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I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people (Jude 1:3, NLT).
I have a challenge today for all the astute readers of Interruptions. If you are in doubt about your astuteness, then answer the following question correctly and doubt no more.
Okay, the question …
I was reading a book recently, and in the Introduction, I read a quote (below). This led me to the question, “What about this quote made me want to read this book, and what about this quote made me think that this book could become my favorite book?”
Here is the quote …
Our normal sense of history makes it difficult for us to comprehend the sheer immensity of what I call the “Christian Interruption,” but it is something we must comprehend if we are to properly understand the enormous force of this “Christian Interruption” in shaping the reality all of us inhabit.
HHHHMMMHHM … I know you got it.
So many of us have become so complacent in our thinking that we believe the lies of modernity about the so-called evils of Christianity, and we don’t realize that the Christian Interruption – of God becoming flesh, changed human existence for the good.
And this change of the aptly called Interruption couldn’t have happened in history without divine intervention.
Below are three history-shifting results of Jesus in the flesh …
- Religion moved from works to grace. Forgiveness is impossible without the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The song “Jesus Paid It All” is true.
- There is legitimate justice. Forgiveness without sacrifice is incomplete and lacks the thoroughness of healing by His wounds (Isaiah 53:5).
- Truth is established. The gospel given “once for all” eliminates the need for progressive or modern re-interpretations and improvement. Yes, confession of sins and repentance for misinterpretation are still needed – but the truth that sets us free was given 2,000 years ago.
One final quote from my new favorite book (and the only thing that will notch the book down a bit on my all-time favorites list is long paragraphs).
I’m going to inflict one of these paragraphs on you now. If you don’t have time to read it now, come back after a jolt of dark roast coffee.
What I find mystifying in the atheists, agnostics, and detractors of the Christian faith is the strange presupposition that a truly secular society would, of its nature, be more tolerant and less prone to violence than any society shaped by any form of faith. Given that the modern age of secular governance has been the most savagely and sublimely violent period in human history by a factor (or body count) of incalculable magnitude, it is hard to identify the grounds for their confidence.
I hope this combined double whammy of the blog Interruptions and the book that mentions the Christian Interruption will interrupt any doubts that you have about the faith given to all of us once and for all time.