Category Jesus Christ

I had an eureka moment one morning as I was thinking with some frustration about the reality of “church”:  go to a place to sit with other people for an hour as some fellow tells you what to think about God, the Bible, and your faith, with no opportunity permitted to question, challenge, correct, or rebuke. Sit down – stand up – sing this – pray that – hear what I’m telling you, that God told me to say and don’t question it, even when you know I’m lying.

And I realized more consciously that we suffer from Rome...

When Was Jesus Crucified?

First we examine the verses that speak of His death:

RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY

Mt 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Mt 17:23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Mt 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Mt 27:64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first...

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single-most important event in world history. Single, because His resurrection is completely dependant upon His crucifixion, yet without His resurrection, His death would have been futile.

Paul wrote that, “if we are planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be of His resurrection.” Romans 6:5 Yet he also wrote: “… if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:17

Through the death of Christ, forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God[1] is made available to men, and through His resurrection we receive eternal life. Without Christ’s death, there is no forgiveness; without His resurrection, we have no hope beyond this world...

ISAIAH 8:11-15

11     For YHWH spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,

12     ‘Say ye not, “A confederacy,” to all them to whom this people shall say, “A confederacy”; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13     Sanctify YHWH of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.

14     And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15     And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

For the YHWH spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me from going in the way of this people, to say: ‘...

How many eye-witnesses are enough to establish a fact? Is it circular reasoning to use the Bible to support facts in the Bible? According to Old Testament Law for the Jews, any testimony was to be received only on the word of two or three witnesses. Within the pages of Scripture, we find many, many witnesses, across hundreds of years, hundreds of miles, and diverse backgrounds and situations, giving first-hand accounts of the most important events in world history.

Nothing is more critical to human reality than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ did not rise from the dead, men have no recourse for sin other than judgment. But if Jesus Christ rose from the dead as the Bible proclaims, then every person who ever lives must consider and engage this important fact, for if Christ rose ...

THE RESURRECTION

No Christian teachings are more vigorously attacked than the deity of Christ, the message of the gospel of salvation, and the fact of Christ’s resurrection. The apostle Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 15, that if Christ is not raised, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. Without the resurrection, we remain hopeless for eternity, because we remain under the curse of death forever.

“If he said frequently, with great definiteness and detail that after he went to Jerusalem he’s be put to death and on the third day rise from the grave, and this prediction happened, then everything else he said must also be true.” Smith, Wilbur. Therefore Stand: Christian Apologetics, 1965.

If Jesus Christ rose from the grave, then every word He spoke would be authenticated an...

Psalm 45 Christ as God, the Eternal King

1-2        … I speak of the things .… concerning the king .… You are fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into your lips, therefore God (Elohyim) has blessed you forever.

3          Gird your sword upon your thigh, o mighty (gibbowr) with your glory and your majesty.

4          In your majesty ride … and your right hand shall teach you terrible things…

5          Your arrows are sharp in the hear of the king’s enemies…

6          Your throne, o God,  is forever and ever, the sceptre of your kingdom is a right sceptre.

7          You love righteousness and hate wickedness, therefore God^*, your God^*, has anointed you with oil of gladness above your fellows….

11         ...

Isaiah 50 – YHWH

1     Thus says YHWH, ‘Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcing, whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2    For what reason, (when) I came, was there no man; I called, and no one answered? Is My hand truly short from redemption, or is no power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I shall drain a sea, I make rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst.

3    I clothe the heavens with blackness, and sackcloth I place (as) their covering.

4    My most sovereign YHWH gives Me the tongue of the learned, to know to speak a timely word to the faint...

The PowerPoint show below tells how Jesus Christ has come to do all that God purposed for Him from the beginning of time.

If you wish to proceed through the screens more quickly than is programmed, the “page down” key on your computer will usually advance the next section.

May the story bless you:

Christmas Story

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Some people say Christians are guilty of judging those outside of passing judgment on non-Christians because they don’t share our faith. I am not qualified to judge anyone, as a sinful person who deserves condemnation as much as anyone else, but I am qualified to communicate Truth, and Truth necessarily applies to everyone by its nature.

A lot of people have been told that all religions are “the same” and should therefore be considered equivalent, but they don’t realize that the different religions teach very different things about God and man’s relationship to God, as well as giving mutually exclusive answers to the key questions of life: the origin, purpose, meaning, and destiny of humankind...