I'm really very confused?

Question

Regarding Christianity - please note, I am not trying to bash anyone here, I'm just looking for an answer to a question I have.

OK, it seems to me that the reason God sent Jesus to the world was so that people could know God by knowing His son, who walked the Earth just like they did. My question is, are the people who were born after Christ's death pretty much SOL in that respect? They can never know Christ the way others before them did - was the concept of one spirit you can't see and one man you can just replaced by two spirits you can't? It seems like it just took an intractable philosophical question and replaced it with one that is twice as intractable. What do you think?

Fireball - that is an answer to someone else's question, I'm afraid.

Hey amberwolf or whatever your name is - answer the question or go away.

Answer 1

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the fall of man in the Garden of Eden caused a rift between God and man that the coming of the Messiah was to mend.

Christians believe that Christ was that Messiah, and not just a messenger from God but in fact, God's Son, Himself Divine. So while message and example are important dimensions of Christ's coming, redemption - balancing the injury done by the first human - was the primary reason for His coming.

Having achieved that, Christ left - but left behind the teaching by which we humans could grow closer to God and fulfill our potential as humans, which is ultimately reunion with God. In some ways, the people who lived after Christ have a better understanding than those who lived with Jesus, because they have the advantage of centuries of prayer and thought and reflection.

In the Scriptures, Peter, who walked with Jesus and was picked by him as head of the apostles and the Church, never fully understood what was going on. Even in the later Acts of the Apostles, he still is learning and figuring out what this all means.

Christians today are doing the same thing - figuring out what the teachings mean in their daily lives. There is no one formula, each has to apply that call of Christ in their individual lives.

Answer 2

There wouldn't be anyone who would believe unless God's Spirit was influencing them. That's one of the concepts in the bible. I also would testify that the Holy Spirit has been working in me, an experience that I cannot deny truthfully. It would appear to me that those people who could not say this have not had those spiritual experiences that I have.

So yes, I am talking about a spiritual encounter that I have had with God's Spirit that most people don't know about. They never have had the experience, and so they have no basis for belief.

That spiritual experience had coincided with my prayer to Him is often called the 'Sinner's Prayer'. I was alone when I did it, and still quite ignorant about many things about Christianity's teachings. But I knew enough to say the prayer ( I had a tract that had it all lined out for me in case I forgot what to say, I don't think that I needed it though), and the next thing I knew was that I had the urge to speak in a language that I did not know. So the experience was quite noticable.

All that was over 20 years ago. And I could write about other occurances that I've had since then, I won't go into those now.

So the Spirit of God works for those He chooses to reveal Himself to, and He did that when I finally trusted Him. After I became a Christian I kept learning about the Bible, and having spiritual experiences.

That's why I cannot give any other answer than to say, yes God really is real. He deals with me on a very personal level, and I cannot truthfully deny it. The table has turned for me; it wouldn't be logical for me to say that God wasn't real, didn't exist, I actually don't know what it's like to experience Him, etc. Not logical at all. In fact by saying so, I would be lying and I know it.

So I fugure that's the part you are missing. The puzzle would be complete if you did have those experiences, but I cannot promise them to you. I know many Christians who could not claim to have had such vivid experiences, you can see that by some of their answers here.

I hope that you can experience God's Spirit. I know that there are others who have, not just me. But that still makes my experiences unique and personal. Those people telling you that "its not a religion, it's a relationship" are correct. It's just that people seem to have a problem believing something so bizzare.

In order to have God in your life, you have to trust Him. Christianity is not about not sinning (what some of my Christian bretheren are saying nothwithstanding), it's about trusting God through Jesus Christ. That's the most important thing to remember.

Answer 3

My belief is that Jesus came to let folks know that the fire and brimstone - the burnt offerings, etc. weren't really necessary, and that God was not some thing of which to be afraid, but that God was pure love... after all, love was Jesus' message. Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus talked about a lot of stuff -- but most of it seemed to center around caring for one-another and not sweating the small stuff.

If we had taken that information and run with it, I think it would have done the job. Instead we have groups of men throughout history putting together Creeds and prayers telling us what we believe and say; and reenactments of historical events (Last Supper) where the focus is on the person of Jesus rather than the message.

And before I get bashed by others, let me tell you that I am a Christian (Episcopalian) who attends church weekly.

Answer 4

Ok ill try to give this one a shot. At least according to how I believe. So NO One take this offensive please. In my opinion, the reason that Jesus was sent to this earth was for first hand experience of the trials of being human. How could God understand if He has never been through the things we face everyday? How could He understand being sick if He never was, how it feels to cry, or be sad, or angry? Yes the people that lived in those days got a first hand experience of God’s work but God got a first hand experience of being human, being weak. Today we know Christ just as well as the people back then because we see our own miracles, He moves in our lives just like He did back then. No we don’t get to see Him in the flesh but we are in no way SOL because of that. We KNOW what He went through for us and I think that’s the most important thing.

Answer 5

I had that question once and I came to the conclusion that in a sense we are totally SOL in seeing the person that was Christ. However in the book of Acts in talks about the Holy Spirit coming down on all of the people. Whereas we don't have Jesus in skin we have the holy spirit and the Bible which recollects the time Jesus was here on Earth.

Answer 6

God indeed sent His Son so that the world would know what God was like. We would know His compassion on the lost, His sternness regarding hypocrisy, and His sacrificial love for the world. We see all this acted out through His Son.

But when we read John chapters 14-17, we find that the Son will send the Holy Spirit so that just as the Spirit enabled the Son to show us the Father, His followers after His death will be able to show others the Son. Jesus has many followers in humble places acting out His love and compassion, His anger toward sin and hypocrisy. God lives through us as He lived through His Son.

Answer 7

There is Much More behind Christ coming to earth, & the sacrifice of his perfect life... It is the original intent that mankind reside on a perfect earth, & he bought that opportunity back for us. Also, he has been crowned the King of God's heavenly government, by which earth & repentant humanity's perfection will be restored. (The following on-line articles are Scriptural discussions of these very matters, & include links to many Scriptures, which are their basis.)

Release From Death
http://watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_08.htm

Restoration to Life
- Why is everlasting life on earth possible and certain? http://watchtower.org/library/lmn/article_09.htm

What REALLY Is the Kingdom of God? :
- Where is it located?
- Who is its King?
- Do others share in ruling with the King?
- What will God's Kingdom do for mankind in the future?
http://watchtower.org/library/rq/article_06.htm

The Hereafter--Where Will It Be?:
- Earth Just a Testing Ground?
- Eternal Happiness---In Heaven or on Earth?
- - Rebels in Heaven
- - An Earth Swept Clean
- - Will the Earth Remain Peaceful?
- - Why Some Do Go to Heaven
- - Earth---Mankind's Eternal Home
http://watchtower.org/e/20001001/article_01.htm

Life in a Peaceful New World
- How It Is Possible for You!
http://watchtower.org/library/t15/peaceful.htm

Answer 8

Don't be confused my friend it's simple.

God's kingdom on earth is not visible. Why? Because it is deep in people's souls. Through Christ, God is so close to the beleive's inner person, that nothing can sepparate them from Him. Not even death. The consolation they feel is all the proof they need.

And Jesus IS physically present - in the eaucharist. Not every sunday, but every day!

I study in Mexico, and there is mass every night, in all churches. There are 3 churches in a 5mile radius from my house. A lot of people attend, not just Mexican farmers, like you immagine, but people like you and me. They meet Jesus in the eucharist, no matter how hard their day was. They walk in with their daily worries, and come out with a new mentality, having been consoled. Not all Americans have this luxury, and I think they should demmand for it.

Answer 9

That is why we have the history of Jesus recorded in the bible.

How many were thrilled with knowing Jesus back then? Not many! The Jews where God's chosen people, they had the prophecies pertaining to the coming Messiah and saw or heard about his miracles and still did not listen. Would he fair any better today? I doubt it. Most, even Christian, would not like what he had to say about their form of worship.

It's called faith. Faith the Jesus existed, that he fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah, that he died and was resurrected, thus giving us a chance for eternal life.

Answer 10

In order to answer your question you need a little more information. While Jesus' role was to allow people to know the Father by knowing the Son, there was a little more to it. Jesus was sent to counter the sin that was introduced in the garden of Eden. God promised to send Him to Adam and Eve, the first humans. He came first to show people that God is who He said He is by fulfilling the prophecies laid out for thousands of years before Jesus. He came to demonstrate God's power through the miracles He performed and finally to show God's mercy through His death and resurrection. To address the final thought you had, Jesus did not come to unite but to divide (those were His words). It was not Jesus who separated people it was the message He brought. Some people would believe and others would not and that would bring separation.