Meeting Jesus – Just a Man?

Passion and Pain

Do you think you understand what Jesus went through on the cross?

I think that’s one of the things Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” did for many people – give them a new perspective on Jesus’ death – a much more violent ending to Jesus’ life than they were used to.

It takes a lot to shock me. I have this tendency to dissect what’s happening rather than be affected by it – I just want to know how they do it. But “The Passion” really got me. It didn’t surprise me – I’ve known for a long time what was involved in the cross – maybe more than most people – but the movie leaves no real room for the imagination. There are so many movies about Jesus – in many Jesus is white with long beautiful flowing hair, clean white clothes – purity. Movies tend to over spiritualise the truth – the white robes, clean sandals, lack of blood, pain, tears, grief – Jesus becomes a super-human – mythical, easily consigned to the pages of history.

Was Jesus superhuman more than human? There was something special about him – a man like all others and yet unique! The church spent the first 500 years arguing about how Jesus could be just like everyone else and yet be something completely different. It’s hard to see how Jesus could be a man. It’s much easier to see Jesus as altogether different.

Unique

Every time you write the date you acknowledge that Jesus was unique – all history is divided by Jesus’ birth. In 1969 Richard Nixon declared the American landing on the moon was “the greatest day since creation”. The evangelist Billy Graham said he was right – except for Christmas and Easter. Which has to be true! Jesus spoke to less people in his ministry than Billy Graham spoke to at just one stadium – and Graham spoke at thousands of stadiums. Yet Jesus changed the face of the earth in ways we would never suggest that Billy Graham might have. For 2000 years the world has revolved around Jesus. More than 2 billion people, ¹/₃ of the world’s population swear allegiance to Jesus. For the rest Jesus is the enemy, a swear word, or maybe real but irrelevant. Even other religions feel the need to acknowledge Jesus.

Normal

As unique as he was, he was also normal – lived a human life, died a human death. Not superhuman, not alien, not especially endowed in any sense – a Jew from theGalilee, with a name and a family. When you read in the newspapers or hear in the news about Palestine, the West Bank, Jordan and Jerusalem, that is where Jesus lived and breathed and ate and slept and walked and did all the things humans do, including dying – right there. Until he was 30 he could walk down the street basically unnoticed – Joey’s son, the carpenter’s apprentice.

Nobody on the ground would have thought anything other than that Jesus was a man.

• They were amazed at his teaching.
• They were stunned at his authority.
• They were angry at his claims.
• They followed him around because he was incredible.
• No one talked like him.
• No one did the things he could do.
• No one made the claims he did – outrageous claims for any human and yet strangely compelling for Jesus.
• No one gathered such a following.
• No one talked to storms with the expectation that they would obey him.
• No one else cast out demons simply by telling them to leave.
• No one healed the blind by spitting on the ground and using the mud on the blind eyes.
• No one expressed rage at the use of the temple, as though it were a personal affront.

But not one person assumed that Jesus was anything other than a man.

They saw him on a daily basis. He ate like they did, slept when he was tired, used the toilet, drank water, bathed daily, walked like everyone else, wore clothing, rode donkeys, built things out of wood with his hands. Jesus wasn’t Harry Potter – he didn’t wave a wand when people’s backs were turned and turn trees into furniture.  Jesus was a man with limitations. When he wanted to go from one end of  Jerusalem to another he walked – just like everyone else. When people were sick or died he was filled with concern and compassion. When his friend Lazarus died he wept. Jesus didn’t wander around in a kind of calm, cool and collected daze like Mr Spock, able to deal with everything unemotionally and logically. People affected him. Obstinacy frustrated him. Self-righteousness infuriated him. Simple faith thrilled him. In fact Jesus seemed more human than most – more emotional, passionate, fiery, compassionate – but still, unmistakably a man.

Understanding Jesus as Human

It’s odd – given all that, that we find it hard to understand Jesus as a man. He is God, Son of God, King, Word, and High priest – any of those titles that remove him from our earthly realm. But the more you read about Jesus the more human he seems. Don’t read through eyes that know how the story ends. Read the story of Jesus through eyes that are wondering where this is leading. Understand the man who walked, talked, lived on earth.

Imagine you’re face to face with him.  Despite everything you’ve heard, he’s a Jew – male, 30 years old – short but strong, big arms and shoulders, long hair, beard, often dirty from long walks on dusty roads – he looks like everyone else. Where’s the 30 foot tall shining king who will crush the Romans, who heals the sick as he rides around on his white horse? How did this man heal anyone? How did this man stop a storm – surely that’s fiction? Come to think of it, why do the religious leaders want to kill him? He’s no one – he’s fromGalilee – who cares what he says – they’re all mad down there anyway.

The more you look at Jesus the harder he is to understand. Everyone  in Jerusalem is talking about the Roman occupation – Jesus says almost nothing about it.  Instead he gets a whip and drives out the thieving religious con men from the temple. He urged obedience to the Law of Moses yet had a reputation as a law-breaker. He could be moved with sympathy for a stranger, yet turns on his best friend with the rebuke “get behind me Satan”. He had uncompromising views on rich men and adulterous women, and yet was a friend to both. Jesus must have been real – no one would invent such a character.

The Final Stupidity

You come to the ultimate stupidity – the cross – the foundation of Christianity.

Jesus who everyone knows has done nothing wrong – great teacher, heals the sick, loves the unlovable, being executed for a crime he never committed. Everyone knew he’d been sold out, that the crimes were fabricated, that men had lied. Yet there he is hanging on that ugly piece of wood – his mother, and brothers and friends a little way off, confused, sick to the stomach, wondering what on earth has gone wrong, in despair – what do we do now?

The one hanging on that cross is a human – “The Passion” gets that right and in gruesome detail. This is a man being subjected to a painful death.  He sweats, he bleeds, he suffers, feels the pain and agony. All the torment of being crucified – and there are less painful and degrading ways to die – Jesus experiences all. And there’s the spiritual agony of knowing God’s wrath was being poured out on himself, that the punishment for every sin was being laid on Jesus shoulders at that very moment of his physical death. Who died on the cross? A man – not a superhero, not someone uniquely able to deal with the pain – a man!

And then a man rises from the dead. The one who walks out of the tomb is Jesus – born of a woman, lived and died and raised from the dead by God his Father as a man. It’s unbelievable isn’t it? No one rises from the dead. In all the funerals I’ve taken not one has ever opened the coffin and walked away. Death is irreversible – like popping a balloon? “Daddy my balloon burst – please fix it?” “Sorry – I can’t.” You can’t reverse the irreversible. You cannot rise from the dead.

Jesus did.

Walking on the Moon?

Our history is full of events that changed the course of history and life – wars, technology, landing on the moon, transport, communication, computers, science, medicine and more! Many great men and women have touched the lives of people – but in the death and resurrection of Jesus we see the greatest single event in history.  Just a man dying – nothing particularly unusual, happens to most people. Except in this death we see sin and death defeated. In the resurrection we see victory over our mortal enemies.

Which would all mean very little if the passion were simply an historical event. We could read it with the same level of disinterest we might read about the building of the Great Wall of China, or the life of Caesar.  But Jesus positioned himself as the dividing point of life. According to Jesus, what I think about him and how I respond will determine my eternity.

Matthew 10:32-33 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

In Jesus we see God stretching himself out on the dissecting table and saying, “Examine me. Test me. Make a decision.”

What is the point of the greatest event ever to happen on this planet? The point is you – your life, your salvation, and your future – your decision. No other event has so affected history and this world than the death and resurrection of Jesus. But what Jesus is interested in is how it affects you. He stands before us as a man who died and rose again so that all who believe in him would have life and salvation for eternity. Jesus says to each of us – “Follow me.”

If you have never taken the opportunity to respond to Jesus then do so today. If you have already but you know that you need to once again turn back and repent and be in step with Jesus.

Myth Busters – Christianity is Simply a Crutch

Christian myths – or myths about Christianity – or myths propagated by Christians and those opposed – what is reality, what do we/should we believe, what is the truth about some of the claims made by or about Christians? Myth busters is a great fun TV series – but also a great idea. What is true? What’s not? What is plausible, proven or busted? Christians should ask these questions constantly. Test the Spirit – don’t just swallow everything you hear uncritically!

A Little Faith

Whenever you see scenes in mainstream movies about Christian faith (try… “The Day After Tomorrow” 1.20.40ff or “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” 21.55ff) there’s an underlying theme that Christianity is for fools and the weak – for people who are tricked into giving their time, money and allegiance to something pathetic. The scene from “The Day after Tomorrow” has an actor trying to preserve an original Guttenberg Bible – doesn’t believe in God but believes in man’s ability to reason and conquer. “I want to save something of Western civilisation.” Or Indiana Jones asks his boss… “Do you believe?” “At my age I’m willing to take a few things on faith”.

• Faith fills in the gaps when you have nothing else!?
• It’s my support when I can’t fight my own battles, or I face fears that I can’t deal with some other way.
• Only people who can’t stand on their own need to put their trust in a God you can’t see or hear – a god who can’t possibly be good.
• Evil in the world proves that god doesn’t exist so believing in a god is blindly putting aside all reason.
• We’re on our own and Christians need to join the 21^st century.
• Is Christianity an escape from reality – and insurance policy for losers?
• Is your faith simply a crutch?

As you think about this – ask yourself…

• What does the world think of Christians?
• What do your non-Christian peers, family and friends think of Christians?
• Is Christianity just a crutch?
• Do those around you think that you are showing your weakness by “trusting” in Jesus?

Is Christianity for the Weak

People who proclaim Christianity is for losers and the weak are making a pile of assumptions that we can deal with – assumptions that are based on power and confidence. They assume…

1. That all faith is blind
2. That they are powerful and require no support
3. That what they have confidence in is the right foundation for life

Christian Faith

Let’s start with faith – what is it? Christian faith is about personal trust. We entrust ourselves to the God of the Bible – we have a personal relationship with the God – not simply a friendship – we depend on God for our very existence and for our salvation.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Faith in Jesus starts with a right understanding of our world. This is not a matter of blindness but of seeing the truth clearly. We are not the people God created us to be – rather than following God we abandoned his ways and went gone our own way.

Ephesians 2:1-2a “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…”

But through Jesus’ death and resurrection we have assurance that he has reconciled us to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18a “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…”

Faith in Christ means we see truly. Without Jesus we are rebellious and broken people in need of healing. With Jesus we are given the assurance that he is sovereign over all things, that his kingdom is coming, and that he is returning us to the arms of the one holy and loving God.

Necessary Crutches

All of this says that in one sense Christian faith is a crutch! But a crutch is a necessary support. The problem isn’t with Christianity being a crutch – the question is why people think it’s a valid criticism. Crutches are what you use when you can’t stand on your own. Broken a leg or had to use crutches? I did for 6 weeks or so. I couldn’t get around on my own two feet. In a sense it’s a great description of Christianity. We start our walk with Christ by admitting that we are broken and can’t deal with sin and the consequences. Left to our own devices we will perish – and we have to come to the point where we can recognise and admit that. Accepting Jesus is accepting his strength and power to deal with our brokenness.

So even though the idea of Christianity being a crutch is meant as an insult – it really is simply the truth. The implication is that we should be tough and face life, cope with the realities of this world without any assistance. Fact is we wouldn’t hesitate to use crutches for a broken leg – those who see the truth of this world accept Jesus because he is the only way to survive.

We can understand why people don’t want to look weak and accept Christ. It’s because most people in our western world operate under the assumption that they are powerful and strong – or that they should be. That’s what our society promotes – never let weakness be shown. We take pity on weakness – we push students getting ahead by your own strength and power. We have this mistaken understanding of the world that we are in control. That’s the first thing we have to give up under Christ – the mistaken belief that we are in control.

Romans 5:6, 8 “…at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly … God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Bible shows us that all people are broken and incomplete – physically, mentally and spiritually. None of us can stand on our own – and most importantly in the one thing that matters, none of us can stand guiltless before God on our own. Jesus said that he came to save those who recognised their lack of power and control.

Mark 2:17 “…Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

If we wish to survive this life then we have to recognise our lack of power and lean on Christ. When we go it alone we fall flat. It is only while we are on crutches that God’s healing hand restores us and finally brings us in transformed, resurrected glory to himself. Jesus says:

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

A Right Foundation

In the end it comes down to where your confidence lays – in something that works or something unproven. If you put your confidence in yourself then God says you will fail. Not one of us is good enough to stand before God, answer for our sins, pay for our sins and then survive – but that choice exists for people. We have to come to the realisation that we are not powerful or in control, and we certainly are not good enough and can’t be.

We may baulk at the idea that Christianity is crutch – and that’s fair – to us Christ is simply the truth. But the danger would be to replace it with some other word that makes us somehow a little powerful or a little responsible for our salvation. The truth is that without the gospel as our support and foundation we would sink. We talk about growing in Christ, of deepening our relationship with God, even of being swept up in praise of our Savior and Lord. We forget that we only walk and run with Jesus by his power.

Isaiah 40:30-31 “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Myth Busters – All Religions are The Same

Religion – All Roads Lead To Rome

A Jew, a Baptist and an Anglican were discussing how they worked out their tithe each week. The Anglican said that he drew a square on the ground, threw the money up in the air and anything that landed in the square he gave to God. The Baptist was much the same, but being freer in his thinking he would throw the money in the air and whatever landed outside the square he gave to God. The Jew said they were both mad. He would stand in the square and throw the money in the air… and whatever God caught God kept.

What Does a Christian Believe?

• We believe in one God – the Father the Almighty – creator and sustainer.
• We believe in one Lord – Jesus Christ – truly God, truly man who died for our sins and is alive and coming back to judge of all.
• We believe in the Holy Spirit who is one with the Father and the Son and has been sent by both Father and Son to call us to life and to speak through the prophets.

One God, three persons. Equal yet different – the Father did not die on the cross, the Son did create the universe, the Holy Spirit points to the Son and caused the Scriptures to be written.

What do people you know say about religion?

Plenty of people think that all religions are the same – if they think about it at all. All religions are simply different expressions of one truth. Especially in western thinking, no religion has an exclusive claim to the truth. So Christians and Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’is, Shintoists and Atheists all believe the same thing – and we should just get on with peace and harmony.

Is that true? Are all religions the same?

Activity

Have a think – maybe talk to some people.

• Write down all the religions you can think of and just one thing you’re pretty sure those religions believe.
• What do people you know world think of organised religion?

Reality

The reality is most people have no idea what religions teach – only what the tv tells them. We can actually see that pretty clearly – western Buddhism looks almost nothing like Eastern Buddhism – and western Buddhism tends to be a caricature of what Buddhists seem to believe on TV. In many cases Western Buddhism looks like a spiritual capitalism.

Anyway – it’s true to the outside observer that religions can look remarkably similar to each other. Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship one God – Monotheism – one God. So people say… isn’t it the same God just with different names? We see the Muslims praying. We see Jews praying – what’s the difference? Obviously there are extreme Muslims who obviously aren’t following God’s plans. And the Jews aren’t exactly innocent, but then neither were the Christians in years gone by. Are they all just pointing to the same God?

What about the other religions? There are 5 main types of belief – including monotheism.

• Hinduism and Buddhism say that there is no God. You become one with the universe by self sacrifice.
• Tribal and folk religions are called Polytheism – many gods and spirits.
• Ying and Yang – Taoism – the dualistic religions – good and evil in balance.
• Atheism is the belief there is no god – so Marxism, Communism and secular humanism. If you go to the secular universities in Australia you will come under the influence of secular humanism.

Spiritual Hunger

Most religions are dropping in numbers, especially in the Western world. There are a couple of exceptions, though they probably aren’t the ones you think. But spirituality is on the rise. There is a hunger in many people to find ways to deal with life – religion and capitalism can’t help. Many people who turned to Eastern religions in the 60’s and 70’s are now turning to new age spiritualism – new in that it’s been around for about 6000 years. Spirituality in the modern western world is very much like jelly – it wobbles all over the place and can be any shape you like. People mean by ‘spirituality’ whatever they want. They include devil worship, tarot cards, crystals, meditation, yoga, vegetarianism, self actualisation – whatever that is. It’s all about following your “inner spiritual path”. In Sydney each year there is a “Body Mind and Spirit Festival” – more than ½ million visitors each year. There was a “blessed medallion” on ebay a few years back that was ‘guaranteed’ to bring the wearer good luck and spiritual peace. It sold for almost $2000. There is no lack of desire for the “spiritual” aspect of life.

In fact what is happening is that an old form of religion is reviving – multi-spirituality – people wanting to determine their own spiritual path to peace and happiness. Spirituality comes from whatever pursuit you choose – as long as you are faithful to that god/spiritual path then you are spiritual.

Do all these paths get to the same God? Are all religions the same?

The Problem

The thing is – as soon as you start investigating you can see that religions have statements of faith that are in direct opposition to each other. And oddly – for most religions that’s ok by them. Moderate Muslims – not the fundamentalists – they believe that Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship the same god – but the Jews and the Christians just need to learn the true name of God. The Bahia religion expects you to worship how you want and to whom you want when you go to a Bahia temple. I visited one once – it felt evil to me – and I’m not that sort of person who gets those sensations. Hindus and Buddhists don’t really care who you worship as long as you are seeking a right path. [P] Are they all the same?

No! And we know because of the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ.

What’s Different About Christianity?

I could do the old one liner – Christianity’s not a religion. It’s a relationship. That’s true enough but it’s only a starting place. Jesus and responding to Jesus is what makes Christianity different.

1 John 4:9-10 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1. John reminds us that Jesus’ birth, life, teaching, death and resurrection are historical events, not mythical. We have good evidence for all of them, including the resurrection. Without Jesus there would be no Christianity – unlike all other religions which are about teaching and practice. It’s what you do and learn and how you act that will determine your future. We are focussed on Jesus’ death and resurrection and his act of salvation.

1 Cor 15:17 “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

This is unique to Christianity. Second…

John 1:14-15 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

• What’s different is we received the one and only Son of God. God became flesh and dwelt with us. Jesus was God incarnate – the word of the week – use it in conversation. It means that he wasn’t simply a representative, or even an image of God, like a statue come to life. Jesus was God in the flesh – dwelling in person on earth.

John 14:9 “Jesus answered: … Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

• All religions – even atheism – claim that mankind has a problem. All of them claim that the solution is human effort. Even Catholicism claims this. Jesus declares that our problem is far worse – we are spiritually dead – and unless we accept his life for ours and start living through him then we will remain dead.

Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• All religions claim we become one with god/universe etc by our own effort. It’s the great Aussie lie! She’ll be right! God and I are mates. But that is patently untrue. God has a zero tolerance policy with sin. He declared the punishment for sin is death and separation from him for eternity.

Habakkuk 1:13 “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”

God is 100% Holy. His holiness and love are not demonstrated as the world wants them to be in leniency. He demonstrated his love for us by sending his Son to pay the price of our sin.

• The kicker is this. Salvation does not come by moral hard work – it is a free gift.

Romans 1:17a “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last…”

Do you know what you lose when you try to make salvation dependant on us rather than God?

Assurance!

The more my salvation depends on me the less I will be sure because I know myself. I know where I fail. That’s why Hinduism is so cruel. You are reincarnated into a body that reflects your previous life. Make even little mistakes and you come back as a slug, or a cat. That’s why cows are sacred – there goes Auntie Bessie. That’s cruel – no hope, no assurance.

God offers us hope based on His character not ours – on his holiness. Because God loves us he sent his son – it’s not that we loved God. As we come to understand that there is no way that we can live up to God’s standards – as we come to release that we only have hope by entrusting Jesus with our lives – then we will come to understand the assurance we have in Christ. Our salvation depends on Him who chose us rather than me being good.

Do All Roads Lead To Rome?

The Bible answers our question.

Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

As the team would say on MythBusters – this myth is busted. We could do a lengthy comparative religions study – interesting but meaningless really except in understanding that Christianity is incredibly different. There is pretty much no similarity between the claims of Christianity and those of all other religions. There is no way to match up the claims of Christianity and the other religions.

It all comes down to this – the character of Jesus and the reality of his death and resurrection. That’s what we need to help people understand – the Bible makes clear claims based entirely on Jesus Christ.

Talking It Up

When we are talking to people who want to argue that all religions are the same we want to do two things.

1. We really want to pray. Obvious – Yes! The first thing that comes to mind? Maybe not! Whenever we are talking to people about Jesus we really want to be asking God to help us speak the truth in love, and for the Holy Spirit to make it clear to them. Without the Holy Spirit opening their eyes they will remain dead.
2. We want to focus entirely on Jesus and especially his death and resurrection. We want as best we can to answer their question, or complaints, but we also want to turn it as quickly as we can to Jesus – because the thing they have to deal with is that Jesus died and rose for them – if it’s true then they have to accept or reject knowing the claim Jesus is making on them and the consequences.

True safety – true faith – true life – true assurance rests in Jesus alone – he alone can save us from sin and death – he alone offers us hope that can never fade an inheritance that can never be destroyed. No other religion offers what Christ does.

Myth Busters – Faith Expectations – What Can Faith Really Do?

Christian myths – or myths about Christianity – or myths propagated by Christians and those opposed – what is reality, what do we/should we believe, what is the truth about some of the claims made by or about Christians – mythbusters is a great fun TV series – but also a great idea. What is true? What’s not? What is plausible, proven or busted? Christians should ask these questions constantly. Test the Spirit – don’t just swallow everything you hear uncritically!

So Little Faith

Matthew 17:14-21 “…a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What can faith do?

Indiana Jones in “The Last Crusade” – faith is a blind trust to fate. He must (if you haven’t seen the movie then I’m about to spoil it for you)… he must step of a ledge into nothingness in an act of faith and trust – which is not so much faith in God, but rather trust that his father got it right. Is that what faith can do?

Faith can… move mountains, rebuke demons, heal sick kids – and raise the dead, stop the rain, start the rain, part the seas, change the course of rivers, bring food, change water to wine, knock down walls, defeat armies and avoid death. James writes…

James 5:13-15 “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”

Through faith in Christ we inherit what has been promised to Jesus – we receive his inheritance by sharing in his glory – we receive life and freedom, we grab hold of the teachings about Jesus and we share the good news – by faith in Christ. We are to take hold of faith, to be known for our faith, to pursue faithfulness, to help others in their faith, to pray for greater/stronger/more faithful… faith, and more.

What People Say About Faith

Whatever the Bible says about faith, and its power, Christians believe a whole host of things about faith – and across the board Christians don’t agree amongst ourselves about the boundaries and abilities of faith.

Consider: what views are there about faith that you have heard? Maybe ask around and see what people believe?

Some of the things I’ve heard…

• “If you have enough faith you will be healed!” Meaning healing here on earth right now – and in most cases immediately! If you are not being healed then you do not have enough faith!?
• “If you have faith you will be wealthy!” Materially wealthy on earth! If you are not wealthy as a Christian then you are not acting in faith!?
• “Faith means having no doubts!” Doubting/questioning is a sign of faithlessness!?
• “Faith fixes everything. Before I came to Christ my life was a mess – but now nothing goes wrong – my life is amazing!” I have heard this so often it’s amazing. “Now, whenever I am going shopping I pray in faith that I will find a parking spot, and I always find a parking spot. That’s faith in action.”!?

A Year of Trying Times

We had a very hard 18 months a few years ago. We moved house (which is apparently right up there with the whole stress thing)… my grandmother died, I had a family member in increasing pain eventually requiring a major hip operation, I spent the 3 months working in pain with a back injury, followed by a month completely incapacitated by pain (flat on my back and for the first few days wanting God to take me), followed by 2 months of recovery and physiotherapy (I don’t know why the medieval world complained about the rack – did wonders for my back). To top it off I caught every bug going around because my immune system had been mucked about by the drugs. And then we were robbed, including my computer with about a year of sermon and teaching materials not backed up (my fault I know). Now – as a story – it’s not really up there with the worst ones – no earthquake or Tsunami destroying my life or livelihood, didn’t lose an arm or a leg surfing, didn’t get diagnosed with cancer – so I understand entirely there are people in far worse situations.

But – thinking about faith and the power of faith… I’ve been a Christian for over 35 years. I try to be faithful – but I’m not perfect. I’m certainly not lacking in faith – I believe what the Bible says about Jesus to be true and to be applicable to me – and I try to live by it. I live a faithful life – I am a minister and work pretty hard at not just my ministry but my personal growth in Christ and faithfulness to his service. And over the years my faith has stood the test any number of times – I am not going to change my mind, I hold my beliefs and faith very strongly (in so far as it’s up to me – and thankfully for the most part, it’s not).

But – thinking about the power of faith… what was happening?

If faith fixes everything then surely I’ve got a problem.

If the prayer of the righteous man that James talks about means immediate healing then I have a problem. My back problem was dealt with, without surgery, but it hasn’t gone away. I could stand to lose a good amount of weight and I’m sure that would help my back no end – but my back will still be damaged. Does that mean that I don’t have enough faith? Does that mean I have a problem in my relationship with Christ?

Well – if the answer is yea – then it’s also yes for pretty much every Christian. It would also be true for Paul the apostle, for Job in the OT, for Stephen the first Christian martyr, for the apostles – all of whom endured suffering without relief – or at least without relief for a significant period of time, and quite often suffering that ended not in miraculous healing or release, but in death. Paul says about himself…

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “…there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul had a thorn in his side – we don’t know what it was. But it was long term, made him suffer and he had to endure. However – is there anyone who would be dumb enough to say that Paul is anything other than a prime example in the Bible of faith? Others – us – are to follow in his footsteps – and frankly we’d be hard pressed to keep up with Paul. Who would have the hubris to say Paul lacked faith – or that his suffering was due to a lack of faith?

However – let’s go further. It’s not just the thorn that we should consider – it’s also Paul’s delight in weakness – a delight that confirms to him Christ’s power and strength. The thorn was a given under God’s sovereignty and for God’s purposes, though it was of Satan. From Satan’s point of view it was a torment – from God’s point of view it was to strengthen Paul’s faith, to make him rely on Jesus and to see that in his weakness Christ’s power was at work. Jesus says…

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Paul is an example of that – rest doesn’t mean the burden is gone – simply that in Christ’s strength and power and might and mercy the burdens of this world can be dealt with and be understood to be part of God’s power working in us to make us like Christ.

The example of Job

When it comes to suffering and faith the name of Job always seems to make an appearance – so not to disappoint… reality is Job is an amazing example.

Job 3:23-26 “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Read the story again – it has its moments and it’s a somewhat torturous path to get from beginning to end – when I read it I want to slap his 3 mates… but consider… he was in such mental, physical and spiritual agony that he wanted to die. Some of us have been there – even in small ways after a small amount of suffering – so I guess we might be able to understand, even a little, what brought him to that point of wishing for it to end. What do we know from the Scriptures about his suffering?

1. It was from Satan – Satan is not called the tormentor for nothing!
2. It was by God’s permission and under God’s control. Satan could do nothing unless permitted by God
3. It was a test of Job’s faith – a refining through suffering, like gold is purified of impurities!
4. God declares in the end that Job, above all men, was faithful and importantly – did not sin!

Job had to endure his suffering – and be freed from it in God’s own time. He cried out to God not only to be released but simply to understand and no answer came for a long time. He was faithful yet suffered – and lest we think otherwise God very clearly declares him to be his most faithful servant – yet he suffered. Job had faith – I guess from our perspective faith far greater than the size of a mustard seed – faith that could move mountains… yet he suffered terribly!

The Example of Jesus

What about Jesus? Jesus’ own suffering is surely our greatest example. We’d be pretty game and foolish to declare that Jesus lacked faith. Yet he suffered! He suffered and died an agonising death.

Matthew 17:20-22a “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I don’t really understand why, when we read that passage, that we don’t read what comes next?

I don’t really understand why, when we read that passage, that we don’t read what comes next?

Matthew 17:22b-23 “When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.”

If anyone had faith to move mountains – surely Jesus had enough – not that he did it – but enough to walk on water, enough to wither fig trees, enough to heal the sick, enough to cast out demons, enough to raise the dead.

But under God’s plan he suffered.

And he didn’t shrink from that suffering – he embraced it as God’s plan. He walked towards the suffering. He did not change the circumstances. He did not demand from God that the suffering be taken away – he asked “Father, if it is your will – take this cup from me”… but clearly it was God’s plan that Jesus suffer, not just death but humiliation, torture and agony, the betrayal of friends, followers and family, the jeering crowds, the gloating high priests, the murderer crucified next to him… at no point do we see Jesus saying that if only he’d had enough faith… then…!?

The Myth Busted

The myth is that faith will fix everything – that enough faith will lead to health, wealth and a lack of suffering.

The truth is that faith will most often lead to suffering – and that’s by God’s design, plan and under his control not Satan’s. It’s through suffering that we learn to rely on Jesus rather than ourselves. It is through suffering that we see God’s power at work in our lives as we come to greater faith.

Practically speaking – what can I say about my own suffering – death, sickness, theft?

• Was it Satan is attacking me and my family – meaning the that the suffering is a sign of faith?
• Was it God causing me and my family to repent?
• Was it a sign of a lack of faith?

You will hear each of these views in churches. And I would say, none of them is quite true.

What is true – from the Scriptures – is this.

• God is constantly bringing us to repentance through suffering, he is refining and testing our faith and causing us to rely on him. We know that this is part and parcel of faith in Christ.
• We also know that Satan is still at large, chained and defeated, but still lashing out, still active, still dangerous – and still a bully, a coward and a prat – Satan’s rule of this world means that we should understand that evil, sin and attacks on Christians should be seen as Satan at work – if the book of Revelation makes anything clear it should be that.
• But we also know that Satan is not outside God’s influence, power or control.

Faith is trusting in Christ no matter what this life brings – knowing that in the next we will receive life for eternity unfettered by the things that drag us down in this life. Suffering here on earth is not a sign of faithlessness – but rather part of the work of God to bring us closer to him. In the end – it’s not my quantity of faith that has any meaning whatsoever – but Christ’s faithfulness that means everything. What Christ inherits – I inherit. Where Christ spends eternity, I will spend eternity. What Christ receives he offers to share with me and you – if only we will give up the pretence of control over our lives and trust in him, in his death and resurrection – by faith and action Christ Jesus dealt with sin and the power of death and he offers that victory to us. I tell you what – in the end – I don’t want to put my trust in the quantity of faith I have – I want to put my trust in Christ’s proven faithfulness.

Why Believe In God?

The Existence of God

• Buddhists believe in no god – rather that we are all one with the universe and play our part in making it work.
• Hindus say there are many gods and you must be true to your god.
• Eastern religions – Shintoism for example – say each family’s ancestors are gods.
• Muslims says there is one God, Allah, and no other.
• Jews say there is one God, Yahweh, and no other.
• The Bahai’s – there are many gods and spirits – all represent the one god. Bahai is sort of a Western Hinduism.
• The atheist says there is no God. This is all there is – life is about how you live now.
• The agnostic says there may be a god but we cannot know.
• Some people worship Mother Nature as an actual spiritual force, the power behind all things that we need to coöperate with and even please or she will react. This isn’t new by the way – nature worship, and worship of the spirits of the earth is one of the oldest religions in the world.
• Some people worship the universe. Self help books like “The Secret” – claim that the universe will provide anything to those willing to ask for it. Ask, believe, receive – simple! Which is sort of a materialistic consumer driven Buddhism.
• People worship Satan as a god – they call him “the prince of darkness” as though that makes him great, and ask him to grant them all good things – which is impossible.

And they say we’re strange!
According to some statistics 19% of Australians attend a church at least once a month. 65% say there is a god. They have a multitude of ideas about that god – he’s distant, spiritual, inhabits the heavens, plays games, she’s female, doesn’t care, walks like a goat! But, for the majority of Australians, God simply isn’t part of each day. They may have some vague idea of something greater than them in the universe – but it doesn’t really mean anything. They might pray when in trouble or looking for a parking spot – but equally might use Jesus name as a swear word or God as an exclamation mark – “oh my …”!
Psalm 10:4 “In his pride the wicked person does not seek God; in all their thoughts there is no room for God.”
Some Christians say people have a God shaped hole. Is that true? Really? The Bible says that without God’s direct intervention people don’t seek God – and left to our own devices we happily ignore God. I reckon if you ask around most people don’t think they have a God shaped hole – though that may be the point being made – the hole is there but we don’t know what it is. Most people have issues, mortgages, credit card bills and problems like everyone else – but God doesn’t get a look in. If they think they have a void, how do they try to fill it? A good job, a promotion, a new house or bigger car; earn more money, give the kids a better start, a plasma TV, a nice holiday, keep their kids off drugs. The void might be filled by alcohol, sex, food – anything that feels like it works. There are a million ways that don’t involve God – any god… “in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” I think Christians like to think people have a God shaped hole – maybe it gives us something to aim for? The reality is though, most people only think about God in relation to death! They make no connection between God and living.
What do Christians believe? What do you and I believe?

Apostles Creed

• We believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
• And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to the dead. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
• We believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy universal church; the fellowship of the saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen
• There is one God – who has been revealed to us by his creative work in the world, by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and by the ongoing work of Jesus in our lives and in the world in the person of the Holy Spirit. One God, three persons – God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

Reasons to Believe

When the majority of the world disagrees with you… why do you believe?
Our reasons can often be a turn off for non-Christians. For many of us the answer to “why do you believe” is “I just do!”

• I feel that there is a God.
• I have experienced God’s love or kindness.
• I have felt the Holy Spirit at work in me.
• I know Jesus loves me.
• I can’t believe that there isn’t a God because of the complexity of the universe.

All of these are exactly the same excuses an atheist uses to disprove God’s existence – they are the centre of their world and it doesn’t make sense to them… therefore there is no god. They have never seen God at work and therefore God must not exist.
As a Christian my reasons for believing in God cannot be centred on me. Or in other words… I am not the reason you should believe in God.

Why do I believe in God?

• Jesus – I’ll come back to him in a minute…
• Creation – I find creation is too amazing, too beautiful, too complex to be anything other than the work of a Creator. This is my belief and my observation and the interpretation of the evidence, and whilst I think atheists are wrong, their beliefs about creation and my beliefs are equally valid. They start from a position – “a priori” there is no god – therefore the creation is the result of some other force – natural forces. For me – I start from the position of knowing Jesus – “a priori” there is a God and he has revealed himself to us. So when I read…

Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

…I agree – the hand of God in creation is obvious to me.

• I find water fascinating and amazing – it can be in the form of ice, steam, liquid – the freezing point and boiling point of water are exactly right for life on earth. The freezing properties of water, the universal solvent, that it is the basis of life – our bodies are 97% water – and waterfalls – I find waterfalls to be majestic and a thing of beauty – something that for me points to the creator. I could go on about water – waves, oceans, etc.
• I find the enormity of space – the majesty of the stars – the size of the universe – the complexity, the inter-connectivity of relationships between sun and moon and earth and planets and stars – the beauty of the galaxies – all point to a creator rather than chance
• The human body – where to start – the eye… a wonder of evolution or the creation work of an incredible God? The brain – the heart – the complexity of the nervous system. We humans are smart – but there is so little we really understand about the body – we can walk on the moon, we can excise cancer – but we can’t defeat the flu?
• I could go on – talk about complexity and apparent design – there’s the old story… I was walking along a street the other day when I looked down in the gutter and saw all these atoms and dust particles laying there – and as I watched they started changing and evolving before my eyes until finally there was this beautiful watch laying the gutter – and I picked it up and it was working and telling exactly the right time – and I thought to myself – isn’t it amazing how the universe just evolved out of nothing.
• The thing is though – I start from the position that there is a God and we can know him. The atheist starts from the position that there is no god. Science only helps – it’s not absolute unless you’re willing to accept the evidence. That’s what faith is – what you are willing to accept as evidence of the truth.

• Parents – my parents are part of the equation of belief and faith for me. I don’t mean that they forced me to believe – but I saw the evidence of their lives that matched with their words. My father was a minister – my parents were in ministry for many years – and despite failings and sinfulness and all the rest of the normal human equation – mum and dad lived by what they said. Their lives matched what they preached and taught. That had an enormous influence on me – because I could see the reality of the Scriptures lived out in front of me – imperfectly to be sure – but still true.
• Sin and death – these two great enemies of mankind have something in common. No matter what I do – I cannot defeat them. No matter how hard I try I still sin – I want to do what is right and I fail and I struggle with not doing things I don’t want to do – and I fail. And death – death is not natural – death is an aberration. Someone has to deal with sin and death – they cannot be allowed to continue unabated. Again though – this is just my opinion and belief.
• In the end – my reason to believe comes down to Jesus – Jesus is the answer to the question. I don’t think atheists and agnostics engage with the question of Jesus.

How do you know God exists?

Because God sent his son, Jesus, to died on the cross and pay the penalty for sin, and Jesus rose again from the dead to prove his power over death and to offer us life with him.
In fact – like in Sunday school – Jesus is the real answer to every question – not in a superficial way. You can use all the other evidence, but often they simply become side tracks, ways for people to get out of dealing with Jesus – and that’s the one thing they need to do. For example – people say…

• I couldn’t believe in a God that hates homosexuals!

• The answer is… “God sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and raised Jesus to life to offer us victory over death. He doesn’t hate homosexuals.”

People say…

• There is no God – otherwise there would be no pain or death or evil.

• The answer is… “Jesus died on the cross to deal with sin and the penalty for our sins and God raised Jesus to life to offer us victory over death. He has dealt with evil and death.”

People say…

• All religions are the same. Why should I believe in your god?

• “Because God sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and to rise from the dead to prove his power over both sin and death.”

Just as we might “just know” that Christ died for our sins, and we “believe” that there is no other way to be saved, and we are “certain” of what we believe – the reason is not that we just believe. I could ‘just believe’ that the earth is flat. I can say “I know the Holy Spirit is in me” and someone can deny that reality with equal conviction. I can say “I feel God loves me” – a new age proponent can say they “feel at one with the universe”. I can say “I know the power of the Holy Spirit” and a Satan worshipper can say that they “know” the power of the prince of darkness – with equal conviction.
Religion is about faith – but unless that faith is based in real things, it is simply blind wishful thinking. In my opinion the most religious and faithful people in the world… are the atheists.

• They refuse to believe in the existence of a God despite the evidence that seems so obvious to me.
• Or they simply refuse to think about it – they don’t want God in charge and they do want to be in charge so rather than thinking through the issues they just claim there is no god, and they latch onto any reason they can find that ‘disproves’ the existence of God.
• Richard Dawkins who wrote “The God Delusion” says that the human body, despite its complexity, does not display the purpose and plan of an “intelligent designer” because in many ways it is foolish. No intelligent creator would make the body so fragile. The need to excrete waste, the pointlessness of the appendices, the wasted potential of the brain – all this points to evolution as a much better explanation over millions of years rather than a god.
• Douglas Adams, the author of Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy: “…I am convinced that there is not a god… I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one.” “…People will … say “surely it’s better to remain an Agnostic just in case?” … If it turns out that I’ve been wrong all along, and there is in fact a god, and if it further turned out that this kind of legalistic, cross-your-fingers-behind-your-back … impressed him, then … I would chose not to worship him anyway.”
• Just two of a million different reasons people have for not believing. The common denominator in every reason not to believe in the existence of God is… the person at the centre. The atheist and the agnostic are their own gods in their own little world.

Defend the Faith

As Christians we are told that we need to be prepared to defend our faith.
1 Peter 3:15 “…in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”
200 years ago we didn’t have to convince the majority of people that God existed. But increasingly preaching the gospel will have to start with helping people see that there is a God and that we humans must take notice of Him. They need to be introduced to Jesus – that’s where our answers need to start and finish – not with me and what I think or feel but with Christ and what he has done.
I think Paul’s conversion and ministry is a good example. Paul was converted when he was confronted by the living physical risen Lord Jesus who appeared to him in a blaze of heavenly glory as Paul was on the road to Damascus where he planned to kill Christians. It would be hard to think of a more dramatic life changing experience of Jesus. Yet when Paul preaches the gospel, and he starts almost immediately, he uses the history of Israel, the scriptures, the confusion of the gentiles, the logic and reality of the world and the creation.
Acts 13:26-33 “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. “We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.”
He never uses his feelings or the strangeness of his experiences to proclaim the truth of the gospel. It would have been all too easy to put those weird experiences down to other things – rather than the reality and power of Jesus. This is something we need to understand in our world too. Jesus is the proof of God’s existence. Telling people we’re trying to witness to that we’re praying for them is one thing – and that’s a weird thing for most blokes. But talking about spiritual feelings and experiences will turn most people away. They will only believe when they have understood the truth about Jesus, by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus = the Proof

As we defend what we believe there are four things that are important in our understanding of God and in what we tell people.

1. He exists – he has shown himself in the person and work of Jesus the Christ. In Jesus we meet the Lord of the whole universe. This is no distant spiritual force – we can know God as his friends.
2. He creates – this is God who is intimately connected to his creation – one of the surprising things about Jesus is the power he displays over creation – the wind, waves, demons, sickness and disease, life and death – and over people. The world responds to the voice of the creator when it responds to Jesus.
3. He cares – he sent Jesus to deal with sin and death – the two enemies that would defeat us without God’s intervention. He sacrificed his Son to pay the price of our sins.
4. He commands – commands repentance and obedience. People in our world want to ignore God – but that’s a very dangerous thing to do. He commands that all people everywhere live according to Jesus.

Acts 17:30b-31 God “…commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”
In the end it won’t be science or history or experience that changes people. Richard Dawkins needs to meet Jesus – it’s as simple as that. He needs to come face-to-face with the risen Christ, just as Paul the Apostle did. For us we need to help people meet Jesus – or at the very least we need to help people see that they need to deal with Jesus – he claims authority over sin, death and over our very lives – and offers life and perfect freedom to those who belong to him.

Only A Fool Believes – the Evidence for the Resurrection

Only a Fool…?

• Only a fool carries drugs into Bali
• Only a fool drinks and drives
• Only a fool buys a lotto ticket expecting to win – or sits day in day out at a Poker machine, pushing buttons!
• Only a fool gambles all on the roll of a dice, the turn of a wheel, the fall of a ball

Only a fool believes that Jesus died on Friday, was buried and on Sunday rose again and walked out of the tomb.  We all know it’s utterly impossible.

What’s the difference between the foolishness of gambling, or drug running, and believing in the resurrection?  All the evidence says don’t run drugs into Bali. People play poker machines though we know 90% of the time the house wins. Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – what’s the difference? The evidence is compelling.

Of course – not even all people who call themselves Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus. It’s a difficult thing to come to grips with. If Jesus had been a good man who died a martyr’s death and we were to follow in his footsteps there would be billions more Christians around the world. But the Bible had to go and claim that he was not only divine but that he rose from the dead. And for most people, maybe even you, that’s enough – no other evidence is required, no other argument necessary – only a fool believes a man can rise from the dead.

And I have to admit I agree! I’ve read about people who coming back from the dead – don’t believe any of them. But I do believe Jesus rose – because the evidence all points in that direction.

Luke 24:36-40 “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.”

Why don’t people believe?

The great claim of Christianity is that Jesus died and rose again. Why do people find it so hard to believe?

• It’s entirely possible to prove that Jesus existed.
• It’s historical fact that Jesus was executed by the Romans and Jewish leaders in acting in collusion?
• Jesus was clearly a great leader, a compassionate teacher – clearly not a liar and not a fruit-loop.
• So how do people reason away the resurrection – how do they explain the ‘facts’ without saying “Jesus rose”?

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Reality is – people are correct to think that only a fool believes Jesus died on Friday, was buried and on Sunday rose and walked out of the tomb. We all know it’s utterly impossible. What is it about Christians that we just can’t let go of this aspect of Christianity and move on? Why do Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? If you’re a Christian reading this – why do you believe? Why aren’t you convinced like most people that it’s impossible – that no other evidence is required, no other argument necessary – only a fool believes a man can rise from the dead?

The Key

There have been stories – not many but some over the years – claiming modern day resurrection – some dead person being raised to life. Some are simple stories of charlatans scamming the gullible – not only in third-world countries but in the West as well. Even high flying Pentecostal pastors have claimed it from time to time – I must admit I’m always reminded of Steve Martin in “Leap of Faith” – playing a scamming faith healer in a down and out mid-western US town – rolls in to take the people’s money – good story, though sadly a little too close to real life! There are some stories out of Africa, India and South America. But all of them share one particular trait – implausibility! All of them lack compelling, unambiguous evidence. All of them lack credible reliable witnesses. Not one of the stories stacks up or seems able to withstand even the most basic scrutiny.

But Jesus’ story is believable – the evidence stacks up – despite the impossibility of it.

The resurrection is the vital element of Christianity – it is the key. Without it Christianity is nothing more than religious superstition. Even the Bible is transparently clear about this.

1 Corinthians 15:14, 17 “…if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. … if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

Everything Christians believe about God rests on the fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. There is no church without the resurrection and there is no meaning to what we do or believe – if Jesus didn’t rise again. So what is the evidence? How do we know it’s true, and how do we help others believe? What are the arguments or explanations against the resurrection and how do they stack up?

It often surprises people – as I guess it should, given the claim – that there aren’t that many credible arguments against the resurrection evidence. The main arguments are…

1. Jesus didn’t die – he revived in the tomb and walked away. After hours on the cross, being strung up by professional executioners, with a multitude of witnesses both for and against Christ, after being stabbed in the side with a spear and the expert witness declaring blood and water separated came out – a pretty clear sign of death – that Jesus was pulled off the cross, placed wrapped in a cold stone tomb and sealed off, guarded by Roman soldiers… and then revived, unwrapped himself, rolled the stone away, overpowered the guards, and walked away. Hmmm?!
2. The disciples overpowered the guards and stole his body – 11 dejected, almost paralysed fishermen and disciples overpowered a squad of battle hardened Roman Legionnaires and stole the body – neither the Romans nor the Jews could find it– and then they conspired to create Christianity and perpetrate the hoax, including dying for the lie.
3. Jesus rose spiritually not physically – championed by some liberal scholars – we all know that people can’t rise physically, so clearly we’re mistaken and it’s a simple spiritual resurrection. And Jesus was mistaken – though he clearly claims that he would rise bodily, maybe it was just a metaphor or he just misunderstood?
4. Everyone went to the wrong tomb – Jews, Romans (guarding the wrong tomb?), disciples, the women, Joseph of Arimathea (the owner of the tomb)…
5. The Jews took his body to prevent his disciples claiming he was raised! And then presented it in public so that everyone would know that the disciples were lying – thus preventing the rise of Christianity! Oh – that’s right – they didn’t! Why would the Jews hide the body of Jesus?

Do you know – it takes a lot more faith to be an atheist than it does to believe the resurrection.

Six Reasons to Believe – the Evidence for the Resurrection

1. Jesus claimed he would rise.

Why should you believe Jesus rose again? The place to start is with Jesus’ character.

John 2:19, 21 “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up… the temple he had spoken of was his body.”

Jesus claimed a number of times he would rise physically from the dead. If he’d meant a spiritual resurrection, he would have had to challenge basic Jewish belief and their understanding of what comes after death – the Jews believed and were looking forward to a physical resurrection. There is no evidence that Jesus challenged this basic belief of Jewish faith – in fact the opposite – he appealed to it himself.

And afterwards – as he appears to people and says touch my wounds, eat with me, walk with me – this is clearly a physical being, not a spiritual one.

At that point we can believe Jesus or not – but if we don’t then what are our other options. One choice is that Jesus was not telling the truth that he would rise from the dead – so he’s a fraud. Or maybe he believed it but was delusional – a lunatic. But pretty much everyone agrees he looks like a wise, good, honest teacher and leader. Nothing about his behaviour is erratic or in any way linked to lunacy. If he’s a lunatic or a liar then how do we account for his obvious integrity and honesty – even his enemies agree he was a great teacher? He taught wonderful things – but he claimed to be God’s Son who would rise from the dead. I guess we can’t have it both ways. What is he? Liar, lunatic or…?

2. The empty tomb

Once we work out his character we have to ask – is there any doubt, historically, that Jesus was placed in the tomb, the tomb sealed, and guarded by up to 20 professional Roman soldiers?  No there is no doubt!

Was it was open and empty on Sunday morning? Yes it was.

The Jews couldn’t find the body, nor did they confiscate it – otherwise we can be pretty sure they would have paraded it with as much fanfare as they could manage. The disciples were hiding in a secret room, fearing for their lives – so they could hardly be accused of stealing the body for an elaborate hoax. None of these are a matter for conjecture – provable, historical facts.

John 19:33-34 “…when [the soldiers] came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.”

Jesus was dead. When they pierce your heart with a spear after hanging on a cross ½ a day you don’t sink into a coma and then revive in the cool tomb and roll the stone away.

Matthew 28:11-15 “…some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”

The Romans couldn’t afford their reputation as killers to be questioned – it meant a sentence of death for them – but they took the cash and spread the rumour. If the Jews or the Romans had taken the body they would have simply produced it – case closed. The dejected frightened disciples didn’t steal the body – I guess we can be fairly certain the Jews and Romans asked.

3. The dramatic change in the disciples?

The dramatic change in the disciples is simply amazing and you have to wonder why? Jesus dies. They are utterly dejected and terrified – at first they’re in hiding. They didn’t understand – some of them go back to fishing – back to the mundane of life before Jesus called them – some of them are so scared they stay hidden. They refused to believe the first reports of Jesus’ appearance when the women come from the tomb.

But in just a few short weeks they’re proclaiming Jesus risen, they are full of joy and courage, and importantly they are ready and willing to die for Christ! If they’d stolen the body would they have be willing to die for a lie – a lie that they were certain contained no truth? Why the change?

Their explanation – “we have seen him” – he is raised! Jesus rose from the dead? We don’t have to believe them – but it’s worth asking the question.

4. The Eyewitnesses

This small group of men and women were eyewitnesses to the resurrection – but there were more. Twenty years later Paul wrote to the very sceptical Greek Christians in Corinth – Greeks were good at scepticism – they’d seen it all.

1 Corinthians 15:4-6 “Christ was raised on the third day . . . He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep [died].”

Paul started out murdering Christians. He was converted dramatically on the Damascus Road. He claims that these Greek sceptics should be able to find some of the more than 500 credible eyewitnesses that are still alive 20 years later – go and ask them – they were there.

I’m always a little fascinated by our opinions of people from the past. We often have this sense that they were more gullible, less thoughtful, and easier to pull the wool over, clueless, uneducated or maybe just plain stupid. It’s a funny attitude, given the respect and adoration we give some ancient writers (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Da Vinci, Shakespeare to name a few).

People in the first century were no more gullible than we are – the early church was full of cluey people, many who were educated, who ran businesses, were trained in the law and the arts, politicians, speakers, philosophers, many who could speak multiple languages like Jesus and the Apostles (who most likely spoke Hebrew and Greek and quite possibly Latin). We today are often impressed by people who can speak multiple languages. Modern educational theory indicates that it’s a sign of some intelligence to be able to do so fluently – how many languages do you speak? In Australia the vast majority only speak English (unless we count ‘Strine’ as a language).

The gospel grew from its earliest days in the presence of quite literally hundreds of credible eyewitnesses to the resurrection.

5. The NT Writers

Over the past few years we’ve seen movies and books like the “Da-Vinci Code”, the court case between Dan Brown and the writers of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and more recently the ‘media sensation’ over the “newly” discovered “Gospel of Judas”. These old documents claim to reveal the true Jesus.

Q. Are they true because they’re old?

No!

Even if that were true – the gospels in the Bible are at least 150 years older.

Q. Are they true because they disagree with what the church teaches?

Seriously?

Q. Are they true because the writers are more honest or credible than the NT writers?

That’s an interesting way to look at Judas? A document appears, supposedly from his hand, written at best and provably 150 years later than the gospels. In it ‘Judas’ claims that he wasn’t betraying Jesus but was in point of fact ‘obeying’ Jesus… when he betrayed him! [Dramatic pause – that’s for you reading this] I don’t know about you but I have this image of John Cleese saying “Right!” in that way that only Cleese can. Obviously – must be true. I mean in our modern world we always acquit criminals when they say “I didn’t do it”!

We already know the character of Judas from proven and reputable eyewitnesses.

The NT writers who proclaim the resurrection appear in every way to be sensible, clear thinking, honest, open and not easily fooled – not just that this is claimed about them, but any fair reading of their works comes to that conclusion. What they wrote hangs together well. They are clued up on human nature. They are personally committed, sober in speech and careful. They teach coherently – we don’t seem to be reading inventions. Their moral and spiritual standards are acknowledged as very high. They are obviously devoted to truth and God’s sovereignty and honour. In our modern courts we apply the same sorts of tests for character witnesses – and the gospel writers would be found to be trustworthy.

6. 2000 Years of Believers

And there is a final piece of the puzzle – Christians!

A personal relationship with Jesus changes you forever! When we put our faith in him, Jesus comes by his Spirit into our lives and begins to show his power and love in our lives. He brings a new love for God and for people, a new hope and joy, a growing patience in trouble, freedom from old enslavements, and courage to stand for justice and righteousness. On top of all the evidence for the resurrection, only a living Lord Jesus could make these changes. Jesus Christ is alive and real. On its own it might not mean much as a claim – but with the evidence it means we have put our trust where it should be.

If you’re a critic of Christianity or an unbeliever – why is it that so many people over 2000 years, have believed? I know there is the same argument the other way – that millions (billions) have not. But it can’t be gullibility can it? It’s not as though everyone who believes is a rank moron. There are believers of every educational standard – doctors, scientists, politicians, labourers, philosophers, university professors, nurses, police, judges, lawyers – you name it. So not a lack of education, not simple gullibility – it’s not limited to a particular race, country, or ethnicity – it’s not linked to parents or ancestry, it’s not limited by colour of skin. Why do so many believe?

Frankly – by itself the belief or lack of belief of people, no matter how many, means nothing. But with the realities of the factual evidence – it means a lot.

Making Sense of the Resurrection?

The evidence for the resurrection is provable and overwhelming – in the face of no other argument that makes sense of the evidence the only sensible thing to do is accept the resurrection as very real. It requires far more faith to doubt the evidence. That doesn’t mean everyone will believe – but some will.

• If you believe then we need to be sure of what and why we believe.
• We need to share why. Not everyone will believe you, family may well hate you, get angry, the opportunities may not be there, or be very obvious, you may be seen as a crackpot or simply an annoyance.
• Learn to speak – tell someone what and why you believe.
• The worst thing that can happen? Jesus said…

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

When he said it he turned to the woman standing by and said, “Do you believe this?” And Jesus turns to us and says, “Do you believe this?”

Romans 10:9-11 “…if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

The evidence for the resurrection is only part of the story – but a key part. My challenge to you is… investigate Jesus, and the death and resurrection – try if you can to find some other credible explanation. But if you conclude that Jesus really is who he says he is – the Son of God, the creator of the whole universe – and that he did die and rise to offer you forgiveness for your sins and to defeat death – and that he makes a claim on your life – if that’s your conclusion, then it requires much more than an intellectual decision about Jesus.

John 1:12 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God^.”

How do I go beyond merely agreeing that Jesus is who he says he is and entering into an ongoing relationship with him by being adopted into God’s family?

Believe + receive = become.

• Believe: that I am a sinner, that Jesus died to forgive me my sins and that I need the cross to bridge the gap between me and God. If the evidence is real then believe.

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”

• Receive: every religion and cult and faith system in the world is based on me doing something, or earning my way to peace and happiness. Christianity is based on what’s been done for us.

Romans 6:23 “…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus offers us forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift – what we have to “do” is make a decision to accept that gift. We can do that simply by praying an honest prayer – something real not fake. Admit your wrong doing, turn away from that lifestyle and accept the gift of forgiveness and eternal life – and ask for his help in starting a new life following him.

• Become: over the rest of your life you will change to be what Jesus says – a new person.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Wherever you are in the process of investigating Jesus – contact me – happy to help you take whatever next step you need to take. But let me say – this issue is the key issue in life – put it on the front burner and go for it.

John 8:24 “…if you do not believe that I [Jesus] am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”

The Cross of Jesus

What Do you Feel

How often do you stop and think about the cross? Imagine yourself standing under it… what is going through your mind? Ask yourself…

• What do I think about Jesus dying on the cross?
• What do I feel about it?
• Do I believe it?
• Did Jesus die on the cross and rise again?”
• Is it true?

The vast majority of people in our world are surprised that Christians believe in Jesus, that he was crucified for our sins, or in fact for any reason, but especially that he rose from the dead! Where do you stand on the cross of Christ – how do you respond to it?

Do you stand where the disciples stood?

Take yourself back – back into their sandals… Jesus is dead – it’s a few days after the crucifixion – the women have gone to the tomb to prepare the body of Jesus for burial – there’s no sense Jesus might rise – hasn’t even entered their heads.

They are worried, scared, confused, depressed and down hearted – they are afraid and in hiding for the most part – and maybe worse the very thought of going back to a mundane life of fishing or sitting under trees, after three years on the road with Jesus – well it just isn’t all that exciting a prospect.

Luke 24:36-37 “While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.”

Now – fair enough – it’s not at all unreasonable! Dead people don’t pop up in the middle of a conversation – “howdy boys – just thought I’d stop by for a quick bite – I don’t eat much.”

The cross is a startling image – and the resurrection unbelievable. I guess I would have to say, even now after many years as a Christian – that my response is a mixture – joy and thankfulness mixed in with disbelief and wonder. See – I reckon we can imagine the disciples – Jesus appears in their midst from nowhere – terror – “is he a ghost?”! And then the relief… and then the joy and thanksgiving and wonder… how – how is this possible? There are days when that’s exactly what I feel about the resurrection – I have the joy that comes from knowing Jesus and I have disbelief – not unbelief – just the wonder, the surprise, the astounding nature of this event – just wondering “is this really all true?”

Have I staked my life on the right person?

Proof – Alive and Eating

It must have been a unique moment – Jesus standing in front of them flesh and blood –

Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Would you have stuck your fingers in? Can you just imagine them standing around, slack jawed staring at a sight beyond imagination – beyond reason… and yet there he stands? These men must very quickly come to grips with a reality they never expected. They were in hiding – they were demoralised – they did not understand that Jesus would rise. Yet – here before them is the living proof of God’s plans – Jesus alive – not a ghost, not a spirit, not a manifestation, not an apparition… not dead! They can touch his hands and feet and stick their fingers in his side – attractive thought.

But here is proof – if someone had said to them “We’ve just seen Jesus” we know the sort of response they’d have received! We know because they responded in exactly the same way.

Mark 16:9-11 “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”

Exactly – unbelief! Why would any sane person believe the women – “you’re overwrought – you’re hallucinating.”

But here he is – and he wants to eat – dead people and ghosts don’t eat – living, breathing, eating proof that Jesus is alive – and that he is who he claims to be – he has power over death and he has power over sin – it’s all true.

We can almost hear the gears moving in the disciples brains as they reassess everything they have spent the last three days processing.

Jesus was dead – what do we do now – is he the Messiah – what about the Son of God?

He’s alive – clunk, clunk, clunk – get into gear brain – no longer dead (tick) that means…

• Messiah √
• Son of God √
• Power over death √
• Power over life √
• In charge √
• Worth living for √
• Worth dying for?

Everything they’d questioned is now standing before them in – alive.

Proof

And Jesus nails it all home – the proof of the scriptures and Jesus’ own words.

Luke 24:44 “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you–that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

He opens their minds – gets inside and starts making it all clear – clearing away the fog, explaining the things they’ve read in the Old Testament – all come true in Jesus – all proven

Luke 24:46-47 “…it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

They’ve seen all this – and will see all of it because they are the first ones who will take it to the nations and proclaim the good news – the final word though is God’s…

Luke 24:49 “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Holy Spirit of God comes with power – promised in Isaiah 32:15. The book of Acts expands

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And then a few days later it happens – God provides the proof.

“X” marks the Spot

The thing is – what does all this prove? What is this all about?

Very simply this is the “x” on the treasure map! That great old cliché of every pirate and treasure movie – at the end of the trail on the map is an “x” – here be Captain Jack’s treasure. The treasure in Christianity – the “x” on the map is what God has gone to such lengths to prove – one treasure above all other possibilities.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God’s entire plan rested on the shoulders of Jesus on the cross – the very centre of what Christians believe is the cross. Paul writes to the Corinthian Church and pushes the point even further…

1 Corinthians 1:14 “…if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

The death and resurrection of Jesus brings forgiveness, life, freedom, peace, security and hope – proof and reality – without the death and resurrection we have nothing – the church is meaningless. The trappings of Christianity without the reality of the death and resurrection mean nothing and have no value. In the death and resurrection of the Christ we have all God’s promises wrapped up and delivered as a gift. Jesus’ own words…

Mark 10:45 “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Danger

The Christian church constantly faces dangers and threats – the biggest is that we might loose focus on the main game – loose our “x” on the map. Even the disciples lost the focus as they walked with Jesus – Peter’s response to Jesus is to rebuke him – don’t talk such nonsense Lord – and Jesus hammers him – get behind me Satan. It’s easy to loose sight of what we are on about. Paul again to the Corinthians…

1 Corinthians 2:1-3 “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Christians must stand together as God’s people and declare that what is important is the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Cross is the Way

That’s what we must be vigilant about – there is no other way to be saved – there is no other power under heaven by which we can be saved – we must not loose sight of the cross. It is how God got the job done. When His kingdom is finally here – when we see God and rest in his presence for eternity, when we stand before the throne of heaven and receive our inheritance – we will do so only by the cross. Jesus paid for our lives with his.

And it’s not just how God got the job done! It’s how we get the job done. It’s the standard by which we live. I realise we may not have thought of it that way but the cross is meant to define how we live and who we are.

We know about sacrifice for important things – we do it every day – maybe missing a meal to get the kids to sport, giving up the newspaper to spend time with the kids, missing a favourite TV program to go to Bible Study – giving up sleep to get to church and often enough we make far larger sacrifices. The things that we must do instead of the things we would like to do. It’s not always what we want and sometimes we’re grumpy about the whole process but we do it.

The cross, Jesus says, defines us – we are signing on for a life of sacrifice and self-denial. Maybe that makes us cringe a little – maybe we want to shy away from it or we’d rather not talk about – well here in Jesus’ own words…

Mark 8:34-38 “He called the crowd and the disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

A life of sacrifice and self-denial! In our society I am everything – it’s all about me – all about you… pamper yourself, take time out for number one – this is becoming the most important daily task – and self-denial doesn’t look too hot. If it were giving up dessert or that extra block of Cadburys it might be ok – but Jesus is saying follow him – take myself out of the centre and put him in the centre – every action, word, activity, relationship… he declares that I am to stop making ‘me’ the central issue.

The cross is how we are saved… and how we are to live – the standard. It’s about having the mind of Christ, the priorities of God and his kingdom. No longer does money or a nice home or education or family or career rule us – at least in theory – Christ rules. We start asking strange questions when we turn to Christ. WWJD? What would Jesus do in this circumstance? What does God’s word say to me about this? What would God have me do or be or say? When we’re frustrated or angry we’re told to deal with it quickly – unlike the world which says go for the jugular. In fact what we are doing is starting to sacrifice ourselves and our opinions and lifestyle and desires and so on to Christ – what he says goes.

It’s a life long process and we’ll never live perfectly this side of heaven but that is the life we have taken on board. It’s the reason so many people become Christians and then realising the cost stop still and go nowhere.

‘This far God and no further. I’ll give up Sundays, I’ll give money to the church but that’s it – and don’t ask for any more cause your not getting it.’

As far as God’s concerned – that’s just not on.

What will the cross – what does the cross of Jesus mean for you – here and now?

As you face your life and the things that are in your life – how will you be living a life of sacrifice and self-denial?

How true is the cross for you?