The Actually Existing Jesus
by
Joe La Bianca

Col. 2:16
Therefore do not let anyone judge you
by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration
or a Sabbath day.
Let no man judge you. Firmly decide not to let their decisions about you matter. Someone may say that you are not doing “it” the way they want. They may punish you in their own mind by deciding that you must not be a Christian because of what you do or do not do. If you listen to them, then they will win. Instead, consider their conclusions to be utterly worthless. You will find that religious people are your biggest critics.
By religious, I mean any one who tries to earn salvation by works. You will find these people in many a religion and/or church, whether traditional or evangelical. Never be moved away from the happy conviction of freedom through faith in Jesus.
When a person calls your salvation into question, they are really placing doubt on their own salvation. Jesus said that we are to judge not, for the measure judgmental people use will be “sling-shotted” back upon themselves, and they will be required to obey their own harsh, censorious determinations.
You can eat whatever you want; you can drink whatever you want; you can go to a festival or choose to not go; you can consider one day as holy to the Lord, or everyday as special. In Christ we are free to be who God has made us, and there is now no longer any outward code to obey. In the past, God outlined shadows and pictures of how things would be in Christ. Once Christ came, there was no more need for the shadows. The reality is Jesus and we should focus our full attention on that reality.
There are so many that have so much to say concerning our lives. They misuse the bible doing it. But the truly scriptural person will focus on Jesus and Him crucified. Jesus is the answer, not some subjective opinion from a judgmental heart. You’ve trusted Jesus to save you? Now trust Him to take care of your life. We do not need to be guided by legalistic people; we have the loving Holy Spirit to guide us.
We should trust God to change a person’s heart, and if someone is going off into obvious, grievous sin, we should, in a humble and gentle way, try to restore them, in love, knowing that we ourselves are saved by grace and liable to fall as well. Love one another as God’s grace enables, and as our faith in Him is expressed. The only thing that counts is faith expressed by love; faith in the person and work of Jesus, and love, which is the natural outcome of faith. Col. 2:17
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ.
A shadow is a dark outline of the light that is being blocked. Jesus is the light of the world, and the fore-shadows found in the Old Testament pointed in a dark, mysterious way, to Jesus. Now that the clarity of Christ, through His brilliant light, has arrived, the forecasts of Jesus are fulfilled.
Don’t get me wrong, there are clear, unambiguous prophecies of Jesus, which point unerringly to His Messiah-ship. There are also types and pre-figures of Jesus, that give indication to Christ’s arrival and ministry. We are told in this passage of scripture to concentrate on the reality; the actually-existing-Jesus. Don’t go in reverse when so much progress has been made. Why look at a shadow, which is blocking the light, when you can view the brilliance of the glory of God in the face of Christ?
When the ritual replaces the relationship, then the shadow of unreality is crowding out the pure message of good news. When the forms of religious rites become more important than Jesus, Jesus then becomes secondary, and you know that’s not where He wants to be. Liturgy can easily become a legislated, outward rule, that never touches the heart of the matter. Jesus is the heart of the matter.
Is Christ your reality? Is His life, death, and resurrection a rock solid actuality? Or is Jesus just a person in history; the founder of a religion who was swallowed up by time? To many, Jesus is a figurehead with little to do in the lives of these nominal professors. He is a symbol on a church wall, ignored because of the distractions of Christ-less sermons. You can preach with giant tablets of stone rigged up behind you, and never know God. Some hear of Jesus and then go out of the service, totally oblivious to the true, simple gospel.
To the heathen, life is spent seeing, touching, experiencing, but never believing. We must take Jesus into our every day, by faith. When we are happy, may we thank Christ. When we are sad, may we trust Christ. When we are feeling far away, may we know, by faith, that Jesus draws near to us when we believe in Him.
We can’t see God, but we can see that He is here by what He left behind. I am referring to creation with it’s minute wonders and it’s magnificent vastness. We can’t see God, but we can know His presence through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised to be with us till the end, so let us realize this and know His reality in our lives. Every day, give thanks to God; every day, trust in His love through Jesus; every day, long for His appearing, and this longing faith will purify, even as He is pure.
We are saved by grace through faith; grace, because God was merciful and kind in giving His Only Son, who became our sacrifice and righteousness; and faith, because we believe in the mercy and kindness of God in Christ. There are no other elements to salvation. God’s side is the grace side, and ours is the faith side. God offered and now we must simply accept. Salvation was meant to be easy, for the difficulty in salvation falls on the shoulders of the One doing the saving, not the helpless ones who need saving.
I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, “What about my righteous life? What about all my good deeds and the sin I resist? What about witnessing and separation from this evil world?” To these I answer, we are God’s workmanship, not our own workmanship. The answer is not in focusing on ourselves, for self-righteousness must be forsaken before any one can be saved. The answer is to look to the Author and Finisher of salvation. Besides, there are too many “ My’s and I’s ”
in your complaint. You are focused on the wrong person. Look to Jesus.
We are not required to do any works to be saved. We are not required to do, we are recreated to be. I have a feeling that to many, works are more important than Jesus. “Look at me, God, see how wonderful I am?” you say. If you were so wonderful, God would not have had to see His Son die. You insult the Spirit of grace when you point to yourself. Look to Jesus lifted up. That’s the way, the only Way.
God’s grace not only saves us, God’s grace also changes us to be new creations in Christ. But our changed lives are in no way the same as our perfect standing in Christ. You must separate the two. Or else salvation is in different measures of holiness or the lack thereof. At the end of the day, we all get one denarius each, for believing!
We must be careful to give God all the glory and put no confidence in our flesh. Sins are dangerous to our eternal souls, but just as malignant is the self-confidence of a legalistic heart. Be careful to avoid self in all its forms, and to trust only in Jesus, the Person and the work on Calvary.