Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - RELIGION

 RELIGION

To what religion do you consider yourself to belong? More to the point, to what denomination (or branch/sect) of that religion do you really adhere? In reality, everyone has some “god” or something in which they believe.  Often we have made that “something” into our own creation. We have, in a sense, made a “god” in our image or have accepted a form of deity far removed from us.

Religion has been defined as man’s attempt to reach a god. And, as man has often defined “god” in a way that he would desire that god to be, then it not unexpected that religion would take a corresponding form. Over the years then, mankind has worked and slaved to make himself acceptable to an austere god, or has sacrificed young people and children to an angry god, or has just felt lost and alone from a distant god. Christianity has been really no better as we have defined God in so many ways and means that, as a result, numerous different forms and denominations have evolved and progressed, so that there are now over 41,000 different branches of Christianity.

Unfortunately, it seems to have always been this way. Back in Genesis, God showed how to sacrifice to Him, yet Cain wanted to do it his own way “but He did not respect Cain and his offering…” (Genesis 4:5). How many times do we try to do things our way? How often do we try to make God into an image of what we want and, thereby, try to reach Him in our way and not the way God has suggested. 

Even when God has laid down the rules and ways in which He wants things done, performing these acts properly is apparently not as important as true obedience to His wishes. Although He gave specific instructions for sacrifice in the Bible, it also states in Isaiah that “[to] what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?…I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats…Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil…If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land…” (Isaiah 1:11,16,19).

It’s obedience God desires. Even when we seem to follow His laws and instructions, it’s often not enough. An example is in Exodus, when God instructs the Hebrews to slay a lamb without blemish, and to “take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses…” (Exodus 12:7).  It seemed sufficient for the time, but still most of the people, save the children, perished before reaching the promised land. “…[Y]our entire number, from twenty years old and above…shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.  But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land…” (Numbers 14:29-31).

Is God really interested in the various means and methods by which we try to either reach, impress, or influence Him? Does He really care about our rites and rituals, our large churches (or mosques or synagogues), what we wear, or our multitude of programs? Or is it our sincerity and obedience that really matter? Following God’s laws and instructions may still be important but is it really enough? All of our efforts point upward as indicated by the blood on the doorposts and lintel in Exodus. If you connect points on each of the doorposts and lintel, then you obtain a triangle or arrow pointing towards heaven symbolic of man’s attempt to reach up to God.

So, as man’s various attempt’s to reach God are not enough, God provided His own solution. He reached down to us by means of Christ; His own “…lamb without blemish and without spot,”(1 Peter 1:19). He again wants our obedience to follow His new law: “…‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself,’” (Luke 10:27).  He also wants us to be obedient and to accept Christ’s sacrifice as payment for our sins.

“…[H]aving abolished in His (Christ’s) flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity,” (Ephesians 2:15-16).  Also, “…through Him we…have access by one Spirit to the Father,” (Ephesians 2:18), therefore, true Christianity is not a religion but a direct relationship with God through Christ.  If you connect the points of the nails that held Christ to the cross, you again have a triangle or arrow but this time pointing downward from heaven towards earth symbolic of God’s attempt to reach us.

The blood on the doorposts and lintel symbolized man’s attempt to reach up to God, and Christ’s crucifixion shows God’s attempt to reach down to us. If you superimpose the triangles resulting from the above, it reveals the Star of David as noted in the last of Revelation “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star,” (Revelation 22:16).

  It is not a religion but a relationship with Christ that can lead us directly to God. That’s true Christian faith and certainly something to think about.