The "Passion" again...
Darlene and I took her 2 oldest sons and a friend of theirs to see the "Passion of the Christ" last night, and it was no less powerful the second time, than the first.
I think about how other religions are so far removed from the essence of Christianity that there is absolutely no point in comparison! Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism all fall miserably short of being able to address the plight of humans. None of these deal with the critical issues of man's awareness of guilt before God, neither do they offer a salvation that can be experienced in any degree in this life. Islam promises a paradise to its adherents, but it suggest no way of being assured of this, unless of course you convince your own self that the martyrdom deal will guarantee such. None of these call men to live in a righteousness that goes beyond mere human ability, and then Christianity makes it explicitly clear that one's own righteousness will not merit salvation, which is what all men truly yearn for inwardly. Islam leads men down the road of working their own way to paradise, and it is so apparently ludicrous to me that men can actually earn their salvation by being good, that this route can hardly satisfy anyone, except perhaps those who trust in their own flesh far more than they ought.
It is only in Christianity that we see this incomprehensible paradox of God taking upon himself human vestments, to suffer the torments that we so truly deserved to suffer, so that we might rise up from a mere pitiful awareness of ourselves unto a glorious awareness of God, Who desires nothing beyond our communion with Him. No other religion teaches that God want us to have this intimate relationship with Him, through His own Spirit. Yet Christianity makes it very clear that we can only partake of this glorious salvation and communion with the divine through grace, that is not of our own efforts, but only by His enabling.
What misery Christ did suffer that I might rise out of my own miserable existence, and failures. What torment He endured that we who knew not God in any sense of the word, might come to know Him as our Father. What anguish of spirit He did pass through, that we might be delivered from despair of life itself!
O' Christ my God
Clothed with flesh beneath your means
You did suffer the indignities that we deserved
O' Christ my God
Upon the Cross you knew despair
That we may know hope forevermore
O' Christ my God
Thy precious blood, flowing from Thy wounds
May I ever be aware of the pain I caused
David the King declared "...my sin is ever before me O' Lord." And truly I know that it is my sin that caused Thy death my Christ. What love is this, beyond my mortal mind.
O' Christ descending from the heavens above, to be born in the squalor of a manger impoverished!
I think about how other religions are so far removed from the essence of Christianity that there is absolutely no point in comparison! Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism all fall miserably short of being able to address the plight of humans. None of these deal with the critical issues of man's awareness of guilt before God, neither do they offer a salvation that can be experienced in any degree in this life. Islam promises a paradise to its adherents, but it suggest no way of being assured of this, unless of course you convince your own self that the martyrdom deal will guarantee such. None of these call men to live in a righteousness that goes beyond mere human ability, and then Christianity makes it explicitly clear that one's own righteousness will not merit salvation, which is what all men truly yearn for inwardly. Islam leads men down the road of working their own way to paradise, and it is so apparently ludicrous to me that men can actually earn their salvation by being good, that this route can hardly satisfy anyone, except perhaps those who trust in their own flesh far more than they ought.
It is only in Christianity that we see this incomprehensible paradox of God taking upon himself human vestments, to suffer the torments that we so truly deserved to suffer, so that we might rise up from a mere pitiful awareness of ourselves unto a glorious awareness of God, Who desires nothing beyond our communion with Him. No other religion teaches that God want us to have this intimate relationship with Him, through His own Spirit. Yet Christianity makes it very clear that we can only partake of this glorious salvation and communion with the divine through grace, that is not of our own efforts, but only by His enabling.
What misery Christ did suffer that I might rise out of my own miserable existence, and failures. What torment He endured that we who knew not God in any sense of the word, might come to know Him as our Father. What anguish of spirit He did pass through, that we might be delivered from despair of life itself!
O' Christ my God
Clothed with flesh beneath your means
You did suffer the indignities that we deserved
O' Christ my God
Upon the Cross you knew despair
That we may know hope forevermore
O' Christ my God
Thy precious blood, flowing from Thy wounds
May I ever be aware of the pain I caused
David the King declared "...my sin is ever before me O' Lord." And truly I know that it is my sin that caused Thy death my Christ. What love is this, beyond my mortal mind.
O' Christ descending from the heavens above, to be born in the squalor of a manger impoverished!