"Who do you say I am?"

(Matthew 16:15)  “He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"”

Everything in life seems to work under some form of governance. We know that time is measured and although defining time presents difficulties, measuring it does not; it is the most accurately measured physical quantity, as some of the budding scientist claim and as I am not amongst that number I will take their word for it. Gravity is look upon as a natural phenomenon, which is easily understood, it plays itself out in nature no differently to the rising and the setting of the sun, it happens! We do not question their validity, not even the fool would look to argue one of these truths. The common man, the natural man, explains this away as a natural marvel, but the spiritual man accredits it to God who is spiritual.

Simply put everyone who is not sanctified by the blood of the lamb will look to serve the creature rather than the creator. That is quite a statement! But think long and hard about this fact. Here is a portion of scripture that will help you arrive at your conclusion; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:16-20)

The Christian has arrived and no longer constantly struggles to understand the purpose of life, God has had favour on them and given them life, they are no longer blind but now they can see! Of course we still struggle trying to understand many truths within the truth. We look to the Holy Scriptures to enter into a deeper more meaningful relationship with the only true God. But there is no more doubt about who the true Avatar is; we have come face to face with our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ! Praise His name!

Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. “avatar” means; -  In Hinduism an avatar, is a deliberate descent of a deity from heaven to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation", but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation". Do we see the communication portrayed in this film? Here we have James Cameron propagating a message that is full of undertones about Mother Nature. I do not have time to highlight all these suggestions but to say there is a cripple man who gets plugged into a machine and enters a phantasy world (spiritual world) and he seeks out the meaning of life and eventually gets plugged into a tree (Mother Nature) and receives a special kind of power and finally defeats the enemy on the back of a red dragon.

“The Last Airbender”, this story follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations. A story about a young boy who is the avatar, who learns how to control the four elements of nature; fire, air, water and earth and eventual defeats the enemy.

Both these movies are stories filled with hope, but a false hope, although it is only phantasy, the undertones of both movies speak volumes of what is a lie. The answer to life is and can only ever be found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Every known religion has a message of hope and is linked to the realm of faith. Even God’s own people, the seed of Abraham look for their Messiah, they do not understand that He has already come, they crucified Him! And yet God in His mercy will yet again appear to the seed of Abraham. In fact all will see Him for who He is, whether they call upon him now or not; “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.” (Revelation 1:7) 

Many look still for their avatar, but praise God, the Christian no longer gropes in the dark looking for theirs as we have found the only true Avatar, we have come face to face with Him, praise the glorious name of our Saviour, the One who died in our stead, the One who paid the price for our sin, yes it is the Lord Jesus Christ. But let us never forget how we have come to this marvellous understanding; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesian 2:8-9)  

Let us never forget that it is only the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance, we too were once blind and groped in the dark clutching at straws looking for answers. BUT GOD who is rich in mercy has given us sight to see! Therefore let us not forget to constantly pray for friends and loved ones who still grope in the dark as they look to the creature rather than the Creator for the true answers to life and its eternal meaning.

Signing off

Tyrone