On Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, near Atlanta, GA, a new billboard now invites people to “Find Jesus in the Quran.”  Surprised?  Don’t be.  Most of the religions I checked have some form of belief in Jesus.  The problem is not what these religions (Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhism, Baha’i, and even some watered down versions of Christianity!) believe about Jesus, but what they do NOT believe about Him.  They believe He was a prophet, an angelic being, a wise teacher, an incarnation of love, etc.  But they do not believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, is the human manifestation of God.

What difference does that make?  It’s no small detail, but a make or break essential.  Here is what this “wise teacher” said about Himself:

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9b)

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

Don’t avoid the meaning of this second, simple statement; the people who first heard it did not misunderstand what He meant.  As they picked up rocks to bash His brains out, they said they were doing so:

“… because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  (John 10:33b)

To say that Jesus was merely a “wise teacher” is to ignore Who He claimed to be.  You can’t have a watered down version of Jesus without denying that He told the truth.  To deny Who He is, is to oppose Who He is.  Here is how John stated this blunt truth:

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:22-23)

You might find someone called Jesus in the Quran, but you will not find The Son of God, The Savior in that book.  Make sure you know Who He really is!

Personal note:  Thanks for waiting; we had a great time visiting kids and grand-kids for Thanksgiving, arriving back in Colorado just as the state became freeze-dried by an arctic blast.  Brrrrrrrr…