I recently returned from another country where I saw first hand people’s belief in numerous gods.
Logically, I thought, ‘if anything and everything is a god, then nothing is truly god.’ It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” Saying something is a god doesn’t make it so.
Spiritually, I was challenged to ask if I’m the one “calling a tail a leg” when it comes to my faith. I believe that the man Jesus Christ is fully God not merely because I say it, or someone else says it. I believe Jesus is God because He proved it by the way He lived (Hebrews 1:3), the words He spoke and those written about Him (John 20:30-31), the works (miracles) He performed (Matthew 8:1-17), the witnesses He has (1 Corinthians 15:1-8), and the wonder of His resurrection (John 20:1-18).
My belief in Christ is not a matter of tradition, an emotion, or a cultural accommodation. It’s a heartfelt conviction reinforced by historical facts, the Biblical record, and the testimony of His followers. C.S. Lewis said, “Jesus Christ was either a liar, a lunatic, or He was who He said He was.”
I accept not only Jesus’ claim to be God (John 8:58;10:30), but also His assertion that, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)
That’s a startling and liberating claim.
It’s startling for God the Son to claim He’s the only way for humans to come to God the Father. Scripture tells us that our rebellion against or indifference towards God separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:2). We deserve His judgment (Romans 6:23) as those, “having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12)
It’s liberating to know that we can be forgiven, avoid eternal separation from God, and gain eternal life through Christ. How? “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)
We don’t have to wander hopelessly uncertain of our ultimate destiny. If we believe Christ died in our place and rose again to secure our pardon, we have eternal life.
It’s not that we believe, but what (or who) we believe in that matters. It’s not the fact of faith, but the object of faith that counts.
Believe in Jesus and you will live. (John 3:16)