The Root of Christianity

By Gannon McGhee and Rebekah McGhee

Christianity's only root is Jesus. We do not support the root...the root supports us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 9, 2010
• ISBN: 9781483534510

Book preview

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CHAPTER 1

JESUS – The True Root

God desires that we have an intimate relationship with Him, a deep communion and connection. In 1 John 1:1-3, John states that those who had been with Jesus from the beginning continued to tell others about Him so that all might have fellowship with each other, with God the Father, and with Jesus the Messiah.

The word that most English Bibles translate as fellowship is a Greek word that you may have heard—koinonia. At one time, that was a very popular word in Christian circles. Koinonia groups popped up everywhere, all with the purpose of creating fellowship among believers. Pretty soon, though, both words started to be so overused that they lost their meaning to many people. The groups became more of a social time rather than what John meant when he used the word in his letter.

To get an idea of what John was writing about, it’s important to remember that just like Matthew, Mark, and Paul, John was a Jew.¹ It’s possible that John wrote his original letter in Aramaic, but it is more likely that he wrote in Greek since that was the common language of the world at the time.² And, when he wrote about koinonia, he was almost undoubtedly thinking of its equivalent in the Hebrew scriptures, which is the word, sed. In Amos 3:7, the word, sed, is translated secrets or intimate counsel, and it comes from a root word which can be translated to support oneself while leaning or reclining. The word even has a literal sense of a cushion, couch, or pillow. This might seem a rather foreign idea to those of us born and raised in modern America who have a keen sense of our personal bubble. But in other cultures, it is common for close friends quite literally to lean on each other while talking (see John 13:23). So when John wrote that we should have fellowship or koinonia with the Father, the Son, and each other, he was referring to the kind of friendship that was so intimate that you felt perfectly comfortable leaning on each other while you talked.

God also referred to that kind of intimate fellowship in Amos 3:7 when He declared that He did nothing without revealing His secret counsel to His prophets. Some people read verses like that and get the idea that only the spiritual elite are taken into God’s confidence and enjoy that kind of intimate relationship with Him. But as God chose to speak primarily through His prophets before, He has now chosen to speak primarily through His written Word. He entrusts us with His secret counsel, His intimate friendship, when we read His Word and ask the Holy Spirit to tell us what God wants to communicate. When we read the words that God inspired His prophets and others to write down, we have that koinonia relationship with God.

Jesus told His disciples in John 15:1-17 that He no longer considered them slaves because a slave didn’t share the secret counsel of his master. He was inviting them into a much deeper relationship, a relationship of intimate friendship. We, too, have been invited into that kind of relationship, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, The grace of the Lord Jesus [the Messiah], and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy [Spirit], be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14, KJV)

The idea of intimate communion and connection speaks to everyone, whether we want to admit it or not. All people desperately long to connect with others. Emotions play a strong role in that feeling of connection, and if we cannot connect on an emotional level, we feel distant from those around us. God created us in His image and our emotions are an integral part of who we are, so if we feel no emotion towards Him at all, there is something seriously wrong. But, sometimes we confuse emotional closeness with true connection, both with God and other people. One is based on the feelings of the moment while the other is based on depth of knowledge and understanding, resulting in true emotional connection and closeness.

So how do we integrate it all? How do we become a people who love God with our entire beings—not solely our emotions, or our intellect, or our physical strength?

First, we have to realize that God desires intimacy and connection, koinonia or sed, as much as we do. He wants to be the One we turn to when we need to pour out our hearts to someone. He wants to be the One who provides that intimacy that we will never get from another human being. He wants to be the One who will always be there for us to lean against because this glorifies Him.

Second, we need to recognize that intimacy and communion do not happen overnight. They require hard work and serious, invested time. They require a deep knowledge of the other person. Think about it—if you gave very little time and energy to your marriage or to a friendship, how close would you really be? You have to spend time talking to a person, you have to spend energy getting to know them.

In the same way, we need to gain a deeper knowledge of Jesus. Fortunately or unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to define words that we often take for granted because we assume everyone is thinking of them in the same way. Knowledge is one of those words. Many Christians are leery of the word because they have taken 1 Corinthians 8:1-2 to heart.

Now when it comes to meat offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs you up, but love builds you up! If anybody thinks they know something, they don’t yet know in the way they ought to know.

1 Corinthians 8:1-2

The knowledge that Paul is writing about in this passage, however, is a general intellectual understanding that puts itself forth without thought of love for a brother or a sister. Paul goes on to speak of a different kind of knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:3, as well as in Romans 10:2 and Ephesians 1:17.

But if anybody loves God, they are known—by him.

1 Corinthians 8:3

I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God; but it is not based on knowledge.

Romans 10:2

I pray that the God of King Jesus our Lord, the father of glory, would give you, in your spirit, the gift of being wise, of seeing things people can’t normally see, because you are coming to know him...

Ephesians 1:17

Paul had incredible compassion for his fellow Jews who longed for God but had no true understanding or knowledge of Him. Just as in Paul’s day, there are many people in the church today who have much zeal, but their zeal is not according to knowledge, the kind of knowledge of Jesus that Paul wrote about in his letters to the Corinthians, Romans, and Ephesians. Jesus Himself spoke of such people in His parable concerning the different types of seeds.

"Some seed fell on rocky soil, where it didn’t have much earth. It sprang up at once because it didn’t have depth of soil. But when the sun was high it got scorched, and it withered because it didn’t have any root...What was sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with delight, but doesn’t have any root of their own. Someone like that only lasts a short time; as soon as there’s any trouble or persecution because of the word, they trip up at once.

Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21

Our passionate desire for ourselves and for all who call themselves by the name of Jesus is that we all be people who have more than just an intellectual understanding of Him and what it means to have an intimate relationship with Him. We pray that all of us will have a deep understanding based on true knowledge of Him.

In order to gain the kind of knowledge we seek, we need to dig deep into the Word and learn more about our common Jewish roots. We believe it is vitally important for Christians to understand that Christianity stems from a plan which God had in mind before He began creating the universe. Jesus declared, I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star... (Revelation 22:16) He claims to be both the Root and the Offspring of David. Learning more about our Jewish roots means learning more about Jesus. He is the Root of David as well as the Root of Christianity.

Many people, especially younger generations, view Christianity as if it was the new kid on the block, so to speak. They think of it as something that was invented in Western Europe. Christian history does not extend any further back than the Reformation for some. Unfortunately, one result of this is that there are many denominations who teach that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan and that He is basically through with Israel.

Paul wrote a very startling and sobering warning to the church in Rome, addressing the issue of the Roman church feeling superior to the Jews.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive tree!—were grafted in among them, and came to share in the root of the olive with its rich sap, don’t boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember this: it isn’t you that supports the root, but the root that supports you.

I know what you’ll say next: Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in. That’s all very well. They were broken off because of unbelief—but you stand firm by faith. Don’t get big ideas about it; instead, be afraid. After all, if God didn’t spare the natural branches, there’s a strong possibility he won’t spare you.

Note carefully, then, that God is both kind and severe. He is severe to those who have fallen, but he is kind to you, provided you continue in his kindness—otherwise you too will be cut off. And they, too, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted back in. God is able, you see, to graft them back in. For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will they, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

Romans 11:17-24

The branches which were grafted in are in no way superior to the branches which were broken off. Paul’s hope and prayer was always that his fellow Jews would come to believe in and confess Jesus as Lord and Messiah so that God would graft them back into the tree. Our prayer should be the same. Rather than any feelings of superiority towards the Jews, we should feel thankfulness to God that He grafted us in and allowed us to partake of the rich root of the tree. It is the root which supports us, we do not support the root.

We need to realize that Christianity is not something that Gentiles invented to the exclusion of the Jews. Christianity’s only root is Jesus, and He was the culmination of all that God started when He chose Abraham and then created the nation of Israel when He called them out of Egypt.