The Revelation Genesis Link Gariel Ministries

The Revelation Genesis Link
Gariel Ministries – May 2, 2008

Supplement: Who is Jesus: In Christianity, To Cults & In Other Religions
prepared by Dorothy von Lehe

God’s Word tells us the way to salvation:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved;

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10: 9-10

What do Christians believe about Jesus Christ?

Christianity
Who Is Jesus: Jesus is God, the second Person of the Trinity. As God the Son, He has always existed and was never created. He is fully God and fully man (the two natures joined, not mixed). As the second
Person of the Trinity, He is coequal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. In becoming man, He was begotten through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus is the only way to the Father, salvation, and eternal life. He died on a cross according to God’s plan, as full
sacrifice and payment for our sins. He rose from the dead on the third day, spiritually and physically immortal. For the next 40 days He was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses. His wounds were touched and He ate meals. He physically ascended to Heaven. Jesus will come again visibly and physically at the end of the world to establish God’s kingdom and judge the world.

How to Be Saved: Salvation is by God’s grace, not by an individual’s good works. Salvation must be received by faith. People must believe in their hearts that Jesus died for their sins and physically rose again, which is the assurance of forgiveness and resurrection of the body. This is God’s loving plan to forgive sinful people.

What Happens After Death: Believers go to be with Jesus. After death, all people await the final Judgment. Both saved and lost people will be resurrected. Those who are saved will live with Jesus in Heaven. Those who are lost will suffer the torment of eternal separation from God (Hell). Jesus’ bodily resurrection guarantees believers that they, too, will be resurrected and receive new immortal bodies.

Christianity relies on the finished work of Jesus Christ - Who Jesus is and what Jesus accomplished for mankind through His virgin birth, and serving as our Role Model; through His teachings, healings and miracles; and through His sufferings, crucifixion, sacrificial death and mighty resurrection.

All Christians are called to witness for Jesus. Each is called to share testimony with others about what Jesus has done in their life and about their own personal relationship with Him. We are all called to spread the Good News (the Gospel) of Jesus Christ.

Many Christians have a somewhat poor attitude when it comes to witnessing. What was apostle Paul’s attitude:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

A key purpose of this supplement is to introduce Christians to what some other religions and cults believe about Jesus Christ. I hope the following quotes serve as an eye opener and an encouragement to many to become brave in their walk with Jesus Christ, increase in strength through the power of the Holy Spirit and begin to witness to others the truth and good news of Jesus Christ. It is imperative to do so.

Islam
Who Is Jesus: Jesus (Isa in Arabic) is one of the most respected of over 124,000 prophets sent by Allah. Jesus was sinless, born of a
virgin, and a great miracle worker, but not the Son of God. His virgin birth is like Adam’s creation. Jesus is not God, and God is not Jesus. He was not crucified. Jesus, not Muhammad, will return for a special role before the future judgment day, perhaps turning Christians to Islam.

How To Be Saved: Humans are basically good, but fallible and need guidance. The balance between good and bad deeds determines eternal destiny in paradise or hell. Allah’s mercy may tip the balances to heaven, as his will is supreme.

What Happens After Death: Resurrection of bodies. Fear of eternal
torment is a prevalent theme of the Qur’an. Paradise includes a garden populated with houris, maidens designed by Allah to provide sexual pleasures to righteous men.

Judaism
Who Is Jesus: Jesus is seen either as an extremist false messiah or a good but martyred Jewish rabbi (teacher). Many Jews do not consider
Jesus at all. Jews (except Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians) do not believe he was the Messiah, Son of God, or that he rose from the dead. Orthodox Jews believe the Messiah will restore the Jewish kingdom and eventually rule the earth.

New Age
Who Is Jesus: Jesus is not the one true God. He is not a savior, but a spiritual model, and guru, and is now an “ascended master.” He was a New Ager who tapped into divine power in the same way that anyone can. Many believe he went east to India or Tibet and learned mystical truths. He did not rise physically, but “rose” into a higher spiritual realm.

Jehovah’s Witnesses
Who Is Jesus: Jesus is not God. Before he lived on earth, he was Michael, the archangel. Jehovah made the universe through him. On earth he was a man who lived a perfect life. After dying on a stake (not a cross), he was resurrected as a spirit; his body was destroyed. Jesus in not coming again; he “returned” invisibly in 1914 in spirit. Very soon, he and the angels will destroy all non-Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Mormonism
Who Is Jesus: Jesus is a separate god from the Father (Elohim). He was created as a spirit child by the Father and Mother in Heaven, and is the “elder brother” of all men and spirit beings. His body was created through sexual union between Elohim and Mary. Jesus was married. His death on the cross does not provide full atonement for all sin, but does provide
everyone with resurrection.

Unification Church
Who Is Jesus: Jesus was a perfect man, not God. He is the son of Zechariah, not born of a virgin. His mission was to unite the Jews behind him, find a perfect bride, and begin a perfect family. The mission failed. Jesus did not resurrect physically. The second coming of Christ is fulfilled in Sun Myung Moon, who is superior to Jesus and will finish Jesus’ mission.

Christian Science
Who Is Jesus: Jesus was not the Christ, but a man who displayed the Christ idea. (“Christ” means perfection, not a person.) Jesus was not God, and God can never become man or flesh. He did not suffer and could not suffer for sins. He did not die on the cross. He was not resurrected physically. He will not literally come back.

Hinduism
Who Is Jesus: Jesus Christ is a teacher, a guru, or an avatar (an incarnation of Vishnu). He is a son of God as are others. His death does not atone for sins and he did not rise from the dead.

Buddhism
Who Is Jesus: Jesus Christ is not part of the historic Buddhist worldview. Buddhists in the West today generally view Jesus as an enlightened teacher, while Buddhists in Asia believe Jesus is an avatar or a Bodhisattva (but not God).

Freemasonry
Masonry claims to transmit secret teachings from ancient times. The “Masonic Edition” of the Bible says, “Masonry is descended from the ancient mysteries.” Masonry requires belief in a Supreme Being and treats all religions as though they believe in the same God, whom Masons call by such titles as “Great Architect of the Universe” and
“Jah-Bul-On” (supposedly his ‘secret name’). When the Bible is quoted, references to Jesus are omitted; public prayers must not use Jesus’ name. In several rituals Jesus is made equal to Zoroaster, Buddha, or Muhammad. Salvation to the “Grand Lodge above” is achieved by living an upright life, without explicit faith in Christ.

Astrology and Horoscopes
Astrology is not merely forbidden in the Bible—it’s demonic. In What Your Horoscope Doesn’t Tell You by Charles Strohmer, a former professional astrologer, Strohmer writes “As we look honestly at astrology, we begin to see that adherents of this system-without knowing it-are banging on the door through which communication is established with knowledgeable but yet deceptive spirit beings.” He further explains that the horoscopic chart is used by the astrologer as the mediumistic point of interaction, and that “without contact with spirit beings, there would be no astrological self-disclosures.”