Jesus

Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a redeemer.

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Q. 21. Who is the redeemer of God’s elect?

A. The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.

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48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” Jn 8:48–59.

As some of you may know, my family is very involved in the pro-life movement. So much so, that my Mother for the last five or so years has led a campaign called 40 days for life. 40 days for life is an organization that facilitates groups to pray in front of planned parenthood for… 40 days straight. Day and night. Twice a year. When the campaign first started, eggs were thrown at us, someone got punched in the face, and at one point a vial of liquid was thrown at us and poison control ended up being called (it ended up only being a bottle of urine I believe). It got a little unsafe so, the 40 days for life organization hired 24 hour security. One security guard named Chris was awesome. We would talk with him for hours, because he was stuck with us, and we ended up talking a lot about faith. However, it was not Chrisitan.

He believed in the validity and historicity of the bible, the morality of Jesus, but he wasn’t christian? why? He would often say things like “well I think that everyone should live as if they are a Christian, but I’m not a Christian”. he would say that “I think Jesus is a great moral teacher, but I do not think he is God”. Why didn’t Chris believe it?

My goal is to address this dynamic by looking at this topic through the same lens as C.S. Lewis.

Q: Who knows the liar, lunatic or lord argument for the divinity of Christ?

Well, in his book “Mere Christianity” he says that:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic– on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg– or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” - C.S. Lewis

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Alright so either Jesus was a liar, lunatic, or lord. Now, my goal in this talk is to help strengthen your understanding of the truth, sanity, historicity, and divinity of Jesus Christ, and to show you the parameters of what faith in Jesus Christ means. And answer the question of how my friend Chris is not a christian, even though he believes in the credibility, actuality, and morality of Jesus Christ. So let's break it down in my first of four main points.

1. Is Jesus a Liar?

Alright well let's look at the first aspect of C.S. Lewis’s argument of Jesus as the “liar” in my first subpoint that:

a. If Jesus is a “moral teacher” he must be God

In this first point I want to briefly explain the contradiction between saying that Jesus is a moral teacher, but not God. The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 12:22 that

“22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)

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So, if Jesus claimed that he was God, then the only options are to know that truth or reject it. If you know that truth you are closer to salvation, and if you reject it you write Jesus off as a liar and a hypocrite. A “great moral teacher” cannot be both a “great moral teacher” and a “blasphemous, hypocritical, liar”. Okay, so we clearly see that in order for Jesus to be a moral teacher, he must be God, but how can we know the truth of Jesus? How do we know that Jesus’s claims of divinity are true, well ultimately it takes faith, but you can also know his truth by his mission and teaching.

This leads me to my next sub-point and that is that

b. We know Jesus’s truth by his effect on our lives

Let's read our proof for this point:

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51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Q: What does Jesus mean by death in this verse?

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I think that death in this verse means multiple things. One, that we will have eternal life after death if we keep his word, and two that those who keep Jesus’s commandments will find life, not only after we die, but right now!

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If you keep Jesus’s word, it will improve your life and seeing that transformation is evidence of his truth. God’s commandments and spoken truths are a gift that breathe life into people, and make incredibly notable changes in people's lives. And that could not come from a lie. If he lied, our lives would become worse because we know that no good things come from lies. None. Satan lies, and when you follow Satanic teachings, your life becomes worse.

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I challenge each of you to seek to follow God’s word and commandments to improve your life. Jesus had a great impact in people's lives, so much so that when he walked, people dropped everything they had and followed him. Jesus’s apostles spent years very close to Jesus, and knew that he was truthful.

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Alright, so one way to know Jesus’s truth is to see the way that he affects your life, and the influence he had on others to follow him devoutly, but what about those who rebuked him. This leads me to my next and last sub-point and that:

‌c. We know Jesus’s truth through his perseverance

Here’s a question for you…

Q: Was Jesus beloved when telling others that he was God?

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Absolutely not! Let's look at the text:

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58“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

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When Jesus says before Abraham was, I am, he is claiming to be God. This is a really big deal, and was an especially big deal for the Jews. It says he was stoned! He was not a beloved moral teacher. He was hated. They insulted him!

By knowing how important it was to claim you were God, by knowing the persecution Jesus faced because of that claim, you know why not just anyone would claim to be God. Jesus was constantly persecuted. Why would a man repeatedly over the course of their lifetime continually lie about being God, being stoned, spit on, and ultimately crucified, to die for a lie? No one! Not only that, but the very people who walked with him for years knew him to be lord.

Additionally, normal people do not turn water into wine, multiply fish and bread to feed 5,000 people, heal the sick, and any other miracle. Jesus’s followers witnessed the truth of Jesus. They saw first hand his divinity. So much so that they dedicated their lives to him literally, and became martyrs for him. Jesus had a three fold effect on people. In Jesus’s earthly mission people hated him, were terrified of him, or fell to their knees and stoned him. So,

Q: Is believing that everything Jesus said is true, including his divinity, the missing piece for Chris to come to faith?

Yes it was a missing piece, but not the only one. We’ll get into that element in the last point, but first we must address C.S Lewis’s second point in his argument, and that is that if Jesus is not a Liar, then he is either a lunatic or Lord. Let's dive into the lunatic aspect.

2. Is Jesus a Lunatic?

Why is Jesus being a lunatic an option in C.S. Lewis’s argument. Well because the only way to still see him as fully truthful and a moral teacher, without accepting his claims of divinity is to write him off as a lunatic that thought he was telling the truth. However, we know Jesus’s sanity through his articulation, and his character. And those are the two subpoints we’ll look at.

a. Jesus is articulate

If you look at Jesus’s words in the text, like every word Jesus has spoken, it is incredibly articulate. These are not the words of a lunatic. He is the smartest, most influential person in history. He stood against incredibly educated pharisees. And we know this by reading his exact words in the Bible. Additionally, Jesus was proven sane on the cross. Everything that Jesus claimed, and promised that he would do was fulfilled on the cross.

Just as Jesus was incredibly articulate, we must train our tools of communication. You need to understand that “boring things” like school sometimes are to train your arsenal to defend the faith. So, we know not only that Jesus was sane because of his speech, but also because of his character. Which leads to my second subpoint point and that is that:

b. Jesus has perfect character

Alright, question for y’all.

Q: If I claimed to be the son of God, who would believe me?

NO ONE! Why? Because y'all know my character. I’m a sinner.

We know Jesus’s sanity through his character, and through his vouching company. Jesus spent time closely with people on earth, mainly his twelve apostles. No one would drop everything in their lives to go, follow a man, and after his departure follow him so much that it leads to persecution in their life and their ultimate death. Acts 12:1-3 shows the death of one of Jesus’s apostles and the imprisonment of another.

“12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:1-3)

The apostles trusted so much in Jesus’s divinity that they faced persecution and died for him. As Christians, we need to hold the same mentality. That we would die for Christ. Not only that but we need to understand that Christ resides in us, and we must reflect that. Additionally, do not be a person that people interact with and say “oh that Christianity stuff is crazy, do you see how that person is acting” No. It’s a heavy burden, and there is grace from God for us when we indelibly fall short, but we must be a person of strong character to represent Christ well. So:

Q: Is believing that Jesus was sane the missing piece of Chris coming to faith?

Nope. Chris believed in Jesus’s sanity. He did not write off his claims of divinity as a product of lunacy to create a loophole around the conflicting truths of Jesus’s claims of divinity and his morality. So if believing in Jesus’s sanity is not the missing piece then what is? Let’s dive into it in my next point.

3. Is Jesus a Legend?

Recently, atheists have formed an argument against this line of reasoning, and that there is another way to see Jesus as a great moral teacher without believing in his divinity and that is to see Jesus as a Legend. Now I won't spend too much time on this, as it is pretty easy to show that Jesus is historical, but it does need some attention. I know it might sound crazy to most if not all of us, but people believe this.

How would some of you articulate the historicity of Jesus?

‌Well there are two main ways. The first of which is that:

a. We know Jesus’s historicity through the Bible

The Bible is unlike any other document. It is a historical document, not a fictional story. If you look at any other epic or alternative mythological origin story… It’s fictional writing (while they may have some real places, nothing is backed by archeology, or show extensive historical lineage). Genesis 5, and Matthew 11 for example tie the biblical figures into history.

Additionally, archeological findings such as the dead sea scrolls that confirm the textual preservation of the OT, or artifacts like the “Tel Dan Stele” that provide evidence for the existence of the house of David. There are many other findings, but the point is that the Bible is a historical document that is backed by archeological evidence. Additionally, the bible shows us that Jesus appeared in front of 500 eyewitnesses after his resurrection.

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“6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me [Paul]” 1 Co 15:6–8.

So, we know the historicity of Jesus, but some may say that that is circular. While it is important to know that the bible does prove itself because it is the document with the highest authority known to man, it is also helpful to know that historians also prove the validity of Jesus Christ. Which is my second sub point that:

b. We know Jesus’s historicity through historians

The vast majority of historians agree that Jesus existed. It is unfounded to think that Jesus is made up. One of the most influential points in support of the existence of the historicity of Jesus is the confirmation of two famous historians in his time who lived in the first century AD. I won't get too much into this, but the first of which is a Jewish historian named Josephus who was a Jewish historian, and the second of which is Tacitus, who is a Roman historian and confirms Jesus’s existence from a non-christian perspective.

‌Q: Is believing is Jesus’s historicity the missing piece for my friend Chris?

Partially. Chris believed that there was a mix between reality and fictionality in that bible. However, those were more tied to stories in the Old Testament. He did believe in the historicity of Jesus Christ. However, there is still a missing piece. What was he missing? Let’s finally answer the question.

4. Is Jesus Lord?

So, where do we find the missing piece we’ve been alluding to this whole time? What was it that Chris was missing? Well the missing puzzle piece is in the shape of a triangle, and yes, I got this triangle from Nate. It’s a triangle that shows what faith in Christ is.

a. Intellectual Assent

The first point of the triangle is intellectual assent. To believe you have to intellectually believe that what Jesus says about himself is true. This relates to the “liar” point. It’s not enough to believe what Jesus says about others is true, but you must believe what he says about himself is true. But this is not enough, you must also have

b. Trust

Trust. It is not enough to know that Jesus is truthful. You must trust him. You need to know what Jesus has done for you and that he has sacrificed for you, and truly is God almighty. This correlates to the “lunatic” point. You must trust in his divinity, and follow him as the apostles did. But, this is still not enough.

c. Allegiance

It is not just enough to know that he is true, and reliable, but you must submit to him. This relates to the “Lord” point. It is not enough to believe everything that Jesus says, you must bow down and follow him. He must be your king, and know that he is good and that he died on the cross for your sins. It is not sufficient to know that Jesus is the Son of God. That does not bring you into faith and unity with Christ. Demons know that Jesus is the son of God.

What distinguishes Christians from anyone else in the world is not that we see Jesus as truthful… others see Jesus as truthful, such as Chris, and are not Christians … not even that we see that he is sane… others see Jesus as sane, such as Chris, and aren’t Christians. Not even that we see Jesus is the son of God… Demons see Jesus as the son of God yet are not in unity with Christ… The core distinction of the Christian faith is to put your faith in Christ. To put your intellectual assent, trust, and allegiance to him. To say that he died for your sins, to confess your sins to him, and to bow down and worship him. You cannot see Jesus as a “moral teacher” without being God. Either you stone him, run in terror of him, or fall to your knees and worship him as your lord and savior. Let’s pray.

Pray for Chris that he would submit to Christ.