“As I have said more than once, no other religion enjoys anything like the combination of a charismatic figure like Jesus and a first-class intellectual like St. Paul. If you’re wanting omnipotence to set up a religion, it seems to me that this is the one to beat.” – Anthony FlewIf someone were to ask you the foundation to our faith, what would you say? Of course many who are Christians would say, Jesus Christ, and that is right, but what about Him makes Him your foundation? Too many just say the name and have no idea what it is about Him that makes Jesus the foundation.
Jesus is not the foundation because He was a great moral teacher, because He did not leave that as a possibility. Jesus said He came to break apart families, which does not seem very “moral” as being just a good teacher (Matt. 10:34-39). Jesus said some who called Him Lord would not enter Heaven (Matt. 7:21), and there are many other examples, as He said He came to bring a sword. Jesus being a good moral teacher is not the foundation, though if He is God then we can account for Him being able to say what He did in the above verses, but if He was just a man then no, we can’t.
The foundation for our faith is that Christ rose from the dead, just as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:13-15, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.”
Rob Bell in his book, Velvet Elvis, says we should just think of this like a spring in a trampoline and if we take that spring out, then we can still jump on the trampoline and it does not hurt our faith, but this goes against this very verse. He says we should not have walls like bricks, but I say that is absolutely what we should have, just as Christ called Himself the cornerstone, we should have walls for our foundation and the resurrection is a very important one (27-28). If you take out the resurrection spring of the trampoline then it fails, just as if you pull the resurrection out of the Christian foundation it crumbles, as Jesus’ resurrection is key or we are still in our sins and also blaspheme God by saying it (1 Cor. 15:15). Mr. Bell holds to a false picture and sets up for false beliefs.
Muffasir, as Muslim, said this about the crucifixion, “Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified. It was the intention of his enemies to put him to death on the cross, but God saved him from their plot.” If he never died then He never resurrected. Sura 157-58 says, “That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle to God’; -- But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, And those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, For of a surety they killed him not: -- Nay, God raised him up unto himself; and God is exalted in power, wise.” If Jesus did not die then He did not defeat death for our sins and then we are stuck in them (1 Cor. 15:17). How do you witness to a person that believes this? You have to be able to show the reality of the death and the resurrection and not just talk about how God changed you, as they will tell you allah did that for them.
As Christians it is important that we preach and teach the resurrection of Christ, and be able to defend it, as 1 Peter 3:15 states and Jude 3. Actually, those two verses tell us to be able to give an answer for any question about the faith we have. A transformed life is not an answer, but an outcome. People need answers to their questions and they are not getting them today. Many youth I have talked with have not been taught in youth how to defend the resurrection, or even how to have real faith, not blind faith, in the resurrection. Faith based on evidence as seen all through out the Old and New Testament and defined in Hebrews 11:1.
Can you defend the resurrection? Can you tell someone how your faith is based on sure fire knowledge that Christ is not in the tomb? What if someone asked you to tell them about the resurrection and how someone could believe in it? What would you say? They will not care that God changed you, as this is a pluralistic and self-centered society and they want to know about themselves. You will get the answer, ‘that is good for you, but what about the resurrection and how it affects me? How can I be sure of the resurrection? Is there proof, evidence of this event that I was not present at?’
There are many ways to defend our faith, and we are called to do so. Anything else is a cop out to Christ and the faith. If you do not have the ability to defend the resurrection then you need to find information on it. Good books are More Then a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, Case for Christ by Lee Strobell, Resurrection by Hank Hanegraaff, and Dr. Norman Geisler & Gary Habermas’ many works on the resurrection.
“Christianity is a knowledge tradition, not a “mere belief” tradition, and in order to grow our God-confidence, one of the important tasks before us is to grow in our knowledge of God and his Word.” – J.P. Moreland & Klaus Issler
No comments:
Post a Comment