He Wasn’t Like gods!

When I read the life of Jesus Christ, there is so much to digest. One of my favorite things to do is to simply study His example in so many areas (communication, compassion, etc.) and see how I stack up. Obviously, I fall woefully short in each comparison, but I can at least be striving for improvement.

Jesus was so much different than any other man.

But what sets Jesus apart is that He was so much different than any other god.

When we consider pagan gods, we see sensuality, mistakes, cruelty, and even death. We see foibles and fallacies.

In reality, when one studies other gods he/she sees gods that look a lot like us, including our failures. When we look at Jesus, we see God.

Perfection personified.

Think of the amazing contrasts.

• Pagans consider their gods to be wholly apart from humanity, except for some possible sexual exploits. The God of heaven, though, reached out and touched the untouchable with a holy hand of compassion.
• Other religions allow for constantly-changing rules, thus the gods never really have credibility. Jesus stated, “I am the way” (John 14:6), and has never once wavered from that statement. He is fully credible.
• Other gods only desire to be served. Jesus came to serve.
• In many religions, the gods and prophets (e.g., Mohammad) die and remain dead. Jesus proved Himself to be God by conquering the unconqurable enemy: death.
• The gods of other religions appeal to the sensual and earthly part of our consciousness. Jesus never allows for that; requiring something higher of us. He does so because that is what is better!

I will never live up the example of Jesus as a man, but I must never fail to realize that He was far more than just an amazing man. Beyond that, I must realize that He was more than just any man: He was Immanuel, “God with us!”

But even beyond that, He was more than just any other god. He was the only God, and thankfully, He showed us that the one God is who we should desire to follow, and who we need to follow.

He wasn’t like gods…He was God!

QUESTION: In what other ways did Jesus show us that God is not like other gods?

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Photo credit: ground.zero on Creative Commons

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