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(This is a follow up to my last post: Is Gandhi in Hell?)
Jesus' name and image have often been hijacked to promote and teach a wide range of beliefs that either have nothing to do with him, or are actually diametrically opposed to him. His good news has been twisted and frequently changed into something foreign to the good news he proclaimed. Many people claim to follow Jesus, but they are following a lie dressed up in his clothes. There are many people who claim to be representatives of Jesus, but they are actually peddling a range of products which have merely had a Jesus label slapped on them. Some of these products may not be lies in and of themselves, they might even be helpful in some ways, but they aren't Jesus, or his gospel. Some destroy people's lives and lead them away from the real Jesus.
These fake Jesus' and their fake gospels should absolutely be rejected. If a person who has never before heard of Jesus is first exposed to a fake Jesus, they aren't rejecting Jesus, or his message, or Christianity. They are better off for having rejected a lie which would have probably lead them further away from the real Jesus. Therefore there is nothing particularly magical about the name Jesus – that's not even what he called himself – it is the person represented by the name and his message which are important. We could call him something else and still follow him. We could being following him without even knowing his name. Likewise we could be following a guy named Jesus and preaching a thing called a gospel and be enemies of God.
As well, people who reject a guy named Jesus, may never have met Jesus God's anointed one, they may have only encountered people who said the represented Jesus, but who in reality represented something else. The supposed ambassadors for Christ and his kingdom may actually have been ambassadors for something very different – say for example money, slavery, racism, feudalism, their own particular culture and their cultural values. Instead of representing the kingdom of God, they may have really represented the kingdoms of men – say the United States of America, or perhaps the British Empire. Gandhi encountered a group of people who claimed to be representatives of Jesus and his kingdom. He heard of a man named Jesus, and he heard about what this man named Jesus taught. As far as we know he rejected their message. Did he reject Jesus, his gospel, or his kingdom? I don't know.
God is able to draw people to himself even if they never hear the special revelation given through the Jewish people. He can draw people to him who have not heard of Jesus, or the work he did for them.
Paul told the people at Lystra:
In the past, [God] let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:16-17)
He told the Athenians:
[God] gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:25-28
God has sent his messengers to the nations to share the good news of Jesus his Messiah. Following God's messengers, sometimes preceding them, have been people claiming to represent Jesus. They did not bring his good news, they brought a lie. Many of these people brought pain and destruction. Because of this, many people are right to reject the Jesus they have heard about. Unfortunately, because they don't, or can't tell the difference between the supposed Christian who bears a lie, or the Christian who bears the truth, they may never hear the truth about the real Jesus. I think God is a good judge capable of distinguishing between those who actually reject him and those who reject a lie which is pretending to be from him. I also think God is a merciful and loving judge who does not desire that anyone should perish.
Categories: Basic Christian Belief, Grace, Hell
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