These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.
“If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.” —C.S. Lewis
“Since the end of World War II, at least 188 countries have drafted at least 729 versions of constitutions, while we’ve made only minor changes to ours through a constitutionally-provided amendment process. Our Constitution is unique in its simplicity, and uniquely effective.” Happy 225th Birthday, U.S. Constitution!
“Faith in God is to be demonstrated, not defined.” —A.W. Tozer
“Let us look to it that in all things we are just—in our trade, in our judgment of others, in our treatment of neighbors, and in our own personal character. A just God cannot bless unjust transactions.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” —Watchman Nee
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
John opens the book of Revelation with this greeting: Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, AND WHO IS TO COME… (Revelation 1:4). This is so significant because of the other descriptive phrases John uses for Jesus:
Jesus was pre-existent before creation (John 1:1).
John was witness to everything Jesus did during His public ministry, including all of the claims Jesus made about Himself (1 John 1:1).
And now John says not only has Jesus existed before time existed, not only is He alive now, but He is coming back again!
This is what makes the resurrection of Jesus so important. Jesus Himself told us exactly what was going to happen with His death by crucifixion and His resurrection three days later. The fact that these statements all turned out to be true gives us greater assurance that His promise that He is coming back is also true.
In His very first sermon, Jesus quoted from Isaiah about how He would conduct His earthly ministry (see Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18-19). But when He quotes the passage from Isaiah, He leaves off a phrase “and a day of vengeance of our God.” God’s wrath against sin is being held back for now, but the day of judgment is coming.
John says Jesus is the One Who is to come, and records later on how Jesus will come—
I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of Heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. (Revelation 19:11-15)
God made Jesus to be sin for us. He suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins, and those who are still found in their sins—unforgiven, without placing their faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection—must face the wrath of God.
Jesus is not only our Risen Savior, but He is the soon-returning King and Judge.
Three times the last book of the Bible records Jesus Himself saying, “I am coming soon!” This isn’t a scare tactic, it’s real. As certainly as Jesus rose from the grave, He is returning soon.
Are you ready for His return? Are you telling others that Jesus is our soon-returning King? I hope you know what it means to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and I hope you are telling as many other people as you can about our soon coming King!
Josh McDowell is an amazing apologist! He has a tremendous knack for being able to “put the cookies on the bottom shelf.” By that I mean that he can make complex topics accessible to a wider audience than most authors. In Did The Resurrection Happen … Really? he and Dave Sterrett do just that with some great arguments for and against the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This book is classified as fiction, because fictional characters are having a discussion at a fictional university about the deep subjects of life and death, and life after death. Although the characters are fictional, the questions being discussed are real, and the sources quoted in defense of each side of the argument are all non-fictional.
McDowell and Sterrett (who are Christian apologists) don’t dumb-down the arguments against the claims of an actual physical death and an actual physical resurrection. They quote from some of the most well-known proponents of these arguments, and then thoughtfully and persuasively rebut those claims.
Because this book is written in a conversational style, it bring the reader right into the coffee chats of the characters. It also helps the reader see how he/she could have a similar dialogue with others who question the biblical account of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The book is well footnoted, so curious readers can dig deeper and research further. But don’t let this fact lead you to believe that this is a heady, academic book. As I mentioned earlier, McDowell and Sterrett definitely make these concepts accessible to a wide audience.
This would be an excellent book to read if you have friends who are skeptical to the biblical account. It would also be a very good resource for those preparing to attend a university where the faculty might be more antagonistic toward the biblical worldview. In any case, it was a very enjoyable and educational book.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Could it really be this simple? Could it be that Jesus died and rose again just like the Bible says? Or does it need to be more complicated than that? Are there other theories that seem to fit the facts?
At the feast of Pentecost where Jewish people from all over the world convened in Jerusalem just 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, Peter stood up to address them:
He began, “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem…” (Acts 2:14). He addressed both local residents and guests from faraway lands.
Peter began by saying, “Jesus of Nazareth was a Man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you, as you yourselves know” (v. 22). No one shouted Peter down or disputed this claim. Quite possibly because there were those in this audience who had personally seen or experienced one of Jesus’ miracles.
The he announced, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact” (v. 32). Anyone could have easily refuted this claim because the tomb of Jesus was within walking distance of where they were standing, and yet no one disputed this claim.
A short time later, after healing a lame man outside of the temple, Peter and John were hauled before the Sanhedrin (the rulers and elders of the people [Acts 4:8]). This was the very group who had convinced the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to have Jesus crucified.
They addresses this group by saying, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified but Whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed” (v. 10). Once again, they didn’t dispute this, but they just told them to stop preaching in this name of Jesus (v. 17).
Paul was a devout member of this Jewish religious leadership until he had a personal encounter with Jesus. It became awfully difficult for Paul to argue that Jesus was dead, when he had personally seen Him and talked with Him!
Paul’s former colleagues had him arrested to stand trial before the Romans. The Roman governor Festus noted that the claims of the Jews against Paul were “about a dead man named Jesus Who Paul claimed was alive” (Acts 25:19). This is nearly 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus occurred. King Agrippa didn’t scoff this off. In fact, Paul said he was glad to talk to the king since “the king is familiar with these things…. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Again, Agrippa didn’t dispute the claim of Jesus’ resurrection, but simply accused Paul of trying to convert him to Christianity.
There is something in our hearts that wants the resurrection to be true.
We don’t want to work all our lives for nothing.
We don’t want to invest in a relationship, only to have that end when the other person dies.
We want there to be something more. We want there to be something that makes sense of the world.
Only the resurrection of Jesus the Christ helps us make sense of life. Only His resurrection gives us lasting hope.
An old song by the band Kansas says:
Deep within the hardest heart
There is something there that knows
There’s a hunger life can never fill
Til you face the One Who rose
There were two followers of Jesus who were out for a walk on the evening of the day of the resurrection. They, too, were trying to figure out if the news reports they heard about Jesus’ resurrection was fact or fiction. Jesus met them on the road (although they didn’t recognize Him) and He walked and talked with them. He explained how all of the things in the Bible pointed to these facts: a Savior would come, a Savior would die, and a Savior would be raised to life again. As Jesus sat down to eat with them, they recognized Who He was, and then He disappeared from their sight. As they hurried back to tell the other disciples, they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He talked” (Luke 24:32).
Does it take faith to believe the biblical resurrection story? Yes!
Does it take faith to believe the conspiracy theories? Yes!
But I believe that not only is the resurrection account more plausible, but it’s more satisfying too. The resurrection of Jesus rings true because IT IS TRUE, and because you were created by God to believe this truth so you could be in a relationship with Him forever.
I suggested last week that John Piper’s book Love To The Uttermost is an excellent resource to help guide you through the Holy Week with some fresh insights (you can read my review of this book by clicking here). Here are a few of the fresh insights that stood out to me.
“Luke 12:32 is a verse about the nature of God. It’s a verse about what kind of heart God has. It’s a verse about what makes God glad—not merely about what God will do or what He has to do, but what He delights to do, what He loves to do, and what He takes pleasure in doing. ‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ … This is what the word means: God’s joy, His desire, His want and wish and hope and pleasure and gladness and delight, is to give the kingdom to His flock.”
“Jesus was not accidentally entangled in a web of injustice. The saving benefits of His death for sinners were not an afterthought. God planned it all out of infinite love to sinners like us, and He appointed a time. Jesus, who was the very embodiment of His Father’s love for sinners, saw that the time had come and set His face to fulfill His mission: to die in Jerusalem for our sake. ‘No one takes my life from Me,’ Jesus said, ‘I lay it down of my own accord’ (John 10:18).”
“First, we know the depth of someone’s love for us by what it costs him. Second, we know the depth of someone’s love for us by how little we deserve it. Third, we know the depth of someone’s love for us by the greatness of the benefits we receive in being loved. Fourth, we know the depth of someone’s love for us by the freedom with which they love us.”
“[God] does not need us. If we stay away He is not impoverished. He does not need us in order to be happy in the fellowship of the Trinity. But He magnifies His mercy by giving us free access through His Son, in spite of our sin, to the one Reality that can satisfy us completely and forever, namely, Himself.”
“The resurrection of Jesus is given to us as the confirmation or evidence that He was indeed free in laying down His life. And so the resurrection is Christ’s testimony to the freedom of His love. … Of all the great things that Easter means, it also means this: it is a mighty ‘I meant it!’ behind Christ’s death. I meant it! I was free. You see how free I am? You see how much power and authority I have? I was able to avoid it. I have power to take up My life out of the grave. And could I not, then, have devastated My enemies and escaped the Cross? My resurrection is a shout over My love for My sheep: It was free! It was free! I chose it. I embraced it. I was not caught. I was not cornered. Nothing can constrain Me to do what I do not choose to do. I had power to take My life from death. And I have taken My life from death. How much more, then, could I have kept My life from death! I am alive to show you that I really loved you. I freely loved you. Nobody forced Me to it. And I am now alive to spend eternity loving you with omnipotent resurrection love forever and ever. Come to Me, all you sinners who need a Savior. And I will forgive you and accept you and love you with all My heart forevermore.”
As we approach Easter, we approach one of the most pivotal times in the greatest story ever told: They story of Jesus Christ’s victory over satan and death! Each year I look forward to allowing the Holy Spirit to show me something new about this amazing story. A great resource this year is going to be Love To The Uttermost by John Piper.
This is a FREE ebook from Desiring God which will guide you through Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday. For each of the eight days of this week Pastor Piper gives us a new angle to explore in Christ’s love that led Him to the Cross, and overcame the grave. Each day’s reading will only take you a few minutes, but the central truth shared will give you something to meditate upon all day.
I read through this entire book quickly in order to write this review, but now I’m looking forward to re-reading it beginning on Palm Sunday!
Some call Him Savior. Some call Him a moral teacher. Some call Him a prophet. Some only call His name as a curse word. Regardless of what people call Him, Jesus is almost universally known.
Despite what people call Him, and as much as people claim to know about Jesus, there are still so many questions that swirl around—
Who is this Man?
How can someone be both God and Man at the same time?
Did Jesus just show up in Bethlehem, or was He around earlier?
Was He really perfect? Could He really live His whole life without sinning once?
How could He die and yet come back to life?
Better yet: why did He have to die at all?
Does it really matter whether or not He was resurrected from the dead?
As we approach this Easter season, more and more people’s thoughts will be turning toward this Man. Please join me as we consider this simple, yet profound question: Who Is Jesus? The answer to that one simple question will be life-changing!
“The one Jesus that skeptics refuse to tolerate is a uniquely divine, miraculous, prophesy-fulfilling, and resurrected Jesus—even if the evidence points persuasively in that direction. After all, that would put them in the place of being beholden to Him. Their personal sovereignty and moral independence would be at risk. The problem is: that’s the real Jesus.” —Lee Strobel
Jesus was crucified. He was in the grave for three days. Then God raised Him from the dead, fulfilling everything that had been prophesied about Him! That’s the real Jesus!
But those who don’t want to acknowledge those facts have concocted all sorts of conspiracy theories as to His death and resurrection.
On Easter morning, Calvary Assembly of God will be presenting an original drama called Conspiracy! to tackle these conspiracies head-on. The cast of characters is interesting, the dialogue is witty and fast-moving, so this will be a very memorable morning!
Cost: FREE but we suggest you get a ticket to make sure you have a seat. You can reserve your spot by clicking here and emailing your ticket request to me.
A delicious breakfast + some uplifting music + a memorable drama = a great morning learning about the risen Jesus. Please don’t miss it!
Don’t you get annoyed when an overly-religious person spouts off some pie-in-the-sky, feel-goodism that sounds religious, but doesn’t seem to have any grounding in the real world?
Like when a church leader says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” when you are in the midst of a painful situation? This is one of those statements that’s great for church, but not so great for the battlefield of life, right?
Actually that statement was made by the apostle Peter (see 1 Peter 1:3).
He didn’t shout it in a church service, but in a letter to Christians who were on the run from their persecutors. Many of them had lost their homes and businesses, had to leave their hometowns, were separated from their families, and were having their very lives threatened. Peter didn’t just shout this praise, he explained its origin, too.
Over the next few verses he asks us to consider what a relationship with Jesus Christ would bring us, and then to put the positives and negatives on a scale—
The Positives
God’s mercy
New life
Living hope
Resurrection from the dead
Secure inheritance
An eternity with God in Heaven
God’s power shielding us
The Negatives*
Grief
Trials
*
So whether we look at the eternal positives or the temporary “negatives” there is cause for rejoicing. When a Christian is in a difficult situation, he must remember this:
This situation is only temporary
This situation will ultimately bring glory to God
Weigh the positives and negatives and you will see that what you are going through now cannot even begin to compare to the glory of God that is coming! The apostle Paul echoed Peter’s words when he wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
So keep your eyes on Jesus, and keep shouting your praise to Him.
Holy Spirit, please help me to look away from the temporary and keep my eyes on my eternal God and Savior.
Craig T. Owens 