Jesus Christ - Who is Jesus Christ?
There is so much to write about his Glory and Love. With his own blood he allows all who believe and accept him eternal life. With the many miracles he performed, the many lives he has changed, why is it that when you mention his name in public people turn and run? Jesus, unlike other religious leaders did claim to be God.
1 Peter 3:15
But in your heart 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.
1.
Set apart Christ as Lord - By making an inner commitment to
Christ, and accepting him as Lord and Savior.
2.
Always be prepared to give an answer - Be ready to tell
& share the reason for our faith.
3.
Do this with gentleness and respect
- To live as Christ did we must remain full of his love, and never
degrading to others.
·
Everyone’s worldview is different (based on life experiences and
upbringing). As Christians one must
have a clear conscience and pure thoughts by keeping Christ as the center of
their thoughts and actions. This is
very much needed when dealing with others of different beliefs – to avoid
name-calling, insulting, or arguments.
John 1:29
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'
·
In just one statement John the Baptist makes it clear that Jesus
is the sacrifice (Lamb) that removes our sin, not in the sacrifices
outlined in the Old Law (Old Testament). If the ritual observances now held any
weight, John the Baptist would have said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who, along
with circumcision and burnt offerings, takes away the sin of the world!'"
But he didn't! This is statement is
again repeated by the Apostle John in John 3:16
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principals of this
world rather than on Christ.
·
Basic principals of this world
- (
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled.
Putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope
of salvation as a helmet.
·
Since we belong to the day
- A reference to the light that characterizes Christians.
·
The triad of faith, love, and hope is often found in the NT.
1 Thes 5:8, Ro 5:2-5, 1 Co 13:13, Gal 5:5-6,
Test everything. Hold on to
the good.
·
Not everyone that clams to speak in the name of the Lord should be
accepted without question. Every
teaching needs to be tested by God’s word, and they must be in agreement with
His gospel.
·
Be cautious of those claming to have seen the Lord.
Even those who walked w/him did not physically recognize him (Luke 24,
& John 20, 21).
·
Also, be cautious of those wanting to share ‘secret ‘or
‘hidden truths’ about Christ. The
concept of Gnostic beliefs goes against the Bible from the start.
Everything Christ did was out in the open for all to see and learn from,
not once does He invite someone to a hidden instruction.
An example of this is when He met the Samarian woman at the well and spoke
with her in public, something that was unheard of for Jewish men to do
during that time (John 4).
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient
to Christ.
·
Every thought to make it obedient to Christ
- The center of every Christian’s being thus becomes fully subject to
the lordship of Christ.
·
Many times in the NT we are commanded to “pick up our crosses,
deny our self and follow the Lord”. Mt
10:38 & 16:24, Mk 8:34, Lu 9:23 & 14:27.
2.
Preparing to give your answer.
There
are many different reasons for one’s belief if the Bible.
The Truth about Christ, as well as Creation - vs – Evolution,
and even scientific facts!
A.
The Truth about Christ.
·
Jesus Christ is much more
than a system, tradition, or belief. He
was sent from heaven to fulfill prophecy. He
knows our needs, feels our pain, and sympathizes with our weaknesses but most
importantly He died for our sins. By
conquering death, Christ proved that He was all He had clamed to be.
God in the flesh.
·
According to Jewish
tradition and law only the Lord may forgive sin.
Christ not only had this ability but he did so (Mark 2:5, Luke 7:48-50,
Luke 23:42-43). Christ also
proclaimed his oneness with God as well as the fact that he is the one and only
way to the Father (Matthew 11:27, John 10:30, John 14:6).
·
During his earthly
ministry his disciples witnessed him walk on water, calm a storm (Luke 8:23-25),
heal people (Matthew 4:23-24, 8:7-13, 15:30, 21:14), feed thousands (Matthew
14:14-21, 15:32-38), live a blameless life, die a terrible death (Matthew 27,
Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19), and live again (Luke 24:48, John 15:27, Acts1:8,
2:24-32, 3:15, 4:33, 5:32, 10:39, 10:41, 13:31, 1 Cor 15:4-9, 15, 1 John 1:2).
All of those that walked with Christ died for their belief in him, with
the exception of John. John, the
disciple the God loved was the man that Christ gave his mother to for protection
and care (John19:26).
B.
Creation – VS – Evolution:
God spoke – OR - First there was nothing and then it exploded!
·
Darwinism clams that
evolution is why were here, and that all creatures and things have come from one
random explosion or circumstance.
·
According to the Bible,
before the Great Flood the earth was very different.
Mankind also lived much longer due to the type of environment.
Reptiles are creatures that continue to grow as long as they live.
It is quite probable that Noah in his collecting of animals did bring
what we refer today to as dinosaurs along with him.
As eggs, or small young they could easily be onboard the
·
Creatures that evolve
from one to another (ie: fish to land animals, or monkeys to men), NEED to have
transitional species. Ones that
bridge the gap between the two, having parts of both.
In the 125+ years scientists have been collecting fossils, not a single
transitional fossil has been found.
1.
Scientists discovered the
fossil remains of a fish. This fish
has a unique fin structure. They
decided that the extra fins and their arrangement are a primitive type of leg,
or foot. A few days before Christmas
in 1938 off of the coast of
2.
Enter Lucy the missing
link. She was found in the desert
near
C.
Many scientific facts that were unknown by science had been
reviled in the Bible generations before they were ‘discovered’.
·
Evolution is a model
based on blind faith and hoaxes while the Bible has long recorded the truth of
science.
·
Atomic Fission
2Peter 3:10
But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat,
and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
·
Ocean Currents
Ps 8:8 , Is43:16
Thus
saith Jehovah, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.
·
Hydrologic Cycle
Job 36:27, Amos 9:6
For
he draweth up the drops of water, which distil in rain from his vapor.
[It
is] he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault
upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out
upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name.
·
Jet Stream
Ecclesiastes 1:6-7
The wind
goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about
continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place
whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
·
Dinosaurs
Job 40-41, Psalm 74:14
Job
40:14-23 Then
will I also confess of thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee; He eateth grass as an
ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his
belly. He moveth his tail like a
cedar: The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are [as] tubes of brass; His limbs are like bars of iron.
He is the chief of the ways of God: He [only] that made him giveth him
his sword. Surely the mountains
bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field do play.
He lieth under the lotus-trees, in the covert of the reed, and the fen.
The lotus-trees cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook
compass him about. Behold, if a
river overflow, he trembleth not; He is confident, though a
·
Innumerable Stars
Jeremiah 33:22
As the host
of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I
multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
·
The earth is round
Isa 40:22
[It
is] he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof
are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth
them out as a tent to dwell in;
·
Mountain ranges on ocean
bottom
Jonah 2:5-6
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me; the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with its bars [closed] upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.
3.
Gentleness and respect for others.
3 Aug 2003 Awesome day! My Baptism w/Pastor David in the Suwanee River. It was here I was reborn in Christ at 5:15pm. Witnessed by my Father & Donna, and many friends from Fanning Springs Community Church. Thank you ALL for being there and sharing with me. God bless you all.
|
|
|
|
|
