Religions With Messiah Who Tose Again
S o that's it!?
A cold thrill of sudden realisation drained through me. That'south how the whole world could be deceived! Not through everyone beingness in complete unity over a single lie, but among a plethora of false ideas having only 1 common unifying thread. "We are one, simply nosotros are many," as our slap-up Australian vocal reminds us.
Nosotros were in a Hindu temple in Sydney's inner westward. Our Year 11 Studies of Religion students, a few other teachers and I were completing a tour of several different places of worship, representing a sample of five major world religions. We had already visited the Nifty Synagogue in downtown Sydney, an Islamic mosque and a Theravadin Buddhist temple in search of the major teachings and religious practices of each faith, learning direct from the leaders at each of these locations. We withal had a large Christian cathedral left on the list of places to visit.
I'd taken Yr 11 and Yr 12 classes on similar excursions in previous years, including full-24-hour interval tours of the large and breathtaking Buddhist Nan Tien Temple circuitous most Wollongong. This was non book-learning; this was a quest for knowledge from the source.
Equally we listened to the priest explaining Hindu teachings, the data gleaned over the years from these excursions brought me to my sudden realisation. Not only Christianity, but every major world organized religion is looking forrad to a promised "messiah" of some kind to appear in the globe and save the planet from all the ills we humans take created here:
- Jews, who didn't accept Jesus equally their promised Messiah, are still looking frontward to the Messiah'south actualization
- Muslims are expecting the prophet Jesus to announced on the twenty-four hours of sentence, destroy the anti-christ and teach the whole world how to follow Mohammed
- Hindus are looking forward to the arrival of the supreme being Vishnu in the course of Kalki, who holds a flaming sword, rides a white equus caballus and ends the nowadays age, destroying evil and chaos
- Buddhists are waiting for the Maitreya to appear to demonstrate full enlightenment and teach people to live a good and balanced life. He is sometimes depicted as the Laughing Buddha, the i with the rounded belly and the big cheerful smiling
And many Christian denominations are looking forrad to the return of Jesus to prepare His kingdom of peace here on world.
And then many of these beliefs take similarities with what I believe, and so why was I worried? I see the Bible as the Discussion of God. Information technology teaches that Jesus has already appeared on globe as the promised Messiah—2000-plus years ago. Jesus also clearly stated when He was here on globe the first time that He would return to finish what He started (meet John xiv:1–3) and that before this smashing issue there would be many simulated christs and false prophets appearing on the globe and deceiving many. (See Matthew 24:23–27, Marker 13:21 and Luke 21:viii.) The apostle Paul also warned about Satan appearing equally a phenomenon worker before Jesus comes and deceiving many. (Come across two Thessalonians 2:1–iv; 9,ten).
And so, in contempo months and years, we've been confronted with wars, bushfires, earthquakes, floods and pandemics. Am I the only i wondering if this is the beginning of the end of all things? How many conspiracy conversations/articles/podcasts have you been subjected to in the concluding few years? Information technology has driven my family unit and me to much conjecture and more Bible written report. Our family Messenger conversation group has been running hot! I've shared with them the thoughts regarding false messiahs I have spoken virtually above and how they might relate to the slap-up deception Jesus predicted. The world is ripe for a huge charade past a false messiah.
In his article, "The Expected One—The Messiah Within", Wai H Tsang, author of The Fractal Brain and other works that endeavour to meld most every branch of homo study into one united scientific and spiritual worldview, has fabricated a very succinct summary of the expected messiahs of the world: "This expected or chosen ane is given many dissimilar names by the different religions of this globe. To Jews he is the Messiah, to Muslims he is the Mahdi, to Christians the 2nd coming [of Jesus], to Hindus the Kalki and to Buddhists he is the Maitreya. Also Zoroastrians await the Saoshyant and even Taoist/Confucian scriptures talk of the coming of the Time to come Truthful Man. It is, notwithstanding, reasonable to suppose that all these different names and titles are really referring to the same person. If we take it as our starting signal that all earth religion is really worshipping the same God and asking after the same truth, and so all the globe's prophecies are coming from the same source and so are actually describing the same set of events and circumstances. Therefore, all the globe'southward religions are all really waiting for the same person."
Some readers will be thinking at this signal, Hang on a moment, isn't that okay? Aren't there many means to God? Isn't information technology the case that "whatever is true for yous, then that's your truth"? The answer could be yeah, depending on which flavour of religion yous espouse, but with one glaring omission: Christianity.
A shut reading of the 4 Gospels in the Bible shows Jesus claiming that He alone is the way to God. John fourteen:6 reads, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Begetter except through me.'" There can be only ane Messiah and Saviour of mankind, co-ordinate to Jesus. All others are false.
In that most-remembered of all Bible quotes, John 3:sixteen, Jesus tells u.s., "For God and so loved the earth that he gave his 1 and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish only have eternal life." Very exclusive. The salvation of this world is plant in one Messiah, Jesus alone.
There are just two ways to look at Jesus' claim to exist the merely Truth. It's a false claim—similar all the other messiahs who Jesus asserts make false claims—or it'due south true. The option for it to exist one of many truthful claims just isn't there.
And so, what'due south that got to practice with false messiahs appearing? A lot! As we have noticed, the resurrected Jesus who many people saw go back to heaven in a cloud has promised to render in the same way and rescue this deplorable and cleaved planet and have believers to heaven until He renovates the earth and starts once again. He says He volition appear in the heaven with cataclysmic power and dandy noise and everyone will see Him coming. (See Matthew 24:xxx,31.) He won't be walking effectually on the globe bringing peace to everyone until quite a long time later on, according to Revelation 20 and 21.
In the meantime, He warns us of nifty deceptions accompanied by miracles that will be so convincing that even Jesus' own followers will be deceived if they haven't studied the Bible carefully (Matthew 24:24,25). There's a lot of room for false messiahs there.
If the Jesus who dissever history in two—BC and AD—and whom all the globe acknowledges, wittingly or unwittingly, every time they write the date; if the only Messiah who history tells us came back from the dead and went dorsum to sky, from whence He said He originated, says He is coming dorsum again to rescue those who want to be rescued by Him and tells us to lookout for that coming (Matthew 24:42), information technology is advisable for the states all to sit up and accept find; to make sure we are non the deceived ones.
People all over the world run into what is happening effectually us and recognise that humanity may not accept what it takes to rescue ourselves. Each centre has the same longing for the chaos and pain to end, and for a new start—a meliorate hereafter. Nosotros're drastic for answers and are at risk of clinging onto all kinds of shonky schemes, fast-talking gurus and false promises. Don't brand that mistake. Seek the one and only Son, the true Messiah.
Janette Kingston is a retired instructor and proud mother of a growing tribe of adult children and grandchildren. She lives at the beach on New South Wales' South Coast.
Source: https://signsofthetimes.org.au/2020/09/expected-messiahs/
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