Studying God's Word

There have been many attempts to explain away the resurrection of Jesus because to do so successfully would make the Christian faith null and void. Thankfully there is ample evidence to support the resurrection of Jesus.  The disciples didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead even though Jesus tried to tell them He would. When Jesus did rise from the dead the disciples didn’t believe it easily. They had to be convinced.

The risen Christ appeared 10 times and in 10 different places over a 40 day period. In one instance Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at once. Some people claimed that the disciples took Jesus’ body out of the tomb. The Jewish authorities feared that and had Pontius Pilate assign Roman soldiers to seal and guard the tomb of Jesus.  A Roman soldier caught sleeping on guard duty was immediately put to death so it’s unlikely someone snuck in under the noses of the guards and stole Jesus’ body. The Roman soldiers were as surprised as everyone else at the empty tomb of Jesus.

If the disciples had found a way to steal Jesus’ body they would have known Jesus wasn’t the Son of God and there is no way they would have then died a martyr’s death for their faith (all except John). People will die for what they mistakenly think is true, but they won’t die for what they know is false.  Evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is conclusive. We have the empty tomb. We have the changed lives of the disciples because they were eyewitnesses to the risen Christ.

We have the establishment of the Christian church which would not have happened without the resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of our faith.  The Lord’s Day of worship was changed from Saturday to Sunday because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We have the transformed lives of countless people today who have met and been given new life by the risen Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:17 – And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

The Holy Trinity is always on the same page so Jesus knew exactly what He needed to accomplish on earth and He also knew the date of His coming crucifixion. That’s why in the Bible Jesus frequently said “My time has not yet come.”  The triumph of Christianity is not that Jesus died but that He arose from the dead on the third day. By His resurrection Jesus guaranteed our own resurrection, defeated death and proved to all that He was God.

The life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is verified in Roman and Jewish historical records plus there were over 500 people who saw the resurrected Jesus including all of the disciples.  Even with all this proof the one thing that convinces me of the truth of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus more than anything else is the transformation of the lives of the disciples from a handful of cowardly, fearful men, running for their lives into roaring lions of the faith.

The disciples saw Jesus die and when they saw the resurrected Jesus in His glorified body they finally understood all they had been taught and they knew for certain that Jesus was God. With the help of the Holy Spirit these Apostles spread the gospel around the world and all but one were martyred for their preaching.  That is true conviction.

The only thing that could have effected such a dramatic change in the disciples was their eyewitness to the greatest event in the history of mankind, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  I know if I were in their shoes it’d have the same effect on me.  The bodily resurrection of Jesus in a glorified body proved to the disciples, and to me, that those who believe in Christ will also be resurrected one day and receive a glorified body like the one Jesus has.

Acts 2:32 – God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

Luke 24:39 – Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones; as you see I have.

John 20:27 – Then He said to Thomas. “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.

If Jesus were not both God and man his work could not have eternal and personal significance for us. Because of God’s perfect justice our sins required the penalty of our death. Any sacrifice on our behalf had to be human and it had to be without blemish (sinless). No human being qualified so we were on the highway straight to hell.

The only alternative to save us was for God Himself to set aside His crown and come to earth in the flesh to die on the cross in our place because only God was worthy. A merciful God loved us that much.  If Jesus had not been fully God, He could not qualify to be our Savior from sin.  If Jesus had not been fully man, He could not qualify to be a sacrifice for us in the first place.  The Christian faith is based on this promise.

Philippians 2:9-11 – Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Hebrews 10:10 – By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Who is Jesus Christ? He had the very nature of God. He made Himself nothing. He humbled Himself. He became obedient to death. He even went to death on a cross. Jesus’ perfect life was a necessity. It qualified Jesus to be the sacrificial offering for our sin.  The life of Jesus rendered perfect obedience to God. By being obedient to God unto death Jesus qualified as our High Priest and Mediator before God enthroned at the right hand of God forevermore.

Romans 5:19 – For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Hebrews 2:17 – Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Throughout history people have tried to portray Jesus as mostly human or mostly divine. Jesus was not only fully God; he was also fully human. If Jesus were not fully human he could not have represented us on the cross.  If Jesus were not fully human he could not be the High Priest who comforts and strengthens us. As a man Jesus went through our human experience so He fully understands and sympathizes with our human condition.

John 8:40 – But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

Acts 2:22 – Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.

Philippians 2:7 (Jesus) – But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

By revelation we know the mystery of heaven that Jesus was both God and man. When Jesus was conceived of woman by the Holy Spirit that same Holy Spirit never left Him.  The Holy Spirit not only prepared His humanity, the Holy Spirit also kept the unborn child free from the taint of a mother’s sin.  Jesus was without sin from conception.  The Holy Spirit remained with Jesus throughout all the temptations and sufferings of His life, even to death on the cross. It was the Holy Spirit that continually gave light, comfort and strength to Jesus’ human soul which He needed to accomplish His task.

That Holy Spirit shared the eternal counsels of the Godhead with Jesus to unify the consciousness of Christ so that there could be no possibility of division or dualism within Him. That’s why Jesus always knew what God wanted done and said what God wanted said.  In light of that gracious ministry we can understand, in some measure, how the divine nature was acting under human conditions and how the human nature was acting in the fullest unity with the divine.

Everything about Christianity is determined by the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christianity owes its life, substance and character in every detail to Christ. That’s why we call our faith Christianity. The unalterable foundation of Christianity is that Jesus was fully God.  If you don’t believe that you can’t call yourself a Christian. Jesus is not man becoming God but God incarnate, coming into human flesh, coming into it from the outside. His life is the highest and holiest entering in at the lowliest door.

John 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 1:14 – 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.

Titus 2:13 – Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:20 – And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

During his life Jesus Christ claimed deity for himself. The deity of Christ is woven into the fabric of everything he said and did as related in the Bible. Jesus displayed God’s authority by forgiving sin, healing the sick, raising the dead and casting out demons.  Jesus demonstrated He possessed God’s attributes by knowing what was in people’s minds and what was to come in the future. In all of His actions Jesus showed Himself to be God.

Colossians 2:9 – In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

John 8:58 – Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly , I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Matthew 4:10 – Worship the lord your God, and serve Him only.

Hebrews 1:3 (Jesus) – Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

That eternal plan by which God makes sure that all events of the universe take place are called decrees of God. The creation of the universe, the creation of the the physical laws of nature and the creation of man were all by decrees of God. The decrees of God are always accomplished and they are sustained until God removes the decree.  God exists totally apart from the universe yet is everywhere within it. With God there is no such thing as time as we know it. The past, present and future are the same eternal moment to God. This is why we say God knows the end from the beginning.

Colossians 1:16-17 – For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

God’s directives will always comes to pass. God’s permissive will is what He allows to take place. God permitted the entrance of sin into the world through Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. God created both angels and men with the free will to choose whether to serve God or Satan. God didn’t want robots compelled to serve Him. Nothing ever surprises God.  Just because God knows what will happen in our life, what choices we will make, doesn’t mean He causes it to happen or doesn’t care about us. God loves us no matter what we decide to do.  God simply lets things happen as an exercise of our free will.

God is sovereign over His creation without impacting our individual freedom of choice.  It is our privilege and responsibility to know God and do His good will. We do that by praying, reading the Bible daily and studying God’s Word. This will bring out our deep trust and unbridled worship of God at every turn of our life.

Deuteronomy 10:17 – For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

Deuteronomy 10:20-21 – You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.

There are two major heresies about the Trinity all Christians must vigorously oppose. One distortion claims that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are merely different manifestations of God assumed temporarily to achieve a specific purpose.  Let me be clear about this, the Holy Trinity consists of three distinct Persons who have always existed independently and always will. The Trinity consists of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit which is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost.

The next heretical point of view is that the Trinity has been divided or separated and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not co-equal with God and are therefore a lower level of deity.  There is only one God. God is a unity consisting of three Persons with one essence, personality and will. The Persons of the Trinity never act independently or in opposition to one another. They are of one mind and they are all God, co-equal and co-eternal.

Our Triune God is not only the Creator of the universe He is also the Sustainer of His creation and the moral Governor of the intelligent beings He has created. God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that God’s providence and sovereignty is complete and comprehensive as expressed in the following Scriptures:

Psalm 135:6 – Whatever the Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places.

Colossians 1:17 – And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Ephesians 1:11 – In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Acts 4:28 – To do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

In the New Testament the distinctness of the persons of the Godhead is made clearer. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus taught the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit which underlines their oneness. When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Jesus.

In Mark 1:10-11 God then spoke directly from heaven saying “You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.” This was a clear manifestation of the Trinity involving all three persons of the Godhead at the same time. The Trinity is also referenced in the following Scriptures:

Luke 1:35 – And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

John 14:16 (Jesus speaking) – And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.

2 Corinthians 13:14 – The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy spirit be with you all. Amen.

Romans 1:7 – To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Persons of the Trinity never act independently or in opposition to one another. The Son and the Holy Spirit are subordinate to the Father but they are not inferior. It’s a matter of relationship but not of nature. All are equally divine. The Spirit of God is said to proceed from the Son as well as the Father. The Father is the One by whom the Son is begotten and from whom the Spirit proceeds.

Those who want to make Jesus and the Holy Spirit lesser deities than God the Father must understand that while God the Father was the architect of the universe it was Jesus who actually built the universe and the workman was the Holy Spirit. The Father originates, the Son reveals and the Spirit executes.  Creation is from the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. The Trinity has always existed with each Person co-equal and co-eternal. In my blog I’m comfortable using any of the three Persons of the Trinity interchangeably when I speak about God because all three are God. It all depends on the circumstances.

At the heart of the Christian view of God is the concept of the Trinity. This truth is central to an understanding of biblical revelation and the Christian gospel. The Trinity consists of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.  God is one being, but he exists in three persons, each with their own intellect, feelings and will. God is one in His essential being, but the “divine essence” exists in three modes or forms, each constituting a Person, yet in such a way that the divine essence is wholly in each Person.

While the word Trinity doesn’t occur in the Bible, the existence of the Triune Godhead is confirmed in numerous Scriptures in the Bible though never fully explained. The Trinity is a difficult concept that our finite mental powers cannot easily grasp, even for Christians.  I’d never attempt to win an unbeliever to Christ by first trying to explain the Trinity to them. They would run for the hills. If you are pressed about the Trinity simply tell them God doesn’t tell us everything He knows but only what we need to know.  We are to accept God’s Word by faith and in heaven all will be revealed to us.

The Trinity is one of those things about the Bible that confirmed to me that the Bible is God’s Word. Someone creating a fake religion would come up with a god that would be easy for everyone to understand otherwise what’s the point? The concept of the Trinity is so difficult to understand and explain it proves it couldn’t be a human invention.  Just like I know no human being could have written the Bible because their human nature would not allow all the Bible stories that put man in such a bad light. The Bible is brutally honest and reveals the human condition, warts and all, which verifies only God could have written it.

Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

John 1:1-3, 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made…..The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory; the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Throughout the Bible the Lord Almighty proclaims He is God and there is no other. God states He knows the end from the beginning and He proves it by making over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible, which is 28% of the Bible. Over 500 prophecies have come true in their due time and documented.  No prophecies have failed to come true in their appointed time. Over 60 prophecies about Jesus have been fulfilled and I’ve previously listed the 36 fulfilled prophecies of Jesus I consider most important.  The prophecies of Jesus were made in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament.  I’ve listed the Scriptural reference for each one.

Roman and Jewish history confirm the life and death of Jesus as detailed in the Bible. Only God is the author of history and only our God has proven He is the Creator of the universe. Prophecy is only history written in advance. No other religion has had even one fulfilled prophecy which only shows they are all fake religions sponsored by Satan to lead people away from the truth.

The Bible establishes there is a God and Jehovah is that God. God is revealed in creation but the Bible says anyone can seek the Lord and find him by reading and knowing God’s Word. It’s not the only way but it is the easiest way and the best way to find God. The Bible promises those who seek the Lord diligently will find Him through His Word.  God speaks to His special creation through His Word and we speak to God through prayer.

Throughout the Bible God reaffirms He made us and He has given us an eternal spirit, a part of Himself. We now know that since conception we are immortal beings. The physical body will wither and die but the spirit is eternal. Our life on this earth is our “testing time” where we have the free will to decide to serve God or Satan. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth in the flesh and died on the cross for our sins.

If we accept the mercy and grace of God by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are translated at that moment to the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. If we reject God’s grace or simply do nothing our souls will burn in the lake of fire for eternity where we will be in torment forever.  All the important questions in your life answered in the Holy Bible. God makes His Word available but He won’t make you read it or make decisions for you. God loves you as a father loves his children because He made you and He knows everything about you. God waits patiently for you to come to him.

If you haven’t made the decision to put your trust in Jesus yet you’re one heartbeat away from losing the opportunity to make that choice. Nobody gets a second chance. It’s time to read your Bible and study God’s Word.  You must know what you believe so that you can save your soul.  You must know what you believe so that you can witness for Christ.  You must know what you believe so that your faith cannot be shaken by the tribulation to come.

Psalm 119:89 – Your Word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.