But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: The Lord knows those who are his, and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. -- 2 Timothy 2:19
All of Christian faith stands and turns upon one fact: the historical and theological reality of the
Incarnation -- of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of one Jesus the
Christ.
We believe, quite literally, that One who was and is God
laid aside His deity to the extent that He was able to take on our nature and
our weaknesses, that He lived a perfect, sinless life and died a vicarious,
atoning death in our place. God in
Christ identified with us and became our substitute. In turn, He is able to offer us something that
is beyond comprehension. Because He
stood in my place of shame, rejection, and death, He gives me the opportunity
to stand in His place of righteousness, acceptance, and everlasting life.
That’s it.
If that is taken away, no matter what else we might have, no
matter what else we believe or what we are able to do, we cannot be Christians,
we cannot experience salvation, we cannot belong to the Lord.
Did Jesus live?
Certainly there was such a man who lived. The historical record is sound and solid and
constantly being reinforced by new discoveries.
Was Jesus God as He and His followers claimed? That one is harder. I believe it.
I can present rational and logic arguments as to why I believe it is
true. For example, there are His
miracles, the fact that His disciples suffered persecution and death rather
than deny Him, the impact His life has had on history, the fulfillment of
prophecies, and more. Yet, any rational
argument I make is based on some axioms, e.g., that there is a God, that God is
good, that He wants us to know Him, that the universe itself is part of His
revelation and makes sense.
For those who reject those axioms, none of the logical
arguments apologists present will be sufficient. In the end, I am left with my faith and the
fact that my faith has altered my life so completely and dramatically that it
is not the same as the one with which I was born the first time. Yet the foundation is firm, and it still
stands and will stand forever.
3 comments:
"We believe, quite literally, that One who was and is God laid aside His deity to the extent that He was able to take on our nature and our weaknesses, that He lived a perfect, sinless life and died a vicarious, atoning death in our place. God in Christ identified with us and became our substitute. In turn, He is able to offer us something that is beyond comprehension. Because He stood in my place of shame, rejection, and death, He gives me the opportunity to stand in His place of righteousness, acceptance, and everlasting life. "
Amen, and he was bruised for our iniquities and wounded for out transgressions.
There is no love greater than that!
the fact that His disciples suffered persecution and death rather than deny Him,
I agree, you have to believe the axioms but this one fact definitely nudged me in the right direction.
Yes, when a person can stand the way those people did -- and some are doing today -- we ought to at least give some thought to what they say. We're either completely crazy or we have come in contact with something the non-believer has not.
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