I have a few acquaintances, who for some personal reasons, think that it is a good, fun, time to mock Christ, and my faith in Him, as well as the faith of all Christians. They say things like, “Christ is a mythological character, God does not exist, all Christians are crooks, all Christians are homosexuals and touch little boys, Christians are the ones bringing all of the illegal immigrants in, If there is a God Christians are just trying to make themselves feel better by making up Christ who they dump all their sins on and God is really going to grind them to powder because there is nobody to atone for their sins, Christians are the worst people, the Bible is made up, religion is just used by the elite to control the masses, (“religion is the opiate of the masses.” ala Karl Marx, oh by the way he is dead, but Jesus is alive!) I am God worship me, I’d never worship a god who would allow people like you into heaven, Roman Catholicism, Easter Orthodoxy, Russian Orthodoxy, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnessism, Seventh Day Adventism, Judaism, Islam, (insert blasphemous heretical cult/religion here) are all the same.
Now we know these are ignorant, and hateful statements, that are the product of a heart and mind set against God, but it doesn’t cause us to be any less hurt when someone says them regardless of their professed reasons for saying them.
1 John 5:19, “19We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
Romans 1:18-23, “ 18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,19because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 8:6-8, “6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
It is even more upsetting when friends, or family say these things purposefully to get under our skin. Why does it hurt? Because our identity is wrapped up in Christ, if we are in Christ. Someone is mocking the one who you love, gave you new life, took the punishment you deserve, the one who died for you, and changed your heart. Of course, it should hurt.
Take heart, God is our fortress. He is our defense. God will not be mocked.
Psalms 62:5-8 “5My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
6He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.”
Galatians 6:7-8, “7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Psalms 1:1-6, “1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.”
We know that they only mock us, and God, because they hate God. One day, if they don’t come to be in Christ, they will be judged outside of Him. They will be judged in their sins.
Matthew 5:11-12, “ 11“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Romans 8:1-5, “1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
What should our response be when people treat us badly because of Christ? I encourage you to follow the link and read the article. How many of us could do like Christ, and stand silently while being accused falsely, insulted, and assaulted without a plea or defense? How many of us could pray for God to not hold this against them? How many of us could look forward to the treasures in Heaven, while allowing someone to destroy our earthly pleasure? As Christians, we need to think about these questions, and respond as Stephen, and the other Apostles who were martyred, and all the martyrs thereafter, even today being martyred for Christ. God is good, and we must praise Him, and tell of Him to all the world, even if they persecute us, and kill us.
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