“Today, the Gospel has Come to this House”

Rhemagood

Rhema stood up on her stiff legs after an hour of sitting on the floor talking with her lady friends. As a westerner in the Arabian Peninsula, she felt thankful to have such great relationships with so many Muslim women. How different they were than what she had seen portrayed on British and American television. How very much like her they were, and like her friends back home. This particular family had eight women in it, and each of them was dear to her in their own way. Though it had only been a few months since she first set foot in Arab World, she felt almost like one of the family. They had accepted her, knowing she was a Christian, and had shown quite a bit of interest in what her “life of freedom” was like. Just as the evening good-byes were being said, Bassima, the beautiful twenty-two year old daughter, blurted out a spiritual question seemingly out-of-the-blue. Taking the opportunity, Rhema answered the question and then asked another spiritual question of her own. That led to a wonderful one-and-a-half hour discussion of Islamic and Christian doctrines. Every one of the ladies were interested and engaged in the conversation, and Rhema forgot all about her stiff legs. When the subject of Christ’s death and resurrection came up, she told her friends that this was the one most important difference between the two religions. The Koran says that God caused the people to mistake Judas for Christ, and to crucify him instead of the Messiah Jesus, who was simply taken up alive into Heaven. The Bible says that Jesus was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, rose on the third day, and then went to Heaven. The rest of the group could not see why this difference was such a big deal in Rhema’s opinion. After all, whether He died or not, the point was that He was in Heaven now, right? Since the women agreed that God says all have sinned, or as they put it “have uncleanness in their hearts”, and the result of this is eternal punishment in Hell, Rhema asked how God could possibly “just forgive” anyone and let them into Heaven? If sin didn’t result in eternal punishment for even one person, then that would make God a liar. There was silence for a moment, and then the group began to discuss what the answer to this dilemma might be. Muslims already accept the fact that the Messiah was sinless, so the Christian reasoned with them that if Jesus had no “uncleanness”, He would never have to experience punishment. He was perfect and deserved to live in Heaven with God, unlike the rest of us. But God loved us so much that He sent the sinless Messiah to become a substitute for us. Jesus took the punishment we had earned, and gave us the right to go to Heaven that He had earned. He switched places with us. But wait! If Jesus were only a man, He could only be a substitute for one man. “A life for a life.” However, if He really was the infinite and eternal God, then He was of far greater worth than one man. He could bear the sins of all men at once (because He is infinite) and experience eternal death for all at once (because He is an eternal being). Silence again. Wanting to make this very new concept clear, Rhema stood up and stretched out her hands like Jesus on the cross and looked into Bassima’s eyes. She told again how Jesus came to take our uncleanness upon Himself and added that He died “for you.” At this direct and personal statement, Bassima’s mouth dropped open. A stunned expression came across her face. She stood there, speechless. Rhema turned her gaze downward toward the other women still sitting on the floor. Looking into their eyes, one by one, she said, “...for you...for you....” Everyone was silent. Then, Susan felt the Spirit of God settle over the room, coming down through the ceiling until He reached the floor where the women were sitting. Into her mind came the words, “Today the Gospel has come to this house.” Later, she could only describe the experience as being like the Psalms, when the psalmist would state a great truth and then say, “selah”. It was like a “selah”, a pause to let the Truth sink in. Suddenly, Bassima came out of her affected state. She shook herself and said a bit nervously, “Oh, well, that’s not like Islam...” as she resumed her place on the carpet. Indeed, the Gospel is not at all like Islam. And for that very reason, there have since been many, many more opportunities to share with this family. -by Rhema Good, 9/15/05 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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