For anybody who actually understands the message of God to humankind, which permeates the pages of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the question is a non sequitur. There would be no religion if the Son of God had not decided to rescue humankind and demonstrate the righteousness of God to the fallen creation.
Actually, the righteousness of the Omniscient One demanded that the violation of faith that occurred in the Garden of Eden be rectified. This violation was initiated by the covering cherub—as inferred by the Scriptures—who happens to be known as Lucifer (Satan, Devil, Beelzebub—Lord of Flies[1] ).
The Old Testament clearly teaches that God has a Son who carries the same name as Himself. The name of God would be fully revealed upon the revealing of the Son.
- I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2:7–8)
- I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! (Proverbs 30:3-4)
- I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:21-23)
- No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. (John 1:18)
- Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. (2 John 1:3)
- Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
- He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
Had the Lord God decided throw the Devil in prison once he had sinned, and Eve also, before Adam saw her eat of the prohibited fruit, then a new woman could have been created for Adam. But for reasons that we do not know—having been made in the image of God—Eve was permitted to eat of the prohibited fruit in front of Adam, who also decided to violate faith in his Creator’s word to him.
Religion, which comes from religare,[2] means to bind back. True religion is therefore the quest to return to the Creator of the Universe and establish a relationship that is real—not virtual or hypothetical.
Once Adam and Eve had violated their relationship with their Creator, they had effectively cut themselves loose from the unity they possessed. Sin is the same as dissipation. Whereas they would have lived forever, because the constituent elements within their physical bodies would not break down, now the process of dissipation had entered into the cells of their bodies, so death was inevitable. The body breaks down because of sin—separation from God—and physical death is the result.
However, spiritual death is not physical death. And the spiritual realm exists in a dimension that is not seen or felt or tasted with our physical senses. The spiritual realm consists of that which we know exists and refer to as the immaterial, the incorporeal, the intangible elements of existence, which includes such phenomena as love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-restraint, etc, and their correlating negatives. For this reason, Jesus stated:
- And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
However, the Bible teaches that we are beings that possess not only a body and a soul, but also a spirit.
- May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
The spirit component of our being is that which is not destroyed, according to the Bible, when the soul and the body are destroyed in Hell. This spirit is actually that part of us which is of the same substance that enables us to possess faith and be like God. Moses understood this.
For those who meditate—as per Psalm One—the truths of Scripture are revealed and, eventually, the fullness of the deeper understanding of their implications for humankind. For we find in the Torah that God is the God of spirits of flesh and whoever sins against Him—i.e. rejects the truth of life—shall be blotted out of the book of those who are to enjoy eternity. For the Lord will appoint a man to lead the congregation of those who have seen fit to return to Him.
- And they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?” (Numbers 16:22)
- But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. (Exodus 32:33)
- Moses said to the Lord, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” (Numbers 27:15-17 )
The apostle Paul when speaking to the Greeks who delighted in discussing their opinions, if not really seeking the truth, clearly stated the purpose of God and why people exist on planet Earth.
So Paul, standing in the middle of the Are-op′agus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us, for‘In him we live and move and have our being’;as even some of your poets have said,‘For we are indeed his offspring.’Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22–31)
There is only one religion that is the true religion. For only one religion brings man back to God. Reconciliation is not found through any other person other than Lord Jesus Christ. All other religions have been the creations of men. Unfortunately, people confuse Roman Catholicism with being a Christian, along with Calvinism (which adherents claim is the gospel) and (Russian, Greek, Eastern, etc) Orthodox confederations which have the many images and false practices that are clearly spoken against within the Scriptures. Besides these, there are also numerous splinter groups that emphasize their own version of beliefs that are not in accord with the plan and purpose of the God in Lord Jesus Christ.
Fortunately, ignorance is overlooked. But for those who knowingly practice and approve of that which is a violation of what God expects within our relationships with each other, as a race of beings created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), and Himself, then we are giving our Creator the middle finger and are choosing a fate worse than physical death—eternal punishment. Not that the threat of eternal punishment is meant to make people come to their senses, but rather the kindness of God (Romans 2:4;Romans 11:22) is what we need to recognize, so that we might respond to our Heavenly Father with a right attitude.
If Jesus (meaning Savior), the only Son of God, were not to come to Earth, so that the righteousness of God could be ratified through His death and an inheritance bequeathed for all to accept, then there would be no other religion, because humans would not exist on planet Earth as we know it.
Footnotes
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