The Central Core of Christian Teaching - Part 3

References: (1) Jesus Christ was UNIQUE in that He ALONE, of all who ever lived, was both GOD and MAN. The Nicene Creed (325 AD) states the uniform belief of all orthodox Christianity was that Christ was FULLY GOD and FULLY MAN in one person. (2) The central message of the Bible is that God Himself has provided a PERFECT MEDIATOR, Jesus Christ. But in order to be a mediator between us and God, Jesus would have to be both human AND divine. He would have to be human in order to REPRESENT the human race before the Divine Judge. Yet He would also have to be divine, because no one but God Himself could have the AUTHORITY to represent God. Jesus, the God-man, was UNIQUELY QUALIFIED to be the Savior of the fallen human race. (3) Normal human experience senses this moral failure and guilt before God. After all, if we are honest about ourselves, we know we are REBELLIOUS. And because God gave us His 10 commandments, we know we will violate them sooner or later. (4) The prospect of deliverance from our predicament would require some sort of ATONEMENT, an act that cancels the sin which has broken our relationship with God. There is a BARRIER between us and God brought on by our rebellion to God [Isa. 59:2]. Only Christ can remove that barrier. (5) The only person who could make atonement would be a person who is BOTH human and divine — human, so that He could suffer the penalty of death on our behalf; divine, so that His life would be absolutely FLAWLESS and His sacrifice would be sufficiently VALUABLE to pay the price, not merely for ONE LIFE but for ANY NUMBER of human lives. (6) The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are central to the Christian faith. 1 Cor. 15:3-8 describes 4 major points of the gospel: (a) Christ DIED for sins. (b) He was BURIED proving He died. (c) He was RAISED on the third day. (d) He APPEARED to Cephas (the apostle Simon Peter), to more than 500 brethren, most of whom were still alive at the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians, so they could attest and not refute the resurrection. Jesus appeared not only to James the brother of Jesus, but also to all the apostles, and last of all, to Paul himself. (7) These appearances prove that Jesus did rise from the grave. Christ Jesus CONQUERED death. No other leader of a religion could make such a claim. That means that our death is not the end. There is an after-life. The Scriptures say that there ore only 2 destinations after death: either heaven or hell. Believing in Christ and receiving Him will make your destination heaven. This is episode 230.

References: (1) I had begun answering the question: Who is this Christ, named Jesus, born in Bethlehem, with no room in the inn and no midwife or physician to aid in the delivery? By revelation in the word of God that Jesus is 100% divine and 100% human. (2) John the Baptist asserted, “I have seen, and testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). The Gospel of Mark said Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 1:1). The angel Gabriel told Mary that the child born to her will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). The demons said Jesus is the Son of God (Matt. 8:29). (3) In answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matt. 16:16) and Jesus acknowledged that answer was correct. (4) The apostle Paul said Jesus is the Son of God (Gal. 4:4). Heb. 1:3 says Jesus is the ‘express image’ of God’s person. (5) But the CROWNING TESTIMONY came from God the Father at Jesus’ baptism, God’s voice came out of the heavens and said, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). God said the same thing on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5). (6) There are 6 very strong indications that Jesus is DIVINE. (a) Jesus as the Son of God would inherit His divinity from God the Father. (b) Jesus can’t give eternal life unless He already has it to give. (c) Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) meaning they share the same nature. Since God the Father is divine, then so is Jesus His Son. (d) Jesus also is said to posses powers and honors that belong only to Deity. Jesus Christ has the power to create (John 1:1-3). He has the power to forgive the sins of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12). Jesus accepted worship from Thomas (John 20:28). (e) The first commandment given in the 2 tablets of stone that God told the people of Israel through Moses is found in Ex. 20:3. It says,”You shall have no other gods before Me.” In regard to this verse, J. I. Packer says it is, “the FUNDAMENTAL COMMANDMENT, first in IMPORTANCE as well as in ORDER, and BASIC to every other.” Packer continues, “True religion STARTS with accepting this as one’s RULE OF LIFE.” (f) The titles given to Jesus indicate His work and position. (i) Jesus is our savior. (ii) Jesus is our Lord. (iii) Jesus is our Mediator according to 1 Tim. 2:5. (iv) Jesus is our prophet, high priest, and King. (7) I am convinced that the STRONGEST CASE for the truth of the Christian faith is Jesus Himself. (8) Jesus demonstrated the reality of His resurrection in 12 APPEARANCES in different settings over 40 days after the crucifixion to more than 500 people (1 Cor. 15:3-8). This is episode 229.

References: (1) Baker’s Dictionary of Theology an article by George W. Bromiley. (2) “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith” by R. C. Sproul. (3) Who is this Christ? Many answers have been given. Others at that time called Him a “deceiver” (Matt. 27:63). Still others thought Him to be a prophet (John 6:14). This is Episode 228.

References: (1) “God’s Words: Studies of Key Bible Themes” by J. I. Packer. (2) The idea that God is love is almost an axiom of modern spirituality. (3) God‘s nature cannot be relational or loving therefore, eternity past God was alone love requires a personal connection between a subject, a lover, and an object the beloved. So the notion of God, as a Trinity opens up the possibility for love to find its source in the very nature of God for love has been eternally flowing from and to all three persons of the Godhead. (4) When we say, God is sovereign, we emphasize that God is the SUPREME RULER over all things He created. The phrase God is in control tends to emphasize God‘s active involvement in maintaining order, guarding the universe in the present moment. But his control usually includes the added condition that His will is executed in every circumstance. And the last episode I showed that God desires, wills, and purposes that all people be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), but that not all are saved (Matt. 7:13-14). Thus, this added condition is contrary to the biblical narrative. (5) The Bible teachers that God is a person, not a mere force or energy or an existent substance. (6) While the Bible never says God is a person in those exact words, it consistently describes Him in personal terms. This is Episode 227.

References: (1) We could spend the rest of our lives and never know all of God’s attributes. But similarly we could never know all about our parents, our spouses, or our children EITHER. But we can know enough about them to trust them, be comfortable and secure with them, and love them. The same is true regarding the God of the Bible. (2) When Mortimer J. Adler, editor of the “Great Books of the Western World,” was asked why the “God” section of the books was the largest section, he observed that it’s because more IMPLICATIONS flow from that SUBJECT of God than from any other subject. (3) The best description of God is the name Yahweh — I AM WHO I AM. That’s the name God gave to Moses at the Burning Bush in Exodus 3:13-14. Yahweh is usually translated Jehovah or LORD with all caps. He is totally SELF-AWARE — “I AM.” He is totally MORAL — “I ought.” (4) In the United States early in the 20th century, the Swiss theologian Karl Barth was asked during a seminar: “What is the MOST PROFOUND THING you have learned in your study of theology?” Barth thought for a moment and then replied, “Jesus LOVES me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” (5) John Calvin used another ANALOGY than that of Barth. Calvin said that God speaks to us in a kind of “lisps.” But I prefer to use the words “baby talk.” Parents engage in baby talk when addressing their infant children, so God, in order to communicate with us mortals must CONDESCEND to speak to us in a fashion that is somewhat like baby talk. No human being has the ability to understand God EXHAUSTIVELY. There is a built-in BARRIER that prohibits a TOTAL, COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING of God. God is infinite; we are finite. Therein lies the difficulty. (6) Medieval theologians had a phrase that became an AXIOM for all subsequent theological study: “The finite cannot grasp the infinite.” Nothing is more OBVIOUS than that an infinite object cannot be SQUEEZED into the finite space of a human mind. (7) This axiom conveys an important doctrine of orthodox Christianity, namely the doctrine of the “incomprehensibility of God.” (8) In his book God’s Words: Studies of Key Bible Themes J. I. Packer writes, “Reveal is a PICTURE WORD, and the picture is of God UNVEILING — God showing us things which were previously HIDDEN from us, God DISCLOSES them to us. He brings things into the OPEN which before were out of our SIGHT. God causing and enabling us to SEE what hitherto we could not see by taking us into His confidence and sharing His SECRETS with us. He finds us IGNORANT, and gives us KNOWLEDGE. That is what revelation means.” (9) Packer continues, “What does God reveal? Older Protestant theologians replied: truths about Himself which could not otherwise have known. Modern Protestant theologians, on the whole, prefer to say simply: God reveals HIMSELF. But these 2 answers are COMPLEMENTARY, not CONTRADICTORY. It is true that revelation is essentially SELF-DISCLOSURE on God’s part, and that its goal is to make men ‘know the Lord’. . . . But how does God make Himself known to us? In the same way in which you would make yourself known to me, or I to you: by TALKING. . . . Persons cannot be known unless in some way they SPEAK to reveal themselves.” This is Episode 226.

References: (1) New MAHA report claims ‘alarming increases’ in child chronic conditions. (2) The report states there has been a RISE in childhood chronic disease. It IDENTIFIES poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity, and medical over prescription of drugs — what the report calls “overmedicalization” — as key drivers of deteriorating child health. (3) Children absorb thousands of SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS through the foods they eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe. Pesticides, microplastics, and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women — some at alarming rates. (4) Stimulant prescriptions for ADHD in the US increased 250% from 2006 to 2016, and antidepressant prescription rates in teens increased by 1400% between 1987 to 2014. (5) The usual procedure in the development of a THEOLOGY is to present, first of all, a discussion of God and we have been doing that from the inception of this program. (6) J. Warner Wallace’s podcast “Cold Case Christianity. (7) Wallace asks people when he goes to speak at a Christian church: “What do you believe about Christianity?” Almost without exception he gets the same 3 answers: (a) My family raised me to believe in Christ. Or they might say my friends, or my culture believed in Christianity. That, of course, is a reasonable answer. (b) I had an experience that convinced me that Christianity made sense. (c) I used to be a jerk, but I had an experience concerning Christ that TRANSFORMED my life. (8) We cannot talk about Jesus being the SON of God, the Bible being the WORD of God, and miracles being the ACTS of God unless first God EXISTS. So I gave several arguments for God’s existence. I extended the Kalam Argument to show that the first cause of the universe is identical to the God of the Bible. (9) The primary proposition for the Christian, his ULTIMATE ACT of faith, is the Person of Jesus Christ. It is here that the Christian finds a SECURE PLACE TO STAND. Jesus is our FIRM FOUNDATION, our SOLID GROUND, our ground zero. To change the metaphor, Jesus of Nazareth is the CENTER, the HUB around which all things Christian revolve. This is Episode 225.

References: (1) In my lifetime evangelicalism has faced several crucial battles: first, there is the battle for the Bible. (2) No topic is more important than the battle that now must be squarely faced, namely, the battle for God. What is that battle? It is the theological DEBATE now being waged in the halls of academia and in the pulpits of America over the NATURE of God. (3) For EVERY MAJOR DOCTRINE of the Christian faith is based on the doctrine of God. For example, the claims that the Bible is the WORD of God and that Jesus Christ is the SON of God are entirely DEPENDENT of what is meant by the term God. (4) Perviously I listed 10 attributes of God’s nature. This list basically was influenced from the Rose Publishing pamphlet Essential Doctrine Made Easy by Norman Geisler and by Thirteen Lessons in Christian Doctrines by Denver Sizemore. (5) There are 10 major worldviews concerning the nature of God. A. Pantheism denotes a God who is IDENTICAL to creation. B. Panentheism, a HYBRID of theism and pantheism, believes creation is PART of God. C. Deism is monotheistic like traditional theism but it denies MIRACLES. D. Finite godism claims that God is limited in power and perfection. He created the world but does not CONTROL it. E. Polytheism, the belief in many gods, which characterized religious life in ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Modern manifestations are found in Mormonism, occultism, and witchcraft. Mormonism thinks that humans can become God. F. Atheism is a denial that any gods exist. This view is most militantly embraced by Marxism. Atheism extends to some forms of Buddhism, and most forms of secular humanism. G. Agnosticism is not sure whether there is a god. Thus, they are cowardly atheists. H. Islam is monotheistic, but their God is Allah, whose nature is not Trinitarian but absolutely singular. I. Judaism is monotheistic like Christianity, but denies that Jesus is the Christ. J. Christianity is monotheistic, but Christianity emphasizes the trinity, and Jesus is the Christ. The trinity is not accepted in Islam or in Judaism. This is Episode 224.

References: (1) The answers to the first 6 questions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism we discover: Man’s CHIEF END is to glorify God. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the ONLY RULE to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to BELIEVE concerning God, and what DUTY God requires of man. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. There is but ONE GOD ONLY, the living and true God. There are THREE PERSONS in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. (2) What does exegete mean? It signifies to make known, reveal, rehearse, declare, to draw out in narrative, to recount, tell, to unfold in teaching, used in Greek writing of the INTERPRETATION of things sacred and divine. In other words, the Son has DECLARED God the Father, REVEALED Him, FULLY EXPLAINED Him, INTERPRETED Him, showing people WHO God really is. (3) “Knowing God” by J. I. Packer. (4) “The Sovereignty of God” by Andrew Womack. This is Episode 223.

References: (1) First, what is the ultimate reality — the really real? What is the basis for the way things are? What is the final reality that EXPLAINS how things came into being and how things hold together? What EXPLAINS the ORDER in the universe? (2) Different people would give various explanations. Carl Sagan, the astrophysicist, scientific popularizer, and host of his TV series “Cosmos,” would say: “The cosmos is all there is or ever was or ever will be.” Johannes Kepler, one of the originators of the scientific methodology, an astronomer who discovered the 3 laws of planetary motion, would say: “O God, I am thinking thy thoughts after thee.” (3) Let’s discuss God’s NATURE. I use ideas from the book “Thirteen Lessons in Christian Doctrine” by Denver Sizemore. A. His Unity — one God. B. His Transcendence. C. His Holiness. D. His Love. E. His Mercy. Three great words are closely associated in the Bible: love, mercy, and grace. LOVE is the basis of His MERCY, and God extends GRACE (unmerited favor) because He is merciful. God shows us His mercy daily when He answers our repentant prayers for forgiveness. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, encourages us to “come boldly to the throne of grace that we may OBTAIN mercy and FIND grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). F. His Power — Omnipotence. G. His Wisdom — Omniscience. God knows everything about us, even our thoughts. H. His Omnipresence. In Ps. 139:7-10 David could think of no place where he could go and be beyond the love and care of God. I. His Faithfulness. In the midst of constant change in every area of life it seems that nothing is STABLE. All of life is built on shifting sand. The things in this world do change — God does not. J. His Judgments. It is right that God can save and judge humankind. This is Episode 222.

References: (1) Religious pluralism poses profound questions especially for Christians. Very often the people that propose these questions are children of MODERNISM and their whole approach is DICTATED by highly questionable PRESUPPOSITIONS which includes naturalism which I have shown that it is self-defeating. (2) The Elephant and the Blind Men Parable. (3) In the same way, people claim that different religions hold PIECES of the truth about God, heaven, and salvation, but no one religion holds it all. Thus, they say we shouldn’t argue about which religion is true or right. Rather, we should just be ECLECTIC and learn from each religion, because between all of us, we might get the WHOLE TRUTH about God. (4) So what’s the conclusion? If you follow religious pluralism, then you would conclude the Bible is not TRUSTWORTHY; Jesus is not the SAVIOR; traditional logic is WRONG; and you have NO FREE WILL. Boy, isn’t that encouraging? (5) Robert Jeffress, now the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas and author of the book “Not All Roads Lead to Heaven” writes, “When it comes to the CENTRAL ISSUE of SALVATION, we must allow our beliefs to be SHAPED by what the founder of our faith, Jesus Christ, ACTUALLY said, not by what we WISH He had said. If you carefully and honestly search the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ words (which are the only reliable repository we have for His teachings), you will find that the REAL JESUS, versus the IMAGINARY JESUS, drives a STAKE through UNIVERSALISM, PLURALISM, and INCLUSIVEISM. As evidenced by His own words, Jesus clearly believes that a person can only be assured of going to heaven through exercising personal FAITH in Him” [John 14:6; 8:24; 4:26; 9:37; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6]. (6) Jesus claimed to be God — and not just any god. He claimed to be the one and only God first revealed in the OT, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (7) In the trial before the Sanhedrin, the high priest asked Jesus: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answered, “I am, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Jesus is quoting the prophecy of Daniel 7:13 and identifies Himself as being the Son of Man. In essence Jesus told the high priest in Mark 14:62 He was the Son of Man who would come on the clouds of heaven. The leaders of Judaism in Jerusalem, the high priest and the majority of the Sanhedrin, treated that claim as BLASPHEMY and ultimately they CONDEMNED Him to die by Roman crucifixion. (8) Believers today have the very SAME MISSION given to Jesus’ disciples and to us. We are COMMANDED to share the gospel message, the only way to heaven is through Jesus, and we go about that mission with the Holy Spirit living inside us, guiding as we share His truth. We are INSTRUCTED to tell people the only way to be forgiven is through faith in Jesus. In John 8:24 Jesus said, “If you do not believe that I am [God, the promised Messiah, the Christ, the Son of Man], you will die in your sins.” (9) The prayer: “Give me eyes to see the lost; A heart to love the lost; A will to win the lost; And a mouth to tell the lost about Jesus.” This is Episode 221.