Question:  Dear Greg,

            Although I am a Turk and Muslim I have something that makes me confused about Islam.  Is Islam a real religion sent by God?  In what ways is Christianity different and does it offer a better solution after death?  I will be pleased if you could help solve my troubles that have been affecting me.  Is it only a coincidence that all Islamic countries suffer from lack of money and food?

            Orhan

Answer:  Dear Orhan,

            Is Islam a real religion sent by God?  As a Christian I will not give you the “objective” answer that some would.  Some would believe that all world religions—Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and others—are all equal, and all sent from God and that all lead us to God.

            The Bible claims that God came to visit us in the person of Jesus and that he actually took upon himself human flesh (the incarnation) while remaining God.  He was a God-man, God in the flesh, according to the Bible.  No other world religion teaches this.

            Why is this important?  It changes everything!  For example, it tells us that God is not above his creation in some detached way, but that he is involved.  He affirms us, and loves us, in the act of becoming one of us.  It also tells us that God loves us enough to suffer for us, to offer us salvation in a personal way, not some remote way.  The incarnation also makes human suffering more understandable—while suffering is never easy, and while it will never fully be understood by humans, we know that God was willing to suffer with us for us, on the cross, dying for our sins.  The incarnation also teaches us that Jesus was not just a man who lived and died, but that he lived, died, and rose again.  He lives today!  His tomb is empty.  If Jesus was only a prophet, then we may say that his tomb is the only tomb of all the prophets that is empty.

            The fact that God came to be one of us to save us means that our planet has been visited by God not just by a prophet.  And the message he gave us is absolutely critical to understand.  He told us in the gospel (meaning “good news”) that we are not responsible to prove ourselves, to qualify, to appease him, to keep him happy, to do enough good deeds so that we will gain an entrance into eternal life.  He told us that such legalism is useless, because humans will never be good enough.  He told us, and tells us, that we are saved by grace, his favor, and not by our own works.  We are saved, in short, because God is good, not because of our goodness.

            Christianity differs from all other religions in this regard (and some who call themselves Christians also differ).  The key?  With religion (all religion, separating Christianity from religion for a moment) the goal is for humans to find God, and having found God to please him, and to then continue to appease him so that he will not get mad at us, curse us, and destroy us.  The Christianity of the Bible teaches just the opposite—God came to this earth to find us, because we can never do enough good works to make ourselves holy and righteous enough to find him.  He came to do what we cannot do.  He died for our sins, and lived a perfect life so that not only can we be forgiven by the blood of Christ, but we can be given his righteousness by God’s grace.  God loves us that much.  He considers us righteous when we accept Christ, even though while we are still flesh we will always sin, because that is the nature of being human.  The gospel of the Christianity of the Bible is good news because it tells us that God is not mad at us, but rather he loves us.  All of us.  Regardless of nation, color, language or race.

            You asked about the grinding poverty that generally is a characteristic in Moslem countries (as well as those under Buddhism and Hinduism generally).  It is not accurate to generalize and say that Christianity promises a life of materialistic plenty, for Christ’s message and his personal example was and is not a message of prosperity, but of personal sacrifice for others.  However, there are seeds within Christianity of love and self sacrifice that often result, if practiced in larger community, of some degree of prosperity.  But this is an involved and detailed issue.  I would not at all want to say, as some who claim to be Christians do, that God promises to bless all those who obey him and curse all those who do not.  For there are many people who give their lives in willing service to others who are not rich in this world’s goods, but rich in the spiritual treasures that they have laid up in heaven.  Conversely, there are criminals and profoundly corrupt and evil men and women who live lives of wealth.  God is not primarily concerned with our temporal existence, he is concerned with eternity; and offers us eternal life free of charge, by his grace.

            If you live in the United States or Canada we will send you a free booklet about the differences between Islam and Christianity.  If you live outside of the U.S. and Canada, please use the feature on our web site, “search our site”—type in “Islam” and “Christianity”, for we have published a number of articles in back issues of our magazine that are available to you.

            May God bless you Orhan, I hope this gives you something to think about.  Let us know if we can be of further help.

            In Christ;

            Greg Albrecht