Five main counterfeits of Jesus
There may be “more than one way to skin a cat,” but there is only One way to be in the presence of God in heaven. This One way is Jesus. In our human-centered understanding, we try to make up other avenues to get to heaven. Also, the enemy of our souls manufactures lie after lie, desperate to keep us away from the Truth. But God made it clear by prophecy in the Old Testament and reality in the New Testament. He was sending a Messiah, a Christ, a Savior, a Hero, a Son to save the world. Jesus is the only way to be with God in heaven.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14.6 NIV).
Counterfeit Number 1: “You can’t know for sure”
To me, this is the worst counterfeit of them all. That a Creator would pour out His creativity, energy and love into a creation and not give them a for sure way to get to Him. A loving parent would never leave their children stranded! We are not in the dark. The Bible makes the truth plain and clear. Jesus is our portal from this life to the presence of God. All we have to do is see our need for a Mediator and use our words dipped in belief to claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10.9-10 NIV).
Counterfeit Number 2: “You have to be good enough”
Here is the thing: no matter how good we are, we will never be good enough to be in the presence of a holy God without a mediator. We believe this counterfeit when we are either ignorant or in denial about how awesome and perfect our God is. God knew we would fall short of His holy Standard, which is why He sent His Son to make atonement for our sins. Jesus gave us His holiness, and He took our sins. It is only through Jesus we will ever be good enough because we receive His perfection by grace.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3.23-24 NIV).
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