In
last week’s blog we began to look at some of the questions and objections some
people have about faith in God and Christ. It is important to answer these
questions honestly. We want to lead people to faith in Christ. And genuine
faith is not a careless leap into the dark. It is a reasoned response to solid
information. Therefore here are a few more objections and questions and
possible responses for you to think about and use.
Why is Jesus
different from other important men of history? Jesus
Christ is set apart from all other people because of his prophesied coming. The
books of the Old Testament contain hundreds of passages about the Messiah or
Christ and they are all fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. It was foretold that he
would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2/Matthew 2:1). It was revealed that he
would be a descendant of King David (2 Samuel 7:12, 13/Luke 1:32, 33). Christ’s
crucifixion was prophesied about a 1000 years before it occurred (Psalm 22:16,
18).
The
odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the sixty
major prophecies (and 270 ramifications) fulfilled by the life of Christ are
huge. The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight
such prophecies would be only 1 in 1017. That's 1 in 100, 000, 000,
000, 000, 000. But he fulfilled them all. But even more importantly his
resurrection was foreseen (Psalm 16:9-11). And it was known to both the Jewish
and Roman authorities, as well as the disciples that the empty tomb of Jesus
was empty.
I don’t
think I’m a sinner. I’m not so bad. So why do I need a Savior? All of us
have thought this way at one time or another. But being “not so bad” or “not as
bad as the other guy” won’t gain you everlasting life in God’s kingdom. The
Bible says that in one way or another we have all fallen short of the glory of
God (Romans 3:23). He is the standard of being righteous, not your buddy at
work. Sin is sin whether it is a lie, stealing or murder. And not a one of us
has been able to keep the Great Commandment which is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength.” And “your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31).” And the wages for sin
is death, everlasting death, but out of love God offers a rescue from sins
penalty through faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16, 17; Romans 6:23).
But all
Christians are hypocrites. Why would I want to be with people like that? Yes, I admit
that there are hypocrites in the church. We humans are imperfect people and
many times we fail to live up to the standards that God has set for us, we even
fail to live up to our own standards at times. But if you think about it you
probably know people who are hypocrites who are not Christians. And Christians
don’t claim to be perfect, just forgiven. God loves us and forgives us just as
we are when we place our faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:6-8). Then we are
encouraged to grow to be more and more like our Savior (Romans 13:14). God
offers you Jesus Christ to make you whole, not other Christians.
If God is so
good then why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? God’s
purpose in creating humanity was to have people who reflected His righteous
image and loved Him freely. God gave us free will and placed our first parents
in a garden and provided for all of their needs. There was only one
prohibition—to refrain from taking to themselves the knowledge of good and evil
(Genesis 3). But Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s authority and sin entered
the human experience. Sin, our own sin, is at the root cause of every tear,
tragedy, sorrow, heartbreak and ultimately death itself.
But
immediately after Adam’s sin that brought suffering to our world, God announced
a plan of salvation. One would be born who would destroy the works of sin and
evil (Genesis 3:15/1 John 3:8). That person is the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Through faith in Jesus, God delivers from this present evil age brings us into
the kingdom of His Son (Galatians 1:3, 4/Colossians 1:13, 14).
PCL
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