What’s so important about that?
It relates all the way back to the Garden of Eden. “By eating the fruit of that tree dying you shall die,” God had said. After Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden they received instruction in animal sacrifice. Symbolizing atonement for sins God engrained this in humanity. It was forward looking to when God himself would come, embody the symbols, and effect the atonement.
If Jesus was merely a man, one descended from Adam and Eve he, too, would have been under the curse of sin. One sinner cannot pay for another’s sins any more than one murderer can die for another.
Many false religions place Jesus as a person with origins like all the rest of us. They may even acknowledge his crucifixion and resurrection. The typical problem with these false religions is their espousal of a life lived with such personal righteousness that they attain some vital spiritual plane. From that plane, they affect transformative things in the world.
John the Apostle, who walked with Christ, and wrote of his life and times says something far different. Jesus was God come down in the flesh–that made all the difference.
Counterfeits may be exquisitely similar
I wrote this while our family was staying at a beach just south of Saint Augustine. One morning my son walked over holding his smartphone. He had come across an unbeatable price on a Bluetooth speaker. He gave me his take on need, use, etc. As he is an adult, and one with a bank account fuller than any of his siblings he was not asking for money. He was excited to have uncovered this bargain. It was perfect timing for where he had already set his mind.
He eventually went out to his truck where presumably his credit/debit cards were “safely” stored. (He does emphasize how he always locks his truck.) He returned, deposited himself on the couch with his smartphone in hand and cards beside him. A few minutes later he disappeared into his beach house room, and that seemed to be that.
My mind went on to other things, and a few minutes later my iPad chimed the arrival of a new email. As I was using my computer, I flipped clicked the browser to the email page. Look at what I saw.
“Colin!” I called. “Did you just buy that speaker you were showing me?” After he grunted agreement through the closed bedroom door, I asked, “Was it for about $198?” Then things began to fall apart, or maybe I should say become clear. See $198 was the not deal on that speaker. It was more like $30 or $80; I don’t recall. Regardless of the price, he was fretting that it did not have free shipping. So with our conversation in mind, I figured the red “Something’s Wrong” button was the “Something Right.”
Leave a Reply