Many people think that faith is strictly a religious matter and concerns unprovable issues such as angels, heaven and, of course, belief in the creation story. They further feel that belief in evolution is more reasonable, since it is based upon hard and proven facts. But is this true?
You have abandoned the love you had at first. (Revelation 2:4)
We will always remember that best and brightest of hours when we first saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the gift of grace, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was springtime in the soul; the winter was past; the mutterings of Sinai’s thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, and justice demanded no punishment.
“I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (Is 44:22)
Pay attention to THE INSTRUCTIVE PICTURE: Our sins are like a cloud. As clouds appear in many shapes and shades, so do our transgressions. As clouds obscure the light of the sun and darken the landscape below, so do our sins hide from us the light of Jehovah’s face and cause us to sit in the shadow of death. They are earthborn things and arise from the miry places of our lives; and when they collect and their measure is full, they threaten us with storm and tempest. Sadly, unlike clouds, our sins yield us no genial showers but rather threaten to deluge us with a fiery flood of destruction. How can it be fair weather when the dark clouds of sin remain within our souls?
“So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:28-30)
The message of the cross confronts every human instinct.
Problem: According to the apostle John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1,14, emp. added). Unquestionably, this Word (God), Whom John claims became flesh, was Jesus Christ (1:17). This same apostle recorded other statements in his account of the Gospel that convey the same basic truth. He wrote how, on one occasion, Jesus told a group of hostile Jews, “I and My Father are one” (10:30). Later, he recorded how Jesus responded to Philip’s request to see God by saying, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9). He even told about how Jesus accepted worship from a blind man whom He had healed (9:38; cf. Matthew 8:2). And, since only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 4:10), the implication is that Jesus believed He was God (cf. John 1:29,41,49; 20:28; Mark 14:62).
“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne.” Zechariah 6:12,13
Problem: In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote at length concerning the resurrection of the dead, because some of the Christians in Corinth taught “that there is no resurrection of the dead” (vs. 12). As one of his proofs for the Christian’s eventual resurrection, Paul pointed to the fact of the resurrection of Christ, and showed that the two stand or fall together, saying, “if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (vss. 16-17)! After hypothetically arguing from the absurd in an attempt to get the Corinthian Christians to see that their stance on the final resurrection completely undermined Christianity, Paul proceeded to demonstrate that Christ had risen, and thus made the resurrection of the dead inevitable. It is in this section of scripture that some find a difficulty. Beginning with verse 20, Paul wrote:
The Greek term for “firstborn” is prototokos.
“Firstborn of every creature” does not mean that Christ was “born first” in the sense of being the first created being. Rather it refers to Christ’s position of supremacy over all of creation by virtue of the fact that He is the Creator of all things (verse 16).
Problem: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
For each one will have to bear his own load. (Galatians 6:5)
Problem: Jesus proclaimed that “whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire
” (Matthew 5:22). However, there are instances throughout Scripture where people are called fools. For example, David wrote, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’
” (Psalm 14:1). Paul told the Galatians they were foolish (Galatians 3:1). Jesus even said the Pharisees and scribes were fools in Matthew 23:17.
So does the Lord’s claim in Matthew 5:22 contradict these other passages where people are actually called fool?
Life is not balanced, can’t be balanced, and would not be balanced, just like our human fingers are not of equal length. Life is going to deal with all of us one way or the other; we are going to experience the different shades of it—the joy, the sorrow, the happiness, the sadness, the betrayal, the solidarity, the sobriety, the ups, the downs, the lefts, the rights, and so on. Now, the question is, can your faith sing out loud in the days of sorrow? When life throws every bad thing it can at you, can you stand firm and say your hope is built on Christ, the solid foundation?
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Giving Jesus the first place in your life.
Matthew 6:33 (King James Version)
33.But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
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With Christmas just around the corner our thoughts turn naturally to the birth of Jesus. Most people think of Jesus as a teacher and a healer, and of course they would be right. The Bible also tells us that God promised King David a son who would reign over Israel for ever. That son was Jesus Christ.
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Problem: Numerous alleged Bible discrepancies arise because skeptics frequently interpret figurative language in a literal fashion. They treat God’s Word as if it were a dissertation on the Pythagorean theorem rather than a book written using ordinary language. They fail to recognize the inspired writers’ use of sarcasm, hyperbole, prolepsis, irony, etc. Such is the case in their interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:5. Since Paul stated that “the twelve” (apostles) saw Jesus after His resurrection, these critics claim that Paul clearly erred, because there were not “twelve” apostles after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension. There actually were only eleven apostles during that time. [Judas already had committed suicide (Matthew 27:5), and Matthias was not chosen as an apostle until after Jesus’ ascension into heaven (Acts 1:15-26).] Skeptics claim Paul’s use of the term “twelve” when speaking about “eleven” clearly shows that the Bible was not given “by inspiration of God.”
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