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He is like us!
That's right! Jesus knows all there is to know about
the human condition! He once was like us, and He
still is, because His memory is unique: He won't
ever forget us. Jesus is the Son of God. Thus, the
Son of God, the Trinity also has this unique
perspective of the human species it created. One
God, Three Persons - God the Father, the Creator of
Heaven and Earth, the Son, Jesus who was sent to
redeem us by the Sacrifice on the Cross, and the
Holy Spirit, the culmination of the love of the
Father and the Son.
He is God, and yet He is like us. He is like us in
every way but sin. Jesus is completely free of sin.
He does not have the capacity to sin because He is
perfection itself. In our search for perfection, we
need only look to God, to Our Father, to Jesus, and
to the Holy Spirit, and we need nothing else.
It is regrettable that many people do not see it
that way. They are pursuing lifestyles that shun God
and all the goodness He has for us. Instead, they
live lives of materialism, without regard to anyone
else. Many live in the gutter, in hell where they
ultimately may end up. That is the world of
immorality, sex, drugs, misplaced ego. And there are
many people in between the very bad and the good
people, whose quality of life has degraded by the
notion that "I'm doing it my way" is the only way.
What I have written thus far is backed up by Holy
Scripture. I should provide some biblical citations,
but it would probably be beneficial if all people
invested some time reading their bibles or whatever
source documents support their own faith. And, if
some do not follow a particular faith, walk to a
Christian church nearest to you, and knock on the
door. As a Roman Catholic, I have to be
careful in saying that ... some churches advocate
abortion or at least permit it. The Catholic Church
doesn't. What happened to those stone tablets that
were given to Moses by God atop Mount Sinai (ref.
Book of Exodus 20:2-17) on which were engraved
the Ten Commandments? One of those ten commandments
is: "Thou shalt not kill."
I
cannot begin to understand why there are churches or
faiths that by consenting to allow abortion allow
destruction of life despite the fact that God told
us not to kill. Life is Sacred. We are made in the
image of God, from the day we are conceived in the
womb! As long as there are these divisions between
"Christian Churches," how can we ever see the
perfection of God. These divisions certainly did not
begin with the Catholic Church, so it is not we who
are to blame. No, it is people, people whose
personal integrity has diminished to a point of
forcing their own sinful ways on their neighbor.
Jesus told us to love our sisters and brothers, our
neighbors, and even strangers and our enemies ... If
people denounce all good by advocating the evil of
killing the unborn, then we cannot call them
Christian. A Christian is a follower of Jesus
Christ, and He never advocated anything as gruesome
as taking another's life.
My views reflected in the above discussion also
influence my voting habits. In evaluating pro-choice
candidates, many say, don't look at their stand on
abortion only, but examine all these people offer.
Well, I used to think that way, but I am a rather
conservative thinker, and my conscience is giving me
problems with that idea. If people allow government
into making abortion decisions, by monetarily
supporting organizations that are abortion
proponents, then any pro-abortion president has a
weakness, and we have to ask ourselves what else
he/she is weak on ... Since the founding of this
Nation, we have had leaders who were church-goers
for the most part, and who listened to God. But
people who are anti-life can't be listening to God,
because in all that is written about God in
Scripture, not once did He advise abortion as an
alternative to promulgation of life, and here we
mean the marriage of a man to a woman producing a
child. What would one do in the event that there are
no pro-life candidates names on the table? I shudder
to think that such a scenario could develop in this
great Nation. This isn't the case yet, let us pray
that we always have a candidate for office who we
can choose to elect.
He is like us in everything except sin. I would
rather turn that around by asking: Are we like Him?
Are we striving to overcome sin? Are we trying, in
our lives, to refrain from committing serious sin?
Of course we wish to overcome all sin, but first we
need to tackle the serious stuff. Direct violations
of the Ten Commandments - that's a good place to
begin. Why do you think there are people who love to
eradicate all these marble or cement depictions of
the Ten Commandments on government buildings,
particularly courts of law? Their reasoning is "out
of sight, out of mind." However, just because the
Ten Commandments are out of sight in so many places,
that doesn't mean we can just do what we want!
He is like us ... he feels our pain, our suffering,
he shares our moments of joy, of laughter, of fun.
Stay close to Jesus who knows us through and
through. Ask Him to intercede for us to the Father,
in gratitude for his Grace, the gift of His
blessings. Ask Him to send the Holy Spirit, to give
us guidance in all matters before us. Praise and
Glory to God, who is forever.
Fred Schaeffer
3-18-2008 |
