Re-making Jesus

http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/prime-ministers-easter-message/

Yuk. Jesus re-made in the image of modern squishy progressive politics.

• "We remember the ... living legacy of Christ". Perhaps that's what the PM does. That is regrettable. Orthodox Christians rejoice in the present reality that results from Jesus' rising again from the dead and presently reigning from God's right hand to which he later ascended. They do not have fellowship with his legacy, but with himself.
  
  
• "The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity, grace, humility and love." It also tells us about his eternal nature as the everlasting God, the second person of the Trinity, which the PM, or his copy-writer or whoever, totally omitted to mention. Such a Jesus would be a huge challenge to our ways of life, rather than just a soft, undemanding teacher with a mere "legacy" to "remember".
  
  
• "These are the values that Jesus embraced". Quick... someone... get me the puke bowl... "values that Jesus embraced"... barf! Excuse me a moment. OK, I'm back now. I thought that embracing values was what squishy secularists did. Jesus, as the Son of God sent from heaven, authoritatively preached and demonstrated the truths of God's glory, power, righteousness, justice, truth, love, holiness, grace, mercy and pardon for guilty sinners, and then opened the way back into God's presence by his dying on the cross and rising again. "Embracing values" (steady...) is something that trendy secularists do. Christians bow the knee in repentance and faith before the only Lord and Saviour of mankind.
  
  
• "I believe these are values people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire." That's a nice platitude, of course. But what about the true message of the resurrection, that the Jesus whom wicked men crucified is also the one true Lord of the world and our final judge, to whom every knee must bow? The one who is king of kings and prime minister over prime ministers? I don't think the early Christians were persecuted for their faithful preaching of candy-floss values that "people of any faith, or no faith, can also share in, and admire", do you? The point of Jesus' resurrection, ascension and pouring out of the Spirit is that it makes it possible for the true 'values' to be actualised and not just admired from afar. He sends the power to change dead and corrupt hearts so that such things can actually be lived out in a community. Jesus-the-imaginary-squishy-secularist can preach all the values he likes. Unless we get a hold of Jesus-the-living-and-powerful-Son-of-God it's all for nothing.
  
  
• "It is values like these that make our country what it is – a place which is tolerant, generous and caring." This is Jesus re-made in the image of modern lovers of pleasure and self-indulgence, who think that "tolerance" means saying "that's fine, enjoy yourself" to every form of depravity, debauchery and perversity, whilst calling those who speak against it "bigots", "homophobes", "prejudiced" and the like. Does the PM really believe this drivel or does he actually think that Jesus was his age's version of Peter Tatchell?
  
  
• "In the book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” – advice that when followed makes for a happier, and better society for everyone." It would have been better if the PM could have followed this advice in reference to Jesus himself.... is it more honouring to Jesus to re-make him in one's own image, or to tell the truth about him and his teachings? Are we doing Jesus a service by re-writing his teaching to fit our own preferences? Would the PM like anyone to treat his speeches in such a fashion, and so radically gut them of their content and thrust? Did Jesus just come to give us a happy time? Make us wealthy and happy in this life? What happened to the way of the cross? There's no cross at all in this "Easter Message"... this isn't Christianity, it's gospel-free modernist fluff.
  

One wonders what the point of such a statement is. Many of the UK government's policies are in direct contradiction of the revealed will of Jesus Christ (e.g. promotion of sexual perversity, the wide-scale slaughter of unborn innocent children, fiscal confiscation and redistribution of earned wealth far beyond the Biblical definition of basic necessity, the wide-scale promotion of envy (which they call, "campaigning for fairness"), a criminal justice system which ignores the basic demands of retribution and restoration to the victim, to name but a few). Does the PM, or his press office, believe that people are fooled by this statement? Is there some political end served by such an insult to actual Christians? Do they think Jesus himself is fooled? Or are they just fooled themselves and not even known what they say or what they affirm?

Sad and regrettable. Let those of us who are not confused about what Christianity is and what Jesus actually said and did make us sure that nobody comes away from our preaching not sure about the truth. And pray for our leaders that they might also receive more light.