How God turned Valery from "we can become gods" to "Jesus is Lord"

How God turned Valery from "we can become gods" to "Jesus is Lord"

Every spring since 2018, Aviel has travelled abroad at Passover to teach churches. This year his flight was cancelled. It looked like a closed door, but God was opening another: Passover with his own people in Israel.

A Seder on a dangerous night

On 3 April, Aviel led a Passover Seder in Ramla for around 40 people. Most were Jewish people who did not yet know Jesus. That day there was heavy bombing across central Israel and the roads were dangerous, but Aviel felt God's peace, and he and his wife went.

Over dinner he met Valery and asked him the question he believes matters most: "Who is Jesus to you?"

Valery's answer was thoughtful. He loved Jesus' teaching, especially the Sermon on the Mount, but to him Jesus was only a man who had reached perfection. If we followed his example, Valery believed, we too could become gods.

Aviel's reply stopped him in his tracks: "If that is what you believe, then your sins are not forgiven."

"Why?" Valery asked.

If Jesus were only a man, Aviel explained, he could not pay for Valery's sins. But Jesus is the eternal Lord, the Alpha and the Omega, who knew every person before the foundation of the world. That is why he can pay for the sins of all who trust in him.

Aviel opened the Tanakh at Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6, where God promised a child who would sit on David's throne and be called Immanuel, Mighty God and Everlasting Father.

Valery paused. "I didn't know that."

But he was not yet convinced. When Aviel explained that wanting to be our own god was Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, Valery completely disagreed. So Aviel began to pray earnestly that God would open Valery's eyes and reveal who Jesus truly is.

The phone call

Weeks later, Aviel's phone rang. It was Valery, wanting to talk about spiritual things. Aviel's heart leapt.

Valery had been discussing the Lord's Prayer with his brother. "My brother thinks the Lord himself might lead us into temptation," he said. "But I believe Jesus wants to protect us from temptation, not lead us into it."

Aviel was overjoyed to hear Valery call Jesus "Lord", the very truth he had rejected only weeks earlier.

"Valery, have you changed your mind?" he asked. "Do you now believe that Jesus is your Lord?"

Since their conversation, Valery had thought about it constantly, and God had been at work in his heart. He now knew that Jesus truly is Lord.

One last question

One thing still troubled him. If Jesus is Lord, why is he called the "Son of Man"?

Aviel took him to Daniel 7, where "one like a son of man" receives an everlasting kingdom and all nations serve him. Yet the book of Daniel insists that no human being may be worshipped, so this Son of Man must be far more than a man. Then they read John 1, where the eternal Word, who is God, becomes flesh and dwells among us.

"Wow!" Valery said. "Now I understand that Jesus truly is Lord."

The man who once believed he could become a god now bowed before the God who became a man.

Photo of Aviel and Valery

From faith to the Jordan

Faith led to discipleship. As they studied Scripture together, Valery, who had first thought baptism would give him special spiritual power, learned that the power is not in the water. Baptism is an act of faith and obedience, identifying with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection.

On 12 September, during the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Aviel and Valery's pastor baptised him in the Jordan River.

Photo of the baptism

Afterwards, Valery said:

"Some people base their faith on feelings, but that was not enough for me. I also needed to understand with my mind that Jesus is truly the Messiah. When my mind understood this, peace came into my heart."

Aviel thought immediately of Jesus' words: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).

A family God is still writing

Years ago, Valery and the mother of his daughter separated. But God brought her to faith first, and since her baptism two years ago she has been praying for Valery.

At the Jordan, Aviel saw the three of them together: Valery, his daughter's mother and their eight-year-old girl. A prayer rose in his heart: "Lord, would you restore this family?"

Please pray with us

Please pray that God would keep Valery growing as a disciple of Jesus, rooted in his Word and a faithful witness to others. Pray that, according to his will, God would bring healing, reconciliation and restoration to Valery's family.

Thank you for partnering with International Mission to Jewish People in prayer and giving as we share the good news of Jesus the Messiah with Jewish people.