WHERE DID RELIGION COME FROM? YOU WILL BE SUPRISED

In Acts 9:1-2, “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. ² He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains”.^[1]

Understand that it was not a new religion, it was a way. The Disciples used this name throughout the Book of Acts (Acts 9:2, 19:9, 23, 22:4, and 24:14, 22). They called themselves the Way.

The Tower of Babel where man tried to make himself equal with God. Genesis 11:1-4 says,

“At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. ² As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

³ They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” ^[2]

Today, there are thousands of religions in the world. They all say they’re true, and most of them talk about how to get to the afterlife. But they all have the same big problem. You name the religion it makes the follower the primary focus and not God. With religion, it is about making people feel better about themselves. They do what is expected of them, follow the rules, and perform the rituals. As a result, they are considered faithful followers of their beliefs. Religion replaces truth with sincerity, faith with feelings, and relationship with rituals.

Think about what Jesus taught in John 14:1-6:

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. ² There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”

⁵ “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”.^[3]

Jesus didn’t give Thomas a bunch of rules to follow to get to heaven. Instead, He told Thomas that He, Himself was the way to get to God’s home. Jesus didn’t say Thomas needed to say special words, avoid certain foods, or celebrate specific days. He just said to believe that Jesus is God, like His Father, and you’ll end up where Jesus is. (You will want to follow how Jesus lived once you become a believer.)

If religious practices could save us, they would be as important as Jesus’ sacrifice. This shows why religion doesn’t work. If we could get to heaven just by following religious rules, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come and die for everyone’s sins. But that’s not how it works. Jesus’ sacrifice was necessary because religious rituals alone can’t get us to heaven.

Are you getting what we are throwing down?

We need to live our lives as Jesus did (the Way), He is our example of how we should live our lives.

^[1] Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Ac 9:1–2.

^[2] IBID, Ge 11:1–4.

^[3] Jn 14:1–6.