The Real vs. The Counterfeit
LIVE from the Mecca of Mormonism – Salt Lake City, Utah, THIS is Heart of the Matter, where we do all we can to help people walk toward His love.
God’s love, Jesus love. The Fruit of the Spirit.
And I am your host, Shawn McCraney.
How about a word of prayer between us?
PRAYER
Authenticity and Counterfeits
Show 21A The Real Thing
Taped on Tuesday, December 17th, 2019
Aired on Monday, December 23rd, 2019
I used to work in the fashion business – if you can believe it – and got involved with a clothing company that unfortunately got shut down for manufacturing what are called, KNOCKOFFS – which was an industry term for counterfeits.
In my estimation, most everything real – genuine, authentic – are subject to being knocked off or counterfeited – I mean, you name it, from auto parts to precious gems, to music, food, whatever – there always seems to be someone out there who wants to produce, sell, and capitalize on the original with something . . . less, something cheap, something that represents an altogether different meaning.
Christmas: The Genuine and The Counterfeit
In two days, the world will celebrate Christmas. The holiday is divided by its authentic meaning (the birth of Christ) and the counterfeit (Santa, snow, and the rest). Some of the most meaningful songs about the birth of the Messiah are centered around this celebration. The first verse sings of Christ's birth:
Hark the herald angels sing?
"Glory to the newborn king"?
Peace on earth, and mercy mild?
God and sinners reconciled?
Joyful all ye nations rise?
Join the triumph of the skies?
With angelic host proclaim?
Christ is born in Bethlehem?
Hark the herald angels sing?
Glory to the newborn king
Then it speaks of his incarnated life, saying:
Christ, by highest heaven adored?
Christ the everlasting Lord?
Late in time behold him come?
Offspring of the favored one?
Veiled in flesh, the God had seen?
Hail the incarnate deity?
Pleased, as man with men to dwell?
Jesus, our Emmanuel?
Hark the herald angels sing?
Glory to the newborn king
Then it speaks of what He accomplished:
Hail the heaven-born prince of peace?
Hail the son of righteousness?
Light and life to all he brings?
Risen with healing in his wings
Wild he lays his glory by?
Born that man no more may die?
Born to raise the sons of earth?
Born to give them second birth?
Hark the herald angels sing?
Glory to the newborn king, hey
Then we have the counterfeit – written in 1934 for a radio program:
You better watch out?
You better not cry?
You better not pout?
I’m telling you why?
Santa Claus is coming to town
He’s making a list,?
Checking it twice,?
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.?
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping?
He knows when you’re awake?
He knows if you’ve been bad or good?
So be good for goodness sake
You better watch out?
You better not cry?
You better not pout?
I’m telling you why?
Santa Claus is coming to town
And every year, every individual has a choice. They can mix them up, celebrate them both, or focus only on the genuine, or the counterfeit. The choice is yours and mine.
The Desire for What Is Real
I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of inauthentic representations. I like the real thing – whatever it is. I want the real God, the real Jesus, real devotion, authentic worship. I don’t personally like toupees, porcelain veneers, fake breasts, or imitation crab.
I want what’s real, preferably what is original, and try to shun the ersatz whenever possible. Give me the sun over Vegas lights, the wrinkles over botox, and something made with human hands over the mass-produced.
How about you? And what about the God you worship? I know above everything else in my life, He has got to be genuine – no substitute will suffice.
In the manual that exposes counterfeits and counterfeiters – the Bible – there are two terms that describe “knowing.” Speaking of SALVATION in John 17:3, Jesus said:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
The word “know” here (that they might know thee, the only True and Living God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent) is the Greek word Ginosko. And it refers to the salvation experience. Salvation is not merely a mental understanding, nor is it limited to an emotional experience; it is a knowing experience.
Now, we’ve talked before about knowing on this show, and I’ve said that it can only be attributed to knowing truth with a capital T, which is Jesus . . . who is the Truth with a capital T. Meaning, a person can only really say that they truly know something only if it is in context with Him.
The Concept of Epignosis and Spiritual Freedom
True, genuine, real. That’s why people will tell stories about then they discovered the “TRUE” meaning of Christmas.
But there is another word that is used in the Greek and it describes the freedom, the liberty, the absolute indescribable deep relationship believers can have with God -and that word is epignosis. It is knowledge above and beyond the knowing that comes through salvation. Epignosis describes a deeply-rooted understanding of God. It is not a description of salvation, as epignosis comes only through understanding God through the study of His Word by the Spirit.
The Deeper Relationship Through Epignosis
Writing to people who have already been saved, Peter and Paul say, using this hyperbolic word epignosis:
Eph 1:16-18 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”
2nd Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge (epignosis) of God, and of Jesus our Lord
Remember, the apostles here are speaking to people who have been saved, and they use the word epignosis to describe that deeper relationship that brings peace, joy, and comfort which “lesser instructed believers by the Spirit in the word have yet to come to possess.” Remember that phrase “that lesser instructed believers by the Spirit in the word have to come possess.”
The Liberating Freedom in Christ
This understanding – this epignosis, evidenced by peace, joy, rest, and assurance culminates or ins best manifested in one revolutionary word: FREEDOM. The words that Jesus said, “And you shall KNOW the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free” were not in vain. And there is the most liberating freedom in Christ through the understanding, the knowing, of Him. Why? How? Because the doctrines taught by Jesus always point and lead to one thing – liberty, freedom, and peace in CHRIST. Not in the world. Not in religion. Not in a man or a woman. Not in materialism or money. Not in Joseph. Not in Rusty. Not in your pastor. Not in Shawn McCraney. In Jesus Christ.
The manual teaches all of this. Believers study the manual by the Spirit. They experience more freedom and peace. And once they understand the manual (and here’s the tie-in to our discussion tonight) they become magnificently equipped at spotting the counterfeits. They are as obvious to genuine Christian as a cubit zirconia is to a Manhattan diamond buyer. This is why from the heart Christians would never convert to Mormonism, or Islam or Buddhist, any of the isms or ists – they have become liberated by Christ and they can see his counterfeits a mile away.
What are the obvious tip offs? For me, its when ANYTHING – Santa, men, participation, covenants, materialism, manipulations – try and steal the liberty I possess in my direct relationship with Christ.
Think about those who buy into the true meaning of Christmas and not the counterfeit. In them there is joy, peace, rest, and real light. There is the Spirit of God in abundance, the warming fire of His love. Then think of those who embrace the counterfeit of His birth – they are sucked into the machine, the hustle, the bustle, the crowds, the expectations, the costs, the debts, the lights that never warm, and in the end, utter disappointment.
If you really think about it, the very songs sung at this time of year evidence the differences – some to Him, some to Santa. Listen to their tenor, to their aim, to their allegiances, to the source of the joys they proclaim. So when I observe a loss of peace and total trust in Christ, when I discover a loss of liberty in Him alone, I know a counterfeit has darkened my door.
Listen to what Paul wrote in:
2nd Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
In a prophetic utterance of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah said:
Isaiah 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
The Impact of Faith and Counterfeits
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
Knowledge of God – epignosis – produces both release and total reliance in a life of a believer. The release from the bondage of sin, institutional rule, sects, cults, philosophies, diets, drugs – you name it and total reliance upon Him and Him alone means him and Him alone.
The more studied you are in the Word of God, and all the revelatory declarations He gives us from His mouth to our heart by the Spirit, the more freedom you possess AND . . . AND . . . and the better ability you will have at discerning a counterfeit system when it comes down the pike. Counterfeiting is truly banal. It is a pathetic, ugly, leech.
Recognizing Genuine Faith
Think about your own work and business. How would you feel if you labored endlessly to create a genuine product – a cure for a disease, a new dress, a piece of art – and some counterfeiter knocks it off, mass produces it, and sells it to the yearning public in an inferior state. Imagine that you dealt in historical documents and some fraud sold you a counterfeit.
Now imagine – just imagine – how God feels about people and systems that have counterfeited and pirated His system, and are pushing it out to the masses as the real McCoy. Worse yet, their system does the opposite of His – it traps, and ensnares, and imprisons the creations that He sent His son to set free!
When it comes to the unadulterated message of Christianity, the general rule of thumb for its counterfeit is:
Opposing Perspectives
Liberals counterfeits tend to diminish from the original faith and the cults or legalists tend to add to it. Liberals tend to say, “Oh, Jesus, he was a good man. But all religions are good.” “The Bible. It has some good advice. But so does the Koran, and the this, and the that . . . in fact, my mystic fume healer Star told me yesterday that she saw me in her tapioca skin softener.” Whatever.
But the cults (and I usually don’t use that term but am tonight for our discussion purposes) and the legalists generally add to their counterfeit. With them, the Biblical message of Jesus is NEVER enough. So they add more. More books, more rules, more humans to the mix. I mean what do the Mormon doctrines say of Him? He is never enough, right? So they add Santa, and other inspired books, and men called prophets, and rules call tithes. Pastors include attending their church, and embracing their ideas and teachings. Everyone tossing in what they thing needs to be added to the Jesus mix.
But what was born in a manger, that who lived in Judea, He who was put to death, rose again, ascended to His Father and returned to His own with reward and judgment is the genuine article – nothing more, not one bit less.
May you all, but especially my brothers and sisters whom God is not ashamed to call them His Sons and Daughters, may you now and every day of the year, be filled with His peace, His light, His love and His joy – which is not of this world, but from that heavenly Kingdom of which you are a part here – and will be apart of there.
Write your thoughts below. We’ll see you tomorrow night, here on HOTM.
