"He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him..." John 1:11
"I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me."  Romans 10:20

I am just back from a couple of weeks of ministry in southeast Asia.  It is always challenging, humbling, and therapeutic for me.  It  amazes me and bolsters my faith to learn how people who have lived their entire lives outside of the knowledge of Christ are finding Him and being transformed by His love and power!

During this trip I met a man who has now been a born-again Christian for four years.  He was born into a high caste Hindu family and was the only son.  As an adult he was a severe persecutor of Christians, often pursuing them from town to town.  He was an fanatic Hindu and a devotee of lord Rama and felt it his duty to cleanse India of these foreign influences.  But his life was slowly unraveling.  He experienced business failures, family breakdown, health problems, and a crisis in his faith system.  He could not find peace or hope in any of his Hindu rituals or gods and goddesses.  At last a Hindu priest said, "You must now seek the Living God.  He alone can help you."  But this man did not want to abandon Rama or his Hindu heritage.  One day he picked up a scrap of paper off the ground that had a verse from Luke's gospel on it.  Two days later he saw the same verse painted on the side of a wall in another town.  Feeling that this might be a heavenly sign he spoke to a Catholic nun telling her about all of his problems.  The nun told him that his only hope was to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  He was very aware of his need but also very proud of his ancestral traditions.  He told the nun that he was willing to accept Jesus as "one of the gods" he worshiped, but that he would never allow Jesus to displace his Hindu gods.  The nun told him that Jesus would never share His glory with idols.

The man's desperation only increased after this.  One night he finally surrendered.  He prayed, "Jesus, if you are God alone and You care for me and can help me, I will serve You alone if you will come to me."  The man said that suddenly his room seemed to fill with light and a tangible presence of peace filled his heart and mind.  Jesus came to the man and he was instantly "born-again" .  He knew he was changed.  Suddenly the hopelessness was gone.  The fear was gone.  His entire outlook was changed.  He had met Jesus face to face.  All the other gods were dethroned. Now the man travels from town to town preaching openly that Jesus is the only path to salvation.

The amazing thing about this story is how little it had to do with preachers or religious rhetoric.  Jesus Christ pursued this man and  saved his soul.  The man had sought salvation and peace in various ways and through various faith pathways.  But none of them worked.  None of them removed the guilt he carried.  None of them lifted the pain, shame, and loneliness he felt.  But Jesus actually saved him.

Last week here in the States, I saw a television anchorman  interviewing a Christian pastor.  The interviewer was mocking the pastor's claim that Christianity is the exclusive path to real peace with God.  He read quotes from several contemporary "experts" who said that there were "many paths to God" and told the pastor that it was just close-minded to think that everyone must come to God through Jesus Christ.  That Jesus is just "one of many paths to God" is clearly the favored philosophy in our culture. People feel very self-righteous and self-sure about this belief.

Meanwhile our culture continues to slide into more and more violence and perversion and so-called Christians of this emasculated belief system live in shame and powerlessness but somehow go on denying it.  Materialism seems to be sufficient to numb the deceived mind of the American public, hiding the reality that such pseudo faith does not work.

Americans who live in a land where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been openly preached for several hundred years seem hard pressed to find Him.  But those who live in lands with little gospel light are finding Christ and gloriously being liberated from sin and hopelessness!  This seems counter-intuitive!  But it actually is a pattern we can see down through time.

The Jews in Jesus' day are an example of this pattern.  People with the longest exposure to the Truth are often the ones most hardened against it.  And God in His mercy is revealing Himself to people in our world with little or no former exposure to the gospel.  This shows us that salvation is exclusively God's business.  And God is exclusively revealed through Jesus Christ.  This is what Christmas and Advent are all about.  God has gone public in His Son Jesus Christ...alone. 

He will not share His glory with any other idol or philosophy.  This is the truth.  

(If you are interested in hearing more about this subject, click here to download an audio teaching.)