Why is Christ Called The Lion of Judah?

Non Christians certainly don't understand the metaphors we use to express gospel truths. Having explained about the Lamb of God, I now want to write about the Lion of Judah.

The last book of the Bible holds the answer. In the vision of the future which Jesus' disciple saw, nobody was worthy to open a scroll in heaven. Revelation 5:5 (BBE) tells how an angel named Christ as the only one who could break the seals and open the scroll. "And one of the rulers said to me, 'Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.'"

Another title Christ has is the Son of David. Though King David died long before the birth of Jesus, he descended from him. That's why we read what we read in Matthew 9:27 (BBE) about him. "And when Jesus went on from there, two blind men came after him, crying out, 'Have mercy on us, you Son of David.'"

Of course the temple rulers didn't believe for a minute that Jesus was heir to David's throne. Matthew 21:15 (BBE) relates, "But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the works of power which he did, and the children crying out in the Temple, 'Glory to the son of David,' they were angry and said to him, 'Have you any idea what these are saying?' And Jesus said to them, 'Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, "From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?"'"

Jesus himself knew that he was of royal blood and God-given power. Revelation 22:16 (BBE)says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star."

Furthermore, Muslims wonder how we could call Christ the Son of God when the Quran teaches that Allah has no partners. They don't understand that "son" means that he has the top rank and is chief over all creation.

God, the real one, said of Christ at his baptism in Luke 3:21 and 22 (BBE), "Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open, The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, 'You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'"

I could point out other scriptures which use metaphors but I'll save that for my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? We Christians need to realize that these terms we use sound like nonsense to today's unchurched masses.

On Thursday, unless Christ returns first, I hope to post about why Christianity and western culture matter. What a cruel world it would be without both of them.

Are God and Allah the Same Person?

This month, I want to deal with the subject of Islam. Certain people teach that we worship the same deity as the Muslims. They reason that since both religions claim Abraham as their father, it must mean we worship the same creator. This is obviously false.

If God and Allah were the same deity, the Bible and the Quran would agree with each other. After all, the Old Testament and the New Testament agree. Neither contradicts the other.

But the Quran gainsays Holy Scripture in many places. It denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and many other tenets of Christianity. And as I pointed out before, it calls Jews and Christians "apes" and "pigs."

Why would God suddenly change from being the heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to being a single entity? Did he forget or lie when he said in Malachi 3:6 (KJV), "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."

Jesus also said in Revelation 22:13 (KJV) that, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." How could he say that if he were a mere prophet as the Quran claims?

Furthermore, how could the Holy Spirit be a mere angel when Peter accused Ananias of lying to the Lord about the sale price of some land? Acts 5:3 and 4 (BBE) reads, "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you had it, was it not your property? and after you had given it in exchange, was it not still in your power? how has this purpose come into your mind? you have been false, not to men, but to God.'"

This shows without doubt that God and Allah aren't the same entity. Just as two people can have the same name and yet be totally different, so we can see by these verses and other statements in Holy Scripture that the god of the Muslims is not God at all.

I'll be covering more of this topic in my upcoming book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? A god by any other name can't save people. Only the one who sent his son to die for the sins of sinful humanity can save us.

On Thursday, I'll post about the false claim that Muhammad was the prophet like unto Moses. Muslims think this is true but it obviously isn't.