GodSprings - May 04, 2016

Am I a Second Edition of Christ?

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (NIV)

I was in Jammu Mission for the last four days. This visit was enriching in many ways. During my visit I met Rev. Aji Eapen, the Vicar of Christ Church in Jammu. While we were at his home a Kashmiri guy visited him. There was something special in the way he carried himself and the way he talked. His appearance made us feel he was an ordinary guy. But there was something sparkling in his eyes. Aji achen asked me if we knew this person. I said, “No”. He introduced this man as Shaukat Ahmad Darr a Muslim, from Srinagar who got converted to Christianity. Muslim converted to Christianity - It’s so simple when I write these things. But his journey to conversion and even now has been demanding. He was put in jail and beaten almost to death but still holds on to Christ. His two-year-old daughter was thrown into the well but still this family holds on to Christian faith. I wondered what makes him follow Christ even after all these things. It made me question myself would I have pursued Christ if I had to go through this mayhem.

The Jewish leaders were astonished by the boldness of Peter and John. They weren’t impressed with their background. They realized that they had been with Jesus. But how did they know this? It wasn’t in their education. They had no formal religious training. It wasn’t in their credentials. They had none. It wasn’t in their religious pedigree. They didn’t have one. It was in the Spirit-filled boldness that was born out of knowing Jesus.

No fact is more important for our consideration today. All around us we see signs of the diminishing impact of Christianity on our culture. We bemoan the advance of secularism as we watch the crumbling of social institutions that have stood in place for thousands of years. We wonder why Christians have lost our influence in society. I think this verse offers us a very clear answer.

The early Christians turned the world upside down because they had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. That single fact explains the boldness of the first generation of believers who took the gospel from Jerusalem across the Roman Empire. They would not fit into the ordinary categories of religion.

It was more than just knowledge. It was more than a few prayers. It was more than religion as a hobby. It was something that produced a dynamic power that transformed ordinary men into bold witnesses for Christ. Yet it had nothing to do with a degree or a seminary education.

It is dangerous to be around Jesus and not be with Jesus. There is a difference between being around Jesus and being with Jesus. Peter and John were doing what we as Christians should always do. They were “ready to give an answer” for the hope that was in them (1 Peter 3:15). They gave an answer and it got them in trouble. Acts 4:2 even pinpoints the exact issue. The Jewish leaders were “greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead”

They simply told the truth: “You crucified Jesus.” “God raised him from the dead.” That’s bold. That’s powerful. That’s courage on steroids.

The response was phenomenal – “Many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand” (4.4). No wonder their enemies said, “These men have been with Jesus.” Shaky Peter has become solid as a rock. When Christ commandeers a life, the change will be evident to all.

As Spurgeon said, “Any fool can sing in the sunlight.” What will you do when you lose your job, when your son is in jail, when your marriage collapses, when the church splits, when the cancer returns, when your best friend betrays you? What do you do when you are thrown in jail for your faith?

If we’re Peter and John, we preach Jesus. This is costly, but when trouble comes, even our enemies can see the difference that Christ has made in our life.

Spurgeon concluded his sermon Imitators of God with a beautiful illustration. He says that if we have been like Christ on earth, we will be like him in heaven. He imagines an angel at the gate waiting to admit those who look like Jesus. The angel turns away a man with a crown of earthly greatness and a man with a vast education and someone who possesses rare beauty. Finally, the angel turns away a celebrity.

None of that will matter in the least at the gate of heaven. But if the things that matter on earth don’t matter in heaven, who then will ever be admitted?

Here is Spurgeon’s answer:

“Then there appears another: poor he may have been; illiterate he may have been, but the angel, as he looks at him, smiles and says, “It is Christ again, a second edition of Jesus Christ is there. Come in, come in. Eternal glory thou shalt win. Thou art like Christ. In heaven thou shalt sit because thou art like him.”

Shaukat Ahmad Darr, an ordinary individual but I believe he was a second edition of Jesus Christ bearing all these things for the Almighty. Am I a second edition of Christ?