone else is a lost, false teacher. I hope all of us would agree to that.
But there are many teachers who use the name of Jesus, read from the Bible, and boldly proclaim that Jesus is Lord. They even say that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Their verbiage is peppered with portions of Scripture and they would be considered mainstream in their theology, even if some of their theology is not.
I would think that the most egregious example of using the name of Jesus and accepting His divinity, but presenting a completely different Jesus than the one revealed in Scripture, would be all the different streams of the health and wealth movement. And believe me, there are many, many streams of that theology. And that theology presents to us a conundrum, because most of them claim to be preaching about the real and Biblical Jesus, even while they describe His attributes, intentions, and purposes in direct violation to the Scriptures that define and reveal Him.
You do not have to search any further than Christian television in order to hear some preacher teaching about a Jesus who lives to please you and who wants to shower you with much wealth, happiness, and perfect health. And believe me when I tell you that what I just said minimizes the utter grotesque caricatures that now pass for the Lord Jesus, especially in the west.
So there can be no misunderstanding. These preachers are not just teaching about Jesus from a slightly different perspective. This isn’t just a squabble between Calvinism verses free will. No, indeed, this is a monstrous falsehood that goes beyond any reasonable interpretation of Scripture. And many of these preachers have so mangled the Biblical vision of the Risen Christ that we can safely say they are no longer preaching Jesus. They are now preaching a character of their own creation who they call Jesus. In short, another Jesus.
Now this is serious business. And this Jesus is inseparable from His gospel, so that anyone who preaches another Jesus also preaches another gospel. And Paul calls them accursed. Again, this is no insignificant skirmish among generally orthodox believers. When you deal with changing the gospel and changing the identity of Christ Jesus, you have entered into the supernova of falsehoods and the pinnacle of all apostasies.
And let us take it even further. The health and wealth teachings are not the only sect of Christianity who are guilty of presenting a false Jesus. There are many liberals and many within the emergent movement who have subtly eroded the clear picture of the Risen Christ and systematically molded Him into a nebulous religious figure who has a foot in all religions. There again we have another Jesus.
Beware of these modern day, self proclaimed prophets who draw disciples unto themselves while using the name of Jesus as leverage.
Acts 20:29-30 - For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
The wolves are here and many stand behind pulpits. Many write books. Many sell Cds and teaching helps. Many dress in the finest fashions and many drive very expensive automobiles. Many hire members of their own families to enjoy their ill gotten gains. Many hold "lectures" that require tickets. Many mock the historical teachings of the church, and many deconstruct the true image of the Risen Christ and reshape Him into a divine bell hop that jumps to our every desire.
Many will tell you that if you give money as some kind of seed that God will be your genie. Many will tell you that you need not ever be sick. Many will tell you that God will favor you if you give money to their “ministries”, which in truth are just collection plates for their own greedy pockets. But all this emanates from a false Christ. And rarely, if ever, will these fund raising thespians mention the cross except as another stepping stone to your earthly gain. All make man the center of the faith, and many will claim special revelation at some point.
They, my friends, are to be summarily rejected and left in God’s hands. I would not want to be in their shoes.
Col.1:17-19 - And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Do you like to be misrepresented? Do you enjoy it when lies are told about you? Christ, the Risen and Exalted Christ, must have all the preeminence. He deserves it and His sacrifice is a looking glass into His redemptive nature. We should not speak of Christ lightly, and we should reverence His mighty name always. But in this post modern world a new Jesus has sprung up. And not just one new Jesus, but a host of them.
This Jesus needs no reverence and He resembles a cosmic Santa Claus that runs to rain earthly pleasures upon all who line the pockets of other men. The deception is breathtaking and the gullibility of those who profess His name is tragic.
This is not the Christ before whom John fell down as though dead. This is not the Christ before whom angels bow. This is not the Christ around whom seraphim hover saying, “Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” This is not the Christ before whose face the nations fled. This is not the Christ who comes in great power and glory and consumes the disobedient with the sword of His mouth.
This modern Jesus is a mirage, a creation spawned from the lusts of men, and a blatant lie dressed up as a fairy tale. This Jesus cannot save, cannot deliver, cannot redeem, and cannot hear the cries of men. This Jesus has been constructed to bring cars and houses and clothes and money to sinful men. This Jesus is an angel of light who is nothing more than a Luciferian image. This Jesus is the pathway to eternal death.
Behold, we now have modern descendants of Uzzah who present the Christ upon ox carts of their own evil imaginations. The Jesus they preach deserves our scorn rather than our worship. They have molded a calf from molten gold and labeled it “Jesus” and beckoned everyone to empty their pockets and reward the evil sculptors. But like Ahab, the people desire prophets who will tell them good things.
Jer.5:30-31 - A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
And the people today love these false prophets and are willing to give in order to fill their personal treasure chests without question. And the enemy continues to sow tares that speak evil concerning Christ even though their words seem pleasant. It is quite the spectacle. But I will add another post later that I pray will speak to our hearts concerning how we speak about, live for, and worship the Lord Jesus.