What if Jesus really is the Son of God?

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WHAT IF JESUS REALLY IS THE SON OF GOD?

The Lord Jesus Christ is no ordinary person. I make this statement in the present tense because the Lord Jesus is not just a figure of history but he is, today, still alive in heaven. I don't mean alive in the way we might think about a relative who has died and hope is now in heaven (as a Christian I believe people who have turned from their sin and accepted Jesus as their Saviour will be in heaven when they die but this is not my point at the moment). I mean that Jesus is alive, physically in heaven. Your response might be - impossible and unbelievable! 

He's got the whole world in His hands - The Lord Jesus

 

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He's got the whole world in His hands.

Remember the song?  ‘He's Got the Whole World in His Hands’ is a traditional African American spiritual, first published in 1927. It became an international pop hit in 1957-1958 in a recording by English singer Laurie London and has been recorded by many other singers and choirs.

 

It's a celebration of God's loving embrace of everyone in this big old world and a good tune as well! I think it's a bit of an exaggeration, though. God doesn't need both hands to hold the world; in fact, the Bible states He is the One who has measured the waters ‘in the hollow of his hand,’ Isa. 40:12, and that 'In his hand are the deep places of the earth,' Ps. 95:4.

Unrecognised - Jesus!

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On 12 January 2007, at 7:51 in the morning, a musician takes his position against a wall in the metro station of the Washington D.C. subway. He is wearing jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a baseball cap. He opens his violin case … removes the instrument, throws a few dollars into the case from his pocket as “seed money”, and begins playing.

He plays for the next 43 minutes, and during that time, he performs six classical pieces – flawlessly!  During that 43 minutes, 1,097 people passed by, tossing in a total of $32.17 into his violin case. Of that 1,097 people, only seven paused longer than sixty seconds to listen to this performance.  Of those seven who lingered, only one recognized the violinist!

The name of the violinist was Joshua Bell. He had filled Boston’s Symphony Hall three days earlier, where the cheap tickets sold for $100 apiece. Yet, when performing this day in the subway, he barely earned enough to pay for a pair of cheap shoes.

What if the death of Jesus was actually for you?

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8th May 2020 marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of ‘VE Day’, when World War Two ceased in Europe. It was a good day for the civilian people of that continent. All, whether on the winning or the losing side, were relieved that the bombing was over, that their loved ones who had gone off to fight and had survived would be returning home, and that the privations they had endured for years would begin to recede.

Does God care? Yes, God has time for you.

Does God Care?

This time of the year can be a lonely time for many people! Everyone has their family, or do they? There are a lot of people about who are very private and keep themselves to themselves. They would not trouble anyone with their problems and would not presume that anyone else is interested.

I have news for anyone who is reading this who thinks like that. I know someone who is interested in you; the Lord Jesus. He is recorded as saying in the Gospel of John – ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly‘.

Have you realized you need God in your life yet?

                                                All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Have you realized you need God in your life yet?

I was speaking to some people at the weekend about a man in Bible times who welcomed Jesus into his home. He was quite a ‘well to do’ guy who had made a lot of money. From the information we have, it looks as if some of his wealth was accumulated through dishonest business practice. The moral of the story was that he was not happy or satisfied despite his prosperous lifestyle.  

He needed more!

Don’t we all!

Thankfully, he realized that he needed a relationship with God and that the Lord Jesus was the way to come to God.

How do you see your life? Have you come to the point yet where you have concluded that there’s something missing? Life is empty and pointless without God.

When you turn to God from all the things that have crowded Him out and confess your need of Him (and His forgiveness) He will come. The way to God is through His Son, Jesus, who died (and rose again) to make a relationship with God possible.

I will close with the words of the Lord Jesus - ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me,’ John 14:6, the Bible.

Who gave you the right to do that?

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Bible Reading - Mark 11:20-33

Sometimes when I am trying to tell someone about what I believe they respond like this. Don’t shove religion down my throat! Who gave you the right to tell me that?

 

The rulers of the nation of Israel were out to get the Lord Jesus. They didn’t like the attention He was being given and as far as they were concerned He was a major threat.

 

On the day in this incident the Lord Jesus was in Jerusalem walking though the Temple Precincts. He was confronted by the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of Israel. To these men the Lord Jesus was ‘a nobody’ and they were the top people in Israel. They were soon to learn that they were facing someone greater than they were. We must never forget that the Lord Jesus is the greatest person we will ever encounter. He is the ‘everlasting Father, the mighty God,’ Isaiah 9:6.

 

Take a moment to think about the questions they asked, v. 28. They were basically asking where do you get the power to do what you do and who gave you it. The questions were an admission of their own ignorance. They did not believe what the wise Jewish teacher, Nicodemus, said in John chapter 3 -  ‘no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him’. If Nicodemus could discover the truth, John.7. 50,51, 19. 39, so could they. They were choosing not to believe the truth.

 

There are many people in our world who have never heard the truth. It is our responsibility to tell them. Sadly we will often meet people in our society who have chosen not believe the truth. Our job is to live and preach the truth and pray that they will be saved.

These posts are aimed at people who are already believers in the Lord Jesus Christ   

Thinking for yourself?

 

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My advice - take a look at the Bible for yourself.

Don’t just take my word for it. See for yourself if it makes sense. I believe that the Bible changes lives through faith in the author (God). My view reflects what the Bible claims - for instance, in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, it states, 'from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus'. Another passage says, 'faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God,' Romans 10. 17.  The fact is that many people are afraid to read the Bible because they don’t know what it is about, and they either don't care or are frightened that it might get to them.

Let me ask you some questions. 

What if everything you need for living, this life and the next, is in the Bible? 

What if God is the creator, and you are answerable to Him? 

What if we are all sinners and need redemption, forgiveness and a new beginning?

What if we can't make sense of this life without God, and He really is the missing piece we need?

We were created to know Him and to worship Him. I believe what I am saying is true, and you need God in your life. But, at the end of the day, the only reason you will miss out is because you never got around to reading the Bible. You never evaluated whether Jesus is who he claimed to be. You didn't take the time to look into who Jesus was, why he died, why people died for the belief that He rose from the dead and why He is still being talked about 2020 years later.

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You could end life far from all you were created to know and enjoy (life, peace, joy, justice, delight, purpose and so on) because you didn't take the time to look into the message of the Bible (called the gospel).

Many have been brainwashed into thinking that the Bible is irrelevant and outdated. As a Christian, I don’t believe that this is true.

I believe that the Bible is God’s message to humans. It explains things we could not discover with our normal human facilities - science, legal investigation for evidence or research. 

Having said that, we need to be careful not to assume then that the Bible is just a book of legendary tales that have been passed from generation to generation. The truthfulness of the Bible can be verified in many ways. History, archaeology, science, meteorology, and many other disciplines have demonstrated that the Bible is a factually accurate book. However, bear in mind that it was written when most of these areas of expertise were either in their infancy or undefined as disciplines. 

How did the Bible writers know that there were paths in the oceans, Psalm 8.8, or that all that is needed to sustain life is transported and regulated through blood, Leviticus 17:11? These are only two examples - there are many more. I believe that God has demonstrated in the Bible that He knows all about our physical needs and environment, i.e. he explains the things we know about and have some understanding about to get us to listen when he talks to us about the things that we have no understanding of and need help to understand, i.e. our origin, our destiny and our spiritual needs etc.

In light of my comments, please read the Bible with an open mind - the scripture says, ‘these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name, John 20:31, the Bible.