know why you believe class 2

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Know Why You Believe

Chapter 3 – Is Christ God?

Chapter 4 – Did Christ Rise from the Dead?


Is Christ God?

How would you answer?


God Reveals a Miraculous Birth

Facts

1. History shows that over 2000 years ago a

miraculous birth of a child by a virgin.

2. His birth was feared by King Herod, and he sought

to kill all babies 2 and under, who were born in

Bethlehem. This was considered the “slaughter of

the innocents” – Matthew 2:1-18.

3. What other facts can you think of surrounding this

birth?


Jesus Christ confounds the wise

1. His parents settled in Nazareth;

at 12 he confounded the

scholars and rabbis. At 12 he

knew who his Daddy was –

Luke 2:3

2. Jesus’ authority, miracles, teaching and character

were traits true only of God. John 8:57-58, John

14:6-11 & John 10:30


Jesus Ministry begins at age 30

At age 30, he walks the earth and

performs things no man has ever done.

Examples?


Calendars Change


Four Possibilities

1. Did Jesus lie by saying he was God when he was not God?

Jesus could not be a great moral teacher, if on a crucial

point of his teaching – his identity – he was a deliberate liar.

2. Was he a lunatic? If we look at the life of Christ , we see no

evidence of the abnormality and imbalance common to a

deranged person.

3. Was he a Legend? The four biographies were proven -

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Archaeological evidence.

4. Jesus spoke the truth – he was God come to earth. What

credentials did Jesus bring to substantiate his claim?

Believe the miracles, so you may understand – John

10:38.38

Examine Four Possibilities


Jesus Credentials: Moral Character

He was sinless:

• He was able to challenge his enemies –

John 8:46.

• The temptations of Jesus by satan –

Matthew 4.

Jesus Christ moral character coincided with his

claims.


Jesus Credentials: Perfection

– Only God can tell us what a true man should

be like

– The forerunners of piety in the New

Testament

– Christ showed us perfect humanity

– He showed us the fruitage of the spirit –

Galatians 5:22-24

In Jesus Christ we find the perfect personality.


Jesus Credentials: Power

– He stills a raging storm; Who is this? Mark 4:41

– Turned water into wine.

– Fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two

fish.

– Brought back a grieving widow her son.

– Raised Lazarus from the dead.

– These miracles could not be denied by his enemies;

they sought to kill him and tried to stop others from

believing – John 11:48

Christ demonstrated a power over natural forces.


Jesus Credentials: Power (con’t)

– He made the lame walk

– Dumb speak

– Blind to see – John 9. I was blind and now I

can see - John 9:25

Jesus demonstrated the Creator’s power over

sickness and disease.


Jesus Credentials: Resurrection

– Five times he predicted that he would die and

three days later he would rise from the dead, and

appear to his disciples (Matthew 16:21, 17:22-

23;Mark 8:31; 10:32-33; Luke 9:22). This claim

was easy to verify.

– The resurrection itself.

– He conquered more than all the prophets

Jesus supreme credential to authenticate his claim

to deity was his resurrection from the dead.


We know that Christ is God.

We know that Christ is God because we

can experience him in the twentieth

century. John 14:15-18; Acts 2:2-4

It is obvious that Jesus is God the Son. All

the evidence makes it clear.


What can we do?

The greatest favor we can do for people, is

to introduce them to Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20, Eph 4:11-15, 1 Peter 2:1-

3, 2 Peter 1:3-10


Did Christ Rise from the Dead?

Paul at Corinth states “ If Christ has not been

raised, our preaching is useless and so is your

faith “ - 1 Corinth 15:14.


Jesus rose from the dead or not?

If he did, it was the most sensational event

in all of history and gives us conclusive

answers to the most profound questions of

our existence:

– Where have we come from?

– Why are we here?

– What is our future destiny?


If Christ rose, God exists

If Christ rose, we know for certainty that God

exists, what he is like and that he cares for

each of us individually. The universe, then,

takes on meaning and purpose, and we can

experience the living God in contemporary

life. These and many other life-expanding

things are true if Jesus of Nazareth rose

from the dead. And 33 Pentecost would be

true. Many miracles today are true - Acts 2.


Data to consider: Christian church

What are some of the pieces of data to be considered in answering the question, “Did Christ rise from the dead?”

First, there is the fact of the Christian church.

– The history of the church can be traced back to Palestine around AD 32.

– The book of Acts includes numerous stories relating to whole communities stirred by Jesus Christ and his resurrection.

– The believers were first called Christians in the city of Antioch.

– Acts 17:6 – The message “turned the world of their time upside down. They constantly referred to the resurrection as the basis for their teaching, preaching, living and – significant – dying.


Data to consider: Christian day

The there is the fact of the Christian day,

Sunday is the day of worship for Christians.

– Acts 20:7 states: “On the first day of

the week we came together,” an

established pattern. The shift came

because of their desire to celebrate

the day Jesus rose from the dead.


Data to consider: New Testament

There is the Christian book, the New

Testament.

– Eye witness accounts by John, Peter,

Matthew. Luke’s gospel gives evidence of

a historian with a background known to

travel with Paul and heard him preach the

resurrection (2 Timothy 4:11)


The Empty Tomb Theories

The Empty tomb – Hypothesis 1:

The earliest explanation circulated was that the

disciples stole the body.

– Matthew 28:11-15 – the chief priests and elders

stated the body was gone. These religious leaders

paid the soldiers money to say the disciples stole the

body, while they were sleep. It was so false Matthew

didn’t even refute it. This was so foreign to the

disciples character and even more obvious how would

we explain the appearances of Jesus?


The Empty Tomb Theories (con’t)

The Empty tomb – Hypothesis 2:

The authorities, Jewish or Roman, moved the body.

• But why? They placed Roman guards at the tomb, what would the Romans gain by moving the body?

• The ecclesiastical leaders were angry and tried to prevent the spread of the message – Acts 4.

• They even arrested and beat Peter and John as an attempt to close their mouths.

• The body was not stolen and if so they would have used it to try and disprove Christianity.


The Wrong Tomb Theory

Another popular theory, called the wrong tomb

theory, suggests the distraught women, overcome

with grief, missed their way in the dimness of the

morning.

• Did the women go to the wrong tomb? If so,

why did the high priests and enemies of faith not

go to the right tomb and produce the body?

• And it is unlikely that all of Jesus’ followers

succumb to the same mistake.

• Also, this was a private burial ground; no other

tombs were around.


The Swoon Theory

The swoon theory has also been advanced to explain the empty tomb.

This theory is that Christ did not actually die, he was mistakenly reported to be dead but had swooned from exhaustion, pain and loss of blood. When he was laid in the tomb, he revived. He came out of the tomb and the disciples mistakenly thought he had risen from the dead.

How would he survive 3 days without food or water?

He was wound up in 75 lbs of grave clothes, with no strength how could he remove the clothes, push the tomb away, overcome the Roman guards, and walk on feet that had been pierced with spikes.

If this were true, Christ was involved in flagrant lies.


The Only Possible Theory

The only theory that explains the empty tomb is

the resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 11:25).

Jesus Christ’s life, death and

resurrection assure us:

- His purpose is to rescue us

from sin

- His power will give us eternal

life

- His suffering demonstrates the

extent of his love for us.


Jesus Appearances after burialTen distinct appearances were recorded. These occurred from the morning of his resurrection to his ascension forty days later. Various sightings of Jesus in different places and by different people.

Lies nor legend cannot explain the empty tomb, nor can it dismiss the appearances of Christ on this kind basis.

The eye-witnesses interacted with Christ and recognized him. Were they hallucinating? All of them? No. Hallucinations are subjective and individual. No two people have the same experience.

Christ appeared to groups and individuals – 1 Corinthians 15.These sightings happened for a period of 40 days and then stopped.


Persuaded against their wills

Were they persuaded against their wills? No.

• The disciples actually saw Jesus.

• Peter, was afraid the night before the crucifixion and publicly denied Christ 3 times. And then 50 days later strong. Leader in Acts. He preached at Pentecost in Jerusalem. His life was in danger.

• Thomas, the doubter began to worship – John 20:28. All the disciples changed from being frightened and cowardly to be men of courage and conviction. Only a bodily resurrection can create this type of change.


Jesus Christ is alive today

• Jesus Christ is alive today. And ready to

change those who invite him into their

lives. Taste and see that the Lord is good!

(Psalms 34:8)

• God showed his love among us;…that we

might live through him (1 John 4:9)

know why you believe class 2

Spiritual

jesus credentials

christ god

temptations of jesus

jesus ministry

jesus christ moral character

miraculous birth jesus

christ rise

life of christ