Americans and Christianity

 

Wikipedia Commons: Child Jesus

“Christianity Today” website had an online article that caught my attention. It had to do with whether Jesus was the Son of God.  It begins:

Christmas is a celebration of a real event, according to most Americans. Just don’t expect them to know exactly why Jesus was born and came to earth.

Personally, I don't know why anyone would be a member of a church purporting to be "Christian" without knowing who Jesus Christ claimed to be. If such a person could not accept that He was the Son of God, why belong to a church worshipping Him as such. Yet, according to the Christianity Today (CT) survey, 9 out of 10 Americans will celebrate Christmas, while not nearly that 90% are members of a Christian church, and an even smaller percentage believe Jesus is the Son of God.

Let me be clear on one point. I believe that Jesus is both the Son of God and is God, too. I know, that doesn't sound possible, but His disciple John wrote an explanation:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1-3 KJV)

There are additional verses following this, but that first verse in John is just as important as Genesis 1:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

In an earlier blog I stated that when a person can believe both Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, they would have no trouble accepting Jesus as the Son of God.

You see, we do not worship three different gods. Christianity is a monotheistic religion worshipping one God, described in the Hebrew Shema:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)

When we read the story of Abraham willing to trust God sufficiently that he would physically sacrifice his own son Isaac, we read a verse very important to me:

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8 KJV)

Jesus is God in human form. Why else would Jesus say:

I and my Father are one. (John 10:30 KJV)

The Jewish religious leaders believed He said it and tried to kill Him:

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33 KJV)

That's my take. I'd love for you to comment with yours. Then we can compare ours against what CT said:

A new study from Lifeway Research finds close to 3 in 4 Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Even more say Jesus is the son of God the Father, but less than half believe Jesus existed prior to being born on that first Christmas.

CT continues with percentages from the Lifeway Research study released in 2022:

90% of Americans will celebrate Christmas;
72% say Jesus was born in Bethlehem two millennia ago;
80% say Jesus was the Son of God the Father;
41% say God's son existed before Jesus was born.

The body containing Jesus' mind, spirit, and soul was born 2,000 years ago. On that I agree wholeheartedly, but my God, the Father Jesus exampled us in prayer, is not confined by time as we are:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8 KJV)

I find it sad that just over 40% of those who celebrate Christmas do not understand the biblical reason for His birth, as stated in the CT article:

". . .  some Americans do not connect the Jesus born in Bethlehem with the Messiah who already existed as God now coming in the flesh. . . . Despite widespread belief that Jesus really came to earth as a baby, there is far less familiarity with why Jesus said He came."

I suggest getting a digital King James Version and search the phrase "I am come" to see what Jesus Himself said why He came. Also do a search for all the verses containing the words: no man Father me, to find the seven verses where Jesus spoke of He and His Father. Also check Luke 19:10 and John 14:6.

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
(Luke 19:10 KJV)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 KJV)

What we will celebrate during Christmas is a birth prophesied for centuries, fulfilled. After that, read the rest of the story.