Old Jesus? Or New Jesus?

Christsfreeservant · Feb 13, 2024

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21 ESV)

An Article I Read Today

I read an article on the internet today that I believe is fitting to this passage of Scripture, so I am going to share with you a quote from it, and I will include a link to the article at the end of this devotion. Here is the quote:

"The interesting dilemma to me though is that the Jesus portrayed by 'the posers' that the broader public despises—is the exact same portrayal of Jesus they wish to laud in the public square. This is the Jesus who is light on sin and judgment, heavy on grace and love—but not a grace and love that actually requires justice—it is a grace and love that requires a tailor-fit God who essentially adopts the same quasi-standards of morality that mankind does (provided He changes with the times, of course). He is not the God who is jealous, just, holy, and requires justice be met—He is the God who 'Gets Us,' and He Gets Us in such a way that we never actually come to the point of repentance and faith. He Gets Us in such a way that we can say along with the best of them, 'Que sera, sera.'”

So, what is this “He Gets Us” movement? Here I am going to quote what they say about themselves from their own website, and again, I will include a link to this article at the end of this devotional. Here is what they say:

“How did the story of Jesus, the world’s greatest love story, get twisted into a tool to judge, harm, and divide? How do we remind people that the story of Jesus belongs to everyone? These questions are the beating heart of He Gets Us.

“We hope to remind everyone, including ourselves, that Jesus’ teachings are a warm embrace, not a cold shoulder. That he didn’t let pro-this or anti-that opinions prohibit him from seeing the value in all people. He Gets Us invites you to explore Jesus’ story on your own terms and at your own pace.”

So, the common desire of these “Jesus fans and followers” is to “rediscover and share the compelling story of Jesus’ life in A NEW WAY.”

Our Value to God

So, does Jesus value all people? Yes! Jesus, when criticized for healing a man on the Sabbath said to his accusers: “Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12 ESV). And he said about his followers that they were of more value than sparrows and the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26; Matthew 10:31). So, for what reason are we valued? Well, we were created in the image of God by God, by Jesus Christ, and we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God, and he has a plan and a purpose for our lives (Psalms 139:13-16)

And Jesus valued us enough to die for us on a cross in order to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we might now live for him in walks of obedience to his commands and in holy living (Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Titus 2:11-14). And he didn’t do this for us because of our goodness, for our own righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6 KJV). For “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NIV). So his love for us is not based on our goodness (in the flesh) but on His.

And This is the Judgment

Okay, so I am going to tie this all together, as the Lord leads. This group, the “He Gets Us” group, has as its goal to rediscover and share the compelling story of Jesus’ life in a new way. What new way? Well, it is first of all to dispel and to do away with “the old way,” which is the way of the cross of Christ and of the teachings of Jesus and of his NT apostles. For they want to present Jesus in a new way, which is the way of the flesh, and as someone who did not come to judge or to divide.

But Jesus made judgments about people and about sin and hell and heaven and faith all throughout his teachings. I mean just look at Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; and John 3:19-21. And he did come to divide family members, one from another (Luke 12:51-53). And then they said that Jesus’ teachings were a warm embrace, not a cold shoulder. So they obviously did not read these passages of Scripture and Matthew 23:1-39 where Jesus strongly rebuked the Pharisees and the scribes for their religious hypocrisy.

And they didn’t read John 6:35-58 where many followers of Jesus deserted him, for they found his teachings to be “too hard to accept” because he was, basically, inviting them to die with him to sin that they might have new life in him free from their bondage to sin in true worship and in true loyalty of devotion to him as their Lord. And they obviously did not read all of Jesus’ teachings or they would not have concluded that Jesus valued people in such a way as to ignore their sinful lifestyles and to accept them just the way they are without pro-this or anti-that beliefs influencing his decisions.

And we are not to be those who “rediscover” Jesus according to human thinking and reasoning, and who “explore Jesus’ story” on our “own terms” and at our own pace, i.e. according to our own fleshly appetites and preferences and not according to what the Scriptures teach. And this leads me back to that article that I read which points some of that out. For they want a Jesus who is light on sin and judgment and heavy on grace and love, but not the grace of God which frees us from slavery to sin and not agape love which prefers what is holy, righteous, morally pure, honest and faithful.

For they do indeed want a tailor-fit God who adopts the same quasi-standards of morality that mankind does who does not require death to sin and living to righteousness and walks of obedience to him and to his commands. They want a God who will receive them and their professions of faith in him without question and without limits and without any restrictions or commands or conditions to be met in order to receive his forgiveness of sins and eternal life with him. But that is not the God of the Scriptures!

For what do we read in John 3:19-21? There is a judgment of God here which is that Jesus and his truth and righteousness and his gospel message have come into the world. But those who are worldly, even many who profess the name of Jesus, are rejecting that light (Jesus, truth, gospel message, righteousness) because they prefer the darkness to the light, because they want to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and against other humans, but some of them while still professing Jesus as their Savior and heaven as their eternal destiny.

But that isn’t the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught. We can’t have Jesus and his salvation and eternal life with God and our sins and our selfishness and our own versions of Jesus, too. For if sin is what we practice, this says that it means that we hate the light (Jesus, et al) and so we don’t really come into the light, even if our lips profess that we have. Those who come into the light, thus, are those who walk according to the light, i.e. according to the Spirit in walks of holiness and righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (see all noted Scriptures above).

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.