WHO IS JESUS & WHAT WAS HIS GOSPEL

Submitted by Faisal (Saudi Arabia), Aug 14, 2008 at 15:26

Jesus Christ is that great son of man who was appointed to return the lost children of Israel to the House of the Lord. The Saviour of Israel who was born in Bethlehem twenty centuries ago lived casting out radiance upon his people. As one engaged in a battle against the institution of a decadent priesthood as well as the traditional belief systems, he had to confront much opposition. Indeed, the high priests had even decided upon the crucifixion of the great man on the cross. He had shown miracles to prove that he was sent by God Himself.

What was this 'Gospel' which he had preached at the cost of sacrifices and by way of his showing miracles?

He had spoken of the Day of Judgment. Christ was that great lover of humanity who had realized the fact that mere legislations and governments alone can never make a man good. He taught that the ultimate objective of human life was entry into Paradise and escape from Hellfire. He proclaimed the eternal life of the Kingdom of Heaven to be much higher than the transitory goods and comforts of this life. He had enlightened the people on this matter with the aid of some of the most beautiful and lofty examples that could be conceived. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mathew 6:19-21)

Christ who strictly taught that it is better to cut off here, and now, the parts of the body that are the cause of sin than to subject one's whole body to the fire of Hell, essentially teaches that it is better to save oneself from Hell in the hereafter even if it were to entail the loss of one's own life in this world. He said : "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire. "(Mark 9:43-49)

Christ taught that to enter into Paradise and escape from Hell one would have to act righteously. In particular, he had stressed that such righteousness must not be founded on the desire for worldly recognition. Look at the advice of Jesus: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Mathew 6:1)

"... so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Mathew 6:4)

The Messiah, who taught that even the enemy was to be loved, actually instructed the Israelites, who had lived a life in mutual animosity and conflict, in the message of love and in the way in which that message was to be the cause of moral transformation. He had advised thus, "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Mathew 5:44,45)

Christ had sought to alienate the people of Israel, who were given to conflicts and quarrels, to murders and to anger against their own brother and to abusing him, from all these misconducts by teaching that all of these were acts that could potentially lead to Hell. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Mathew 5:21,22)

Christ strongly opposed adultery. Indeed, he taught that to even cast a glance upon a woman, with the intention of desire, was tantamount to having sinned. "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mathew 5:27,28) Here, all circumstances that may lead to adultery have come in for criticism. The fundamental reason for the decadence within the modern world wherein feminine charms have been made the objects of display is highlighted in these words of Christ made two millenniums ago.

Christ taught the masses that they were to live in accordance with the directives issued by the Lord Creator and Sustainer. He advised his followers that they were to come closer unto Him through prayer and meditation. But he had stressed that such acts should not be undertaken as a hypocritical gesture that is to be displayed in front of the people. He said that as it is the Lord Himself, who is best aware of all secrets, who confers rewards, it is meaningless to perform deeds in order that they be seen by the people.

However, Christ had taught that the belief in one God was the highest of all commandments. Observe the reply he had given to the question as to which commandment was the greatest of all. "'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" (Mark 12:29,30)

Look at the prayer which Christ taught, "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Mathew 6:10-13)

Christ had taught that all prayer must be made to the Lord God alone. While teaching the maxim, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Mathew 7:7) he had taught that the Father in Heaven would respond in even more generous terms to those who ask of Him. (Mathew 7:11). Indeed, in the most critical junctures in the life of that great lover of humanity, we have seen that he had always resorted only to the calling upon the one Creator alone. Observe, for instance, the occasion when he had called upon the one and only God to save him from the cross prepared by the wicked high priests of the land: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.'" (Mathew 26:39)

But what is it that the Christians of today do? The majority of them are those who are involved in the act of be- seeching their saints and idols apart from the one God who created and sustains the entire universe. However, we do not see, even a single instance, wherein Christ ever called upon or consider a mediator, any of the other saintly personalities who preceded him. It is, therefore, not possible for any genuine follower of Christ, pledged as he is to the life in accordance with the life of Christ, to call upon any other than the one and only God.

How deplorable is the fact that those who actually call themselves true Christians are, in fact, themselves engaged in the worship of Christ and, therefore, in the act that is contrary to his own advises! If only those who call upon and make prayer to Lord Jesus had at least listened to the advice of that great man. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mathew 7:21) Through these words Christ had sought to strongly criticize the act of calling him 'Lord' and to advice the people to do the will of the Father.

We have understood that Christ had preached the unadulterated faith in the one God. Indeed, all prophets right from Noah to John the Baptist had preached the same message of 'Our Lord is one Lord.' Jesus had only repeated that message. However, the church today holds as good a doctrine that was unheard of by Christ or any of his followers for that matter. That doctrine is the doctrine of Trinity.

Even if all the books of the Bible ranging from Genesis to Revelation, which stretched through the Old and New Testaments, are sifted, cross examined and studied, nowhere will there be found even a single statement to support the idea that the God Lord comprises of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The 'Father' who is introduced in the Bible is actually the one and only, Merciful God who created and sustains this universe. The 'Holy Ghost' is but one among the creations which work in accordance with the Divine commandments. The 'Son' is but a great messenger who had come to guide the Israelites along the path of righteousness. These three are not the same; they are three distinct individualities.

What, indeed, was that emotion which had then prompted the Church to accept the doctrine of Trinity which, unlike the faith in the one God taught by all messengers appointed in the world which could easily be comprehended by the mind of man, was difficult to comprehend and was never in the original teachings of the prophets themselves?

It was four centuries after Christ that the Doctrine of Trinity was accepted as the canonical belief of the Church at the Synod of Constantinople. Up until that time the doctrine was unknown to the apostles, who were still alive, as well as to their followers. If by not accepting the doctrine of Trinity one forfeits the reward of eternal life, it will be Christ himself who will, first of all, be hurled into the fire of Hell.

It can be seen that this belief has been borrowed from the other existing perverted beliefs of the day. Indeed, the idea of three gods as well as of their union was an idea that was in vogue even before the time of Christ. Historical excavations have now made it clear that the Babylonian civilization which existed two thousand years before Christ nurtured a belief in the oneness of the three gods Ishamther, Shin and Shamesh. The Egyption civilization which existed about the same time, too, held the belief in the oneness of the three gods Horus, Osiris and Isis. According to the Palyrian beliefs that were extant in the first century after Christ, the Universe was held in balance by the union of the persons of the Moon-god, Sun-god and the god of the heavens. The Hindu belief was that the one God, Parabrahmma, resided in the three manifestations of Bhrahmav, Shiva and Vishnu. The Buddhists, too, held a belief in the three manifestations of the Divine: Vajjupani, Manjushri and Aralokitheshwaran. The Mithraists of Persia were a people who worshipped the three gods Oramasdas, Mithran and Ahirman.

The Emperor Constantine too was a religionist of such a perverted mentality. He was, in fact, one of the most cruel emperors the world had ever seen in that he had mercilessly butchered his own father-in-law, brother-in-law, nephew, wife and son. It is held that he had embraced Christianity in order that he be freed of the sins he had committed. Even so, Constantine, who readily and eagerly believed the Christian belief that all sins of the past would be forgiven once the baptism commenced, was himself baptised only on his deathbed. This implied that he had no opportunity, whatsoever, to sin again after his baptism. (Ref. T.W. Doane: The Bible Myths: Should we believe in Trinity ?, Watch tower Bible Society)

It was this Emperor Constantine who had presided over the Nicene Council in the year 325 C.E. It must thus be remembered that even while he presided over the council he had undergone no baptism himself. It was this very council that laid the basis for the acceptance of the belief that 'Christ and God are one and the same' which ultimately led the church towards the recognition of the doctrine of trinity itself. It is, therefore, not difficult to see that it was nothing but the ploy of Constantine to consolidate his own political power through the conjoining of the religion of the worship of the sun, which was prevalent in Rome, with Christianity, which had worked behind the origin of this deviation from established norms.

It was not just the recognition of the doctrine of Trinity, which had taken place at the council at Constantinople. It was at this council that the cross of light, the symbol of the Sun god, which resembled the cross on which Christ was crucified, was accepted as the symbol of Christianity itself. It was again at this very council that it was decided that December 25th, the birthday of the Sun god, would be celebrated as Christmas day and that Sunday, which was the holy day for the Sun god, would be observed as the day of the Sabbath. It was only through the exile and murder of the great,scholarly critics of the Nicene Council which approved the intermingling of these false and perverted ideas of other groups with the pristine teachings of Christ, the messenger of God, that the Church came to accept these grave distortions as canonical.

We have understood that Christ had never taught the concept of Trinity. All that he did say was that it is only the One God who is to be worshipped. He had worked many a miracle But he never claimed that he had done these to prove that he was God or that he was one in a triple God-head. He had said, "I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father had taught me." (John 8:28)

Jesus was, indeed, a great man. A man who had endured great sacrifices for the sake of the Israelites. For that reason itself he was, doubtless, great. But the Almighty who had appointed him is much greater still. This has been stated by Christ himself: "..the Father is greater than I." (John 14:28) Here, Christ has struck at the very root of the Trinity doctrine which holds that the One God is essentially a combination of three equally powerful personalities: the father, the son and the holy ghost.

The most important gospel of Christ was this, " 'Worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only.'" (Mathew 4:10) Yes. It is only, the pure and holy Creator, the Sustainer of all life, who is to be worshipped. Krishna, Christ and the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) : all were creations; never the Creator. It is the Creator who is to be worshipped. The Almighty, All-Powerful Creator alone. This is the Gospel of Christ.

That which the Quran quotes from the words of Jesus is also the same message. "'It is Allah Who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is straight.'" (Quran 3:51)

Jesus had departed from this world conveying the news of the arrival of a great messenger from God who was to come after him. He said: "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Pericletus will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement....

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." (John 16:7-13)

The Pericletus prophesied by Jesus was born in Arabia. It was the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who came confirming and attesting to the truth of the mission of Jesus, who taught the world concerning sin, truth, justice and law. Indeed, it was he who had guided the world unto all truth. The prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who had taught the etiquettes that were to be observed in all fields of life, was truly the follower of Christ as well as the last of the messengers. Islam is the religion that has been completed through him. He had exhorted the people to tread upon the path of Jesus and all the earlier prophets.

Accept, therefore, the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the follower of Christ, as the messenger of God. Order life in accordance with the dictates of the Quran - the Divine book revealed to the world through him. That, and that alone, is the path to eternal salvation.

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