Jesus did not come to convince humanity that God needed to be persuaded to love. He came to reveal that love was the very nature of God.

A Guest post by Glenn Regular

When I say, “I side with the Jesus before Christianity and the Jesus after Christianity, but I do not side with the Jesus of Christianity,” I am not rejecting Jesus. I am endeavouring to distinguish between the Jesus revealed in the Bible and the many contradicting images of Jesus that Christianity has constructed through centuries of denominational interpretation, institutional traditions, theological systems, cultural assumptions, and human agendas.

The Jesus before Christianity is the Jesus who walked among humanity, revealed the heart of God, announced the Kingdom of God, and called people into a transformed way of living. The Jesus after Christianity is the living Christ who cannot be confined, controlled, or owned by any religious institution. The Jesus of Christianity, as often presented throughout history, is often a Jesus filtered through religious traditions, religious biases, rather than the Jesus who first reveals the unchanging characteristics of His loving Father.

The Jesus before Christianity did not come to establish another religious system competing with the religions of the world. He did not arrive with a blueprint for buildings, denominations, religious hierarchies, political influence, or institutional power. Of political dominance, He came proclaiming the Kingdom of God. His message was not about creating a religion called Christianity but about revealing a new reality in which humanity could know God as Father and awaken to their true identity in relationship with Him.

Jesus announced, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). The good news was not just a religious transaction or a promise of escape from hell-fire punishment. It was the announcement that God was reconciling creation to Himself and that a new humanity was being birthed through Christ. Humanity was chosen by God before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Jesus came to reveal what God is like and what humanity was created to become.

The Jesus before Christianity was not found among the powerful and religiously elite but among the broken, the overlooked, and the rejected. He touched lepers when others avoided them. He ate with sinners when others condemned them. He welcomed children when others dismissed them. He spoke with women when religious culture marginalized them. He showed compassion toward outsiders and exposed the hypocrisy of those who used religion to elevate themselves above others.

Jesus’ greatest conflicts were not with those who had no religion but with those who had turned religion into a barrier between humanity and God. He challenged the religious leaders of His day because they had confused knowledge about God with knowing God. They had Scripture but missed the heart of the One Scripture revealed.

Jesus said, “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Mark 7:13). His warning was not against seeking God but against allowing human traditions to replace the living voice and character of God. Christianity can preserve words while losing the heart behind those words. It preaches doctrine while neglecting mercy. It can defend beliefs while failing to embody love. What transpired was that religion shrouded the realization that the rooted identity of humanity was in God before the worlds were formed, deceiving them that their identity was rooted in Adam, causing them them to think of themselves as being born fitted for hell.

The Jesus before Christianity revealed a God radically different from the god of Christianity. He revealed a Father who seeks the lost, restores the broken, forgives enemies, and loves without boundaries. Jesus declared, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The ultimate revelation of God is not found in human speculation but in the person of Jesus Himself.

The Christian gospel produces fear, hatred, exclusion, superiority, and condemnation must be questioned as to whether its adherents are seeing the God revealed by Jesus or a god shaped by human imagination. Jesus did not come to convince humanity that God needed to be persuaded to love. He came to reveal that love was the very nature of God.

The Jesus after Christianity is the living Christ who continues beyond every religious structure built around His name. Christianity may speak about Christ, but Christ is greater than Christianity. No denomination, movement, theological system, nation, or institution can claim ownership over Him. Jesus belongs not to a religious tribe but to humanity.

Paul wrote, “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). The risen Christ cannot be imprisoned within human categories. He is not the possession of one tradition, one culture, or one interpretation. He is the living revelation of God’s purpose for creation.

The tragedy of Christianity throughout history is that it has often attempted to protect Jesus by controlling Him. It has sometimes created boundaries around the One who came to break down walls. It has sometimes emphasized being right over being loving, defending doctrines over demonstrating compassion, and preserving institutions over embodying the Kingdom.

Jesus never said the world would recognize His followers by their ability to win arguments, defend religious systems, or enforce moral codes. He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Love was not a secondary teaching of Jesus; it was the evidence that His followers had truly understood Him.

The Jesus of Christianity, as often presented, has become a Jesus shaped by human fears and desires. Some portray Him primarily as a judge waiting to condemn rather than the Savior seeking to restore. Some use His name to justify political power, nationalism, wealth, exclusion, or division. Some make allegiance to a religious system the measure of faithfulness rather than a transformed life of love, humility, and compassion.

But the Jesus revealed in Scripture says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). He continually moved toward people rather than away from them. He entered places religious people avoided. He embraced those society rejected. He demonstrated that the heart of God is not found in separation from humanity but in God moving toward humanity in love.

To side with the Jesus before Christianity and the Jesus after Christianity is to return to the simplicity of His invitation: “Follow me.” Jesus did not say, “Build a system around me.” He did not say, “Create institutions in my name.” He did not say, “Defend my reputation through religious conflict.” He said, “Follow me.”

Following Jesus means allowing His life to redefine our understanding of God, ourselves, and one another. It means recognizing that the Kingdom He proclaimed is not built on fear but on love, not on domination but on service, not on exclusion but on reconciliation.

The Jesus before Christianity revealed the heart of the Father. The Jesus after Christianity continues to reveal that same heart to the world. The question confronting humanity is not simply whether we believe in Jesus, but whether we are willing to encounter the Jesus who stands beyond religious assumptions and allows Him to transform us.

The greatest challenge is not discovering Jesus. The greatest challenge is letting go of the versions of Jesus Christianity has created so that we can clearly see the Jesus who has always been there.

– Glenn Regular, used here with his kind permission