Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up
Part 5
“The New Age Jesus”
2 Cor. 11:3-4 ERV “But I am afraid that your minds will be led away from your true and pure following of Christ. This could happen just as Eve was tricked by that snake with his clever lies. 4 You seem to be quite patient with anyone who comes to you and tells you about a Jesus that is different from the Jesus we told you about.”
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Now, here the Apostle Paul is upbraiding the Corinthian church for not only allowing false teaching about Jesus into their midst, but for soaking in what they were teaching!
Paul says they were being presented a “different Jesus” from the one he and the Apostles had taught them.
Their discernment was MIA and it had placed them in danger of being led astray.
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Now why is it so important that we be accurate in what we teach, and are taught, about Jesus?
SIMPLE—because he himself said he’s the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to God but through Him!—John 14:6
If you’re presented a false Jesus, you won’t find genuine salvation and all the blessings that come with it!
False teachers, false Christs, false prophets, and false messages about Jesus have covered the world since He was here on earth.
And there are more today than in all of history.
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Take the Cults that always twist and pervert who the real Jesus was and is.
There’s a Mormon Jesus, a JW Jesus, an Islamic Jesus.
The MORMON Jesus was a pre-existent spirit and the brother of the devil—He also married Mary (the sister of Lazarus), Mary Magdalene, and Martha—so the Mormon Jesus was a polygamist with 3 wives!
The JW Jesus is taught as the first created being of Jehovah God—so Jesus was not God, but a created being like angels.
The Jesus of ISLAM was a prophet but not the Son of God, did not die on the Cross, and did not come back from the dead.
When you add up the sheer numbers of followers these 3 cults enjoy, you have untold hundreds of millions believing in a “different, false Jesus that cannot save.”
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Now, just like the Corinthian church had been invaded by false teachers teaching a “different Jesus,” the church in America has experienced a new, steady infiltration of yet another false Christ—the NEW AGE Jesus.
So first, what is the New Age?
The New Age Movement is a mixture of science and Eastern mysticism with a generous splash of the occult.
Unlike all other world religions, it has no holy book like the Bible, no central organization, headquarters, membership, or formal clergy.
Like the major cults, the New Age Movement uses words and phrases that Christians are familiar and comfortable with, like—Jesus, spirit, spiritual, transformation, new world coming, unity, oneness, Christ, and so on.
Yet, the terms they use have very different meanings from how a Christian would understand them.
This is why many Christians are deceived into thinking that the New Age is simply another cry for world peace, or a safe route to the spirit world.
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The fact is that the New Age is nothing more than repackaged occultism.
Peggy Taylor, co-owner of a popular bookstore in Milwaukee, said in an interview:
“Most bookstores have renamed their occult section New Age. It was a helpful term to allow mainstream people to start looking at what was thought of as occult.”
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So in reality, the New Age Movement isn’t new at all—it’s a bundle of old deceptions wearing a new suit!
Its teachings originate from Buddhism, Hinduism, and western occultism.
These teachings have successfully captivated many people, including many professing Christians bored with church as usual.
The Bible warns, “The Spirit clearly says that in the last days some will abandon the faith and will follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”—1 Tim. 4:1
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And of course, the New Age brings Jesus into their message to give it the appearance of being connected to him—thus creating a NEW AGE JESUS!
For instance, one of their most popular authors wrote a bestseller entitled, “The Reappearance of the Christ.”
Another New Age author took a page out of the New Testament book of Revelation and called his book, “Revelation: The Birth of the New Age.”
Other popular NA books include, “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus” and “The Lost Years of Jesus.”
One book considered to be the “bible” of the New Age is entitled “A Course in Miracles” and the author claims it was dictated to her by an “inner voice” that was Jesus Himself.
But the truth is, New Agers only look to Jesus as an example, someone to become equal to, not to be worshiped or obeyed.
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New Age is now very widespread:
In a 1993 article in the Los Angeles Times, New Ager Marilyn Ferguson said that “sociologists now estimate that as many as 12 million Americans could be considered active participants (in the New Age Movement), and another 30 million are avidly interested.”
“If all these people were brought together in a church-like organization, it would be the third-largest religious denomination in America!”
In fact, the New Age movement has been called “the fastest growing alternative belief system in America!”
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Now, why does all this matter to you and I today?
Because New Age theories and practices have slithered into THE CHURCH.
Here are a few ways the New Age Jesus has infiltrated churches.
First,
I. The New Age Jesus teaches that we are all gods
You are a god and need to realize it, which is part of becoming “enlightened.”
Yes, says the New Age Jesus, you are divine, you are a little god!
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Isn’t it interesting that Satan’s promise to Eve was that she would become “like God” by eating of the forbidden tree!
“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…”—Gen. 3:5
Has this false belief gained traction in the church?
Yes!
One very well known preacher proclaimed, “Man was created in the god class, was not created in the animal class, it was the god class…We are a class of gods.”
Another popular preacher said, “Every man who has been born again is an incarnation…the believer is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.”
He also claimed, “Adam was the god of this world.”
But Adam is NEVER called a god in the Bible!
Yet another well known Christian author wrote, “We were created to be gods over the earth,”
On a worldwide television broadcast another preacher said: “I am a little god. I have His name. I am one with Him. I’m in covenant relationship. I am a little god.”
And one more minister taught, “The power of God, the Holy Ghost, is the Spirit of Dominion. It makes us a god.”
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Now, listen to the next two quotes from a straight up New Age book and see if it sounds similar:
“Original sin is all about forgetting that we were all God—we’re all divine.”
And again, “You are God manifested in human form, made to perfection…You are God in a physical body.”
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Why this is Wrong:
Scripture states,
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”—Genesis 2:7 KJV
Man was CREATED—he is not the CREATOR!
When it says Genesis we were “Made in his image,” it does not mean that we are a little god.
It can’t mean physically because Jesus said God is a spirit—he doesn’t have flesh and blood.
It simply means we are MORAL beings like him, we have INTELLECTS to reason like him, and we have a SOUL that enables us to fellowship with him.
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Second, the New Age Jesus:
II. Discourages preaching the Gospel
The NA Jesus discourages the Gospel message that Jesus died to save us from the penalty of our sins.
This is because in the New Age, there’s no speaking of anything that could offend someone.
So in New Age infected churches hearing the gospel has become a thing of the past.
No one learns about sin, hell, repentance, Jesus’ work on the cross, or salvation.
Instead you hear Christianity-lite, motivational talks, therapeutic sermons, and self-improvement messages.
But Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”—Mark 16:15
Watch this—Anything that does not point, reveal and lead people to Jesus Christ is not the gospel.
Tragically, this lack of Gospel preaching sends unsaved New Agers straight into a Christ-less eternity.
The message of the real Jesus is that people must repent by confessing their sins, and place faith in Him as Savior and Lord!
John 3:17-18 NLT “God sent his Son into the world…to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
John 8:24 “…for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”
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And lastly, the NA Jesus teaches:
III. There are Many Ways To Heaven
In fact, the New Age Jesus loves the co-exist bumper sticker!
The most popular version displays:
an Islamic crescent moon for the “C”,
a peace sign for the “O”,
the Hindu Om symbol for the “E”,
a Star of David for the “X”,
a pentagram for the dot of the “I”,
a yin-yang symbol (myth, magic, astrology, and witchcraft) for the “S”,
and a Christian cross for the “T”.
—The message is they’re all the same, all valid, all legitimate ways to God.
The New Age Jesus loves this!
He doesn’t insist on Himself being the only way to salvation like the real Jesus does.
The New Age Jesus honors diversity over truth, compromise over obedience, and good works over grace.
The New Age Jesus preaches inclusion as its top value, over the exclusive ‘one way-ness’ of Jesus.
One mega church baptist pastor recently shocked his congregation by saying, “There are multiple ways to get to God…the key is you believe in God. And whatever your path is to God, I celebrate that.”
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There are not multiple ways to reach heaven!
If you want to reach me, there is only one phone number you can dial.
If you get even one of the ten numbers wrong, you will not get me—you will get a stranger.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”—Acts 4:12 ESV
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So let the real Jesus stand up!