:: Reaching Nepal ::

Over the last four or five months I have become more and more aware of the depth of pluralism in Nepal. The longer I am here I see that peoples attitudes toward Jesus are not normally aggressive or hateful, but instead I see many people with the attitude, “That’s good for you” or “Ok, we will just add him to our other god’s.” This idea that all roads religions to the same God has covered this land. What we call postmodernism has some of it’s roots in this Hindu culture and not only is it found in Asia but now this idea of “many roads, one God” is spreading all over the west like a plague. People are buying into the idea that there is no absolute truth in life- that truth is what you believe it to be.

This last Saturday I started a new sermon series called, “The Uniqueness of Christianity”. I am determined to show how our faith is different than all other religions and ways of thought in this world. As I finish each sermon I will post it here so that you can read. This information is not only useful to the believer here in Nepal, but also those in the west. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

The Uniqueness of Christianity

This week as I was changing channels on my television, I came across a religious program that caught my attention. There was a man standing in front of several hundred school children talking about religion. He was clearly a Hindu and teaching Hindu ideas, but what he was teaching was very disturbing. Behind him was a sign with several different Hindu Gods and a picture of Jesus. Above the pictures there was a title that said, ?all religions come from one God.? This man was teaching these small kids, not to mention the millions in India and Nepal, that it didn?t matter what you believed in; all religions lead to the same God.

Question: What makes Christianity different from of all other religions and ways of life? What makes our faith unique?

This belief that all religions are the same goes something like this. ?There is not just one truth in life. Truth is what you believe it to be. If you think Vishnu is god then he must be. If you think Jesus is god then that?s good for you. And if you think there is no god then that?s fine as well. What you believe is right for you?. This idea is nothing more than a lie created to deceive and draw people away from the only True God.

Just because you believe something does not make it true. Just as there is one truth in math, science, or history there is one Truth in life. Today I am beginning a new sermon series called ?The Uniqueness of Christianity?. I will spend several weeks proving the fact that Christianity stands alone as the one Truth in this life. I?ll do this by addressing several ideas: Christianity is unique because?

1. It has a unique Founder

2. It has a unique history

3. It has a unique Bible

4. It has a unique message

Unique Founder: Jesus

Uniqueness of His Existence

When people think of Jesus, they may think of a baby in a manger or a man teaching His disciples or even a man dying for the sins of the world. But the story of Jesus starts long before his birth as a baby.

As we think about the uniqueness of Jesus we must first talk about His existence. Every man who ever lived had a beginning. Their beginning starts at birth and continues from there: everyone that is except Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus never had a beginning; that He has existed from eternity past. Before time began, Jesus was. Before the universe, Jesus was. And before his own birth, Jesus was.

You might be asking yourself how could Jesus exist before His own birth. It?s simple, Jesus was more than a man: Jesus is God.

John 8:56-59

Here Jesus is teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles and begins telling the crowds that He is the Light of the World. As He is teaching the Jews begin to get upset because of the things He?s saying and the story comes to a climax in verse 56 when the Jews ask, ?You are yet fifty years old and have You seen Abraham?? They assumed the question has a clear answer ? no he had not seen Abraham. They knew when He was born and felt confident this question would silence Him. But Jesus responds to them in a shocking way: ??before Abraham was, I AM.? His answer shocked all of them, ?How could He be before Abraham.? When Jesus made this bold statement He was claiming two things:

I. Jesus Was Before All Things

Jesus was claiming more than just existence before Abraham, He was claiming to have existed before all of creation. Jesus is not alone in claiming his existence before creation. Authors all throughout the Bible teach that Jesus was never created and that He has always existed.

Micah 5:2 ?Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

Isaiah 9:6 ?Everlasting Father?

Colossians 1:16-17 ?All things were created through Him? ?He is before all things?

John 1:1-3 ?In the beginning was the Word? ?He was in the beginning? ?All things were made through Him?

The verses don?t stop there. There are a dozen more (Gen. 1:26?; ?Psa. 102:25?27? with ?Heb. 1:8?12?.?Prov. 8:22?36??; ?John 3:13?; ?John 6:62?; ?John 8:56?58?; ?John 17:5?; ?Rom. 11:36?; ?1 Cor. 8:6?; ?Phil. 2:5?7?; Heb. 1:1?, ?2?; ?Heb. 2:9?, ?14?16?; ?Rev. 4:11), but I think it?s clear that Jesus was before all things. He was more than just a prophet who changed the world, more another great man. He was before all and above all.

Let?s look back to John 8:56-59. By making the claim, ??before Abraham was, I AM.?, Jesus was saying He was before all things, but in saying that, He was saying something even greater. He was claiming to be God.

II Jesus is God

Because Jesus had no beginning, no creation, He is without a creator. What this means is that He is not dependant on anyone for his existence. There is one who has authority over Him. He alone His is only authority. No keep in mind that everyone has an authority except God himself. What that means is if Jesus has no beginning, no creator, and no authority but Himself He must be God. The fact that Jesus existed before all things is proof that he is God, because God alone is before all thing and above all things.

Look at word choice Jesus uses at the end of verse 58. ?I AM?. These are the exact same words God uses in Exodus 3.

Exodus 3:13-14

The name used in these two passages is the name God uses to describe His eternality (never beginning and never ending) and his existence apart from all other things (self-existence). When Jesus call himself ?I AM? in John 8 He is saying that He is God. His statement to the Jews was a statement of His divinity.

Jesus came to this earth as more than just a prophet or a great teacher. He came as God himself. God, by his own free choice, left his home in heaven to come to this earth. The question is raise what would make the God of the universe leave all the greatness of heaven to come to earth with all its pain and misery? The answer is simple. Jesus left his home in heaven for you. ?For me? you may ask? Yes, Jesus came to this earth for the purpose of redeeming you from your own sin. Jesus came out of love for you.

This morning I stand here and tell you that our faith is different from everything else in this world. The reason our faith is unique is because the one in whom we put our faith is unique. Jesus is unique because he had no beginning. He was before all things. He is unique because He was more than just a man, more than a teacher, more than a prophet. He is God.