The Original

The label on the lotion bottle read, “Original Scent.” Jergens has produced several other fragranced lotions, but none proved as popular as the original one, which had quietly faded from the market. But because of popular demand, the first one was returned and marketed as the “Original Scent.”

People like originals; they pay lots of money for them. In beauty pageants, contestants pay extra for gowns that are “originals.” I am personally familiar with an instance when a gown was purchased as an original but, on the night of evening gown competition, someone else was also wearing the same “original.”

The art world is often defrauded of millions of dollars by forgers. Art forgery, which dates back more than two-thousand years, is the creating and, in particular, the selling works of art that are falsely attributed to be the work of another, usually more famous artist. Recently, we watched a re-run of a Perry Mason mystery in which a duplicate painting was attributed to a deceased artist. The newer discovery was proven to be a fake by the testimony of the artist himself. In a recorded interview filmed years earlier, he stated that he never repeated a painting.

He never repeated his work.

Over two thousand years ago, a “work” – the masterpiece – was finished that would never be repeated. In fact, the “Artist” Himself said, as He was dying, “It is finished.” He had done what He came to do, and His original work would never need to be repeated. But there are counterfeiters who try to defraud people – of much more than the millions lost by the art and fashion worlds. By claiming there is a way to heaven other than the “original” way – through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – they would cheat the unsuspecting of eternal life. We are warned in 2 John 1:7 that “Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”

But by the recorded testimony of the Master Artist Himself, we can know which Way is authentic. He said, “I am THE Way, THE Truth, and THE life. NO ONE comes to the Father except by ME!” (John 14:6) That does not leave any room for misinterpretation.

Jesus is the One and Only! He is the Original!