Dear brothers and sisters of
Grace,
“Passionate Believers & The Passion of
Christ”
“The Passion of Christ” is the movie we should not see. And
never mind that you might be struck by lightning (as was the actor who portrayed Jesus) if
you do. Do not think first that the Elders
will be at your door (and they will be) if you do. The
movie is sin. We are Christians. God hates sin.
So do we. Exactly because we have godly
passion for the real Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, will we avoid, and denounce,
The movie is sin against the second commandment. This commandment forbids the making of images of God, and also the worshiping of these. Both are forbidden—the images and the worship of them, because God is GOD, and there is no creature like Him which could represent Him (Isaiah 40:18), and because God has given another Way, besides bowing before or venerating earthly images, by which we may approach and worship God. That way is Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus, the Son of God incarnate is the express image of God (Hebrews 1:3) in Whom all the fullness of the godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is the only Way to the Father. He is no mere creature. He is no sinful man. He is our God. And James Caviezel (the actor) is not.
Passion? Do you want to have passion,
feeling, a warmth and vitality in your Christianity? Want
really to know what it must have been like for Jesus to suffer and die for us? Want your unbelieving neighbor to get saved? Go see The
Passion of the Christ! And bring a friend!” say many.
Go to Church!
Saith the Lord. For to Church, the
blessed and honored body of Christ, is given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. That Church, pillar and ground of the truth, preaches. Preaching
is the means of faith by which faith, and by which alone
we see Jesus, and understand and appreciate rightly His passion, death, resurrection,
and indeed, all that He is and does. Preaching is the spark and the fire of holy passion for Jesus. Preaching is what the Lord Jesus Himself did always
and then first thing after His passion, death,
and resurrection. You remember? There were two confused souls traveling away from
See it? The Passion of Christ, beheld
not at the theatre, but now showing…in the
Church! Yes indeed, known by faith, the Christ
and the Passion of the Christ is now known in the body of Christ. For Christ is in that body. And that body is in Him. And we are given to participate in Him, in His
death, and in His resurrection, and in all of His glories (Romans 6: 4-11; Ephesians
The Passion of our Jesus? Seen in our suffering for His sake. The glories of Jesus? Enjoyed in every Christian home and soul. The works of Jesus? Seen in the hands and feet of the truly Christian Body doing good in the household of faith, and in all the world.
Go see that Passion! And be part of it! And invite your friends! Just remind them, and let us remind ourselves: we don’t need tickets. Just grace. Just faith. Just one another. And Jesus above all, who is also, even now, in the midst! Jesus Who, after He has led us by faith along the narrow way to avoid the pits and temptations of this present evil age, will some day deliver us, and take us home.
That’s it! A Passion, the
Passion, a Christ, the Christ, Who delivers!
Yours always, in Christ, and in His love,
in the service of the precious gospel,
===========================