Celebrate the Truth This Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I’m working on a new book this year as a part of a doctoral program at Faith Evangelical Seminary. My thesis will explore the following idea:  There are only five major religions (or views of God) in the world and that only one of them can be true.

I used to think that there were thousands of religions or concepts of God. This made things quite confusing.  How do you research thousands of ideas in your quest for the truth?  How do you persuade others that there are not many roads that lead the same direction?

In my own quest for the truth—which began my late teens and early twenties—I realized that the myriads of paths that you find in a world containing billions of people can be brought down to just five concepts of God.

Every person on earth is one of “five.

Four of these views focus on human works or improvement. Only one charts a different course. Four of these God-concepts provide no answer or power for the primary human problem—sin. One of them provides the way out. Four of them reveal a very troubling concept of deity. One is so wondrous that it has to be true.

I will show in the book how these concepts of God came into history. In the beginning there was only the Truth. But then a created being, the liar, distorted the truth about God and created four streams of deception that run through the nations of the world today. The book will discuss those four diversions of reality and show how the Truth is the only River worth navigating.

As you enjoy the wonder of Christmas this year, you might want to ponder how different are the “saviors” in the five great religions. Here are the five worldviews (concepts of God) and whom they look to for meaning or salvation:

1.    Pantheism – creation is God. The world and greater universe are marvelous to behold, but it offers no savior or hope. Everything is running down (entropy). Green power will not save us.

2.    Polytheism – there are many gods. Besides the ancient ones of Egypt, Greece and Rome, the current gods and goddesses of Hinduism and Buddhism number hundreds of thousands! Many are quite capricious and human-like. Incense and raisin cakes will not save us.

3.    Atheism – man is god. The Western world is currently learning a hard lesson in how the man-centered state only produces human dependency, corruption, and mind-boggling debt. Big Government will not save us.

4.    Islam – Mohammed had three weeks of revelations (the Koran), married multiple wives (including young girls), and led nineteen jihadist raids. Allah is a distant deity who guarantees heaven to those who fly planes into buildings in his name. Religious coercion and ritual will not save us.

But then there is the Truth. He has always existed and brought everything into being. His love has flowed through the world as a life-giving river for thousands of years.  His salvation came to Noah and his children, to Abraham and the nation of Israel, and was meant to be shared to the ends of the earth.

In the fullness of time, the Truth made a personal visit to the earth. He revealed the True God, provided a necessary sacrifice for man’s sins, rose from the dead to prove his authenticity, and can forgive and empower all who turn to Him for salvation.

This is not the result of any human works—but only by grace through faith—can human being be restored to the Living God and spend an eternity in his glorious presence.

There is only one Savior.

His name is Jesus. He shall “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

Near the end of his life, Gautama Buddha , the founder the Buddhist religion, famously stated: “I am still looking for the truth.” When Jesus Christ came into the world, he declared with authority: “I AM the truth” (John 14:6).

Quite a difference.

Celebrate the truth on December 25—the coming of the One and Only Savior of the world!

 Merry Christmas from Youth With A Mission