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Articles - Jesus Christ

Because He Lives!

Facing coming betrayal, judgment, and death, in just a matter of hours, Jesus of Nazareth, meeting with His apostles, in a large furnished upper room (cf. Luke 22:12) said, “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19, NKJV, emp. added).

One of those who saw and heard Jesus in that upper room was the apostle John. Sixty-five years later, while banished to the island of Patmos off the southwest coast of Asia Minor, John saw and heard Jesus again. John describes a part of what he saw and heard in the following: “. . . [W]hen I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:17-18).

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“THE WORLD’S LAST NIGHT”

In 1960 a book authored by C. S. Lewis was published with the title, The World’s Last Night and Other Essays. Both the title and final chapter of the book connect with a question posed by the seventh century poet Donne (1572-1631). In Donne’s work, Holy Sonnet XIII, the following question is asked: “What if this present were the world’s last night?” C. S. Lewis captured this question as the foundation for an essay he wrote concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The relevancy of this essay for apologetics, and its significance during all the years of one’s life on Earth are implied in what Lewis wrote in the following:

. . . [I]t seems to me impossible to retain in any recognizable form our belief in the Divinity of Christ and the truth of the Christian revelation while abandoning, or even persistently neglecting, the promised, and threatened, Return. “He shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.” . . . “This same Jesus, said the angels in Acts, “shall so come in like manner as ye have seen [H]im go into heaven.” . . . If this is not an integral part of the faith once given to the saints, I do not know what it is. . . .
The doctrine of the Second Coming has failed, so far as we are concerned, if it does not make us realize at every moment of every year in our lives . . . [the] question “What if this present were the world’s last night?” is . . . relevant. (qtd. in Dorsett 383, 390, emp. added)

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The National “Tradition” of Belief in Jesus Christ

  This is the final installment in a brief trilogy that has given thought to the American tradition of allowing religion a prominent place in the public square. There is a sense of incongruity in the order in which these three articles have been published. This is the case because the person (Jesus Christ), the object of belief referenced in the above title of this article, provided the initial motivation for the writing of this brief series. Specifically, this motivation rose from the wonder and awe of Jesus Christ implied in the last stanza of the great American hymn of hymns, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” sung acapella by the United States Armed Forces Chorus July 4, 2019, at Washington, D. C. As stated in the opening article in this series, this musical performance was breathtaking. The final stanza of “The Battle Hymn” reads as follows:

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You Shall Call His Name Jesus

A study of the names, titles, and designations of the King of Heaven and Earth has an overwhelming element to it. The subject is overwhelming. It is a subject that is full of wonder. Eight centuries before He was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-2:1) and cradled in Bethlehem’s manger (Luke 2:1-7), it was prophesied that His name would be “WONDERFUL” (Isaiah 9:6, emp. added). Alexander Campbell once wrote:

The Savior’s inspired names have all a meaning. Each one of them designates some peculiar characteristic or office, or work of the Messiah. Since this is the case, we may expect that some great truth underlies the names, which the evangelical prophet gives to the Redeemer.
“His name shall be called Wonderful.” There are many obvious reasons for this name. Passing by all others, there is one which seems to have especial weight. Jesus is called Wonderful, on account of the strange contrasts and wide extremes seen in him and in his history—contrasts and extremes which appear to be direct contradictions.
There are extremes in the Savior’s names. On one page of inspiration he is called the “man Christ Jesus;” on the next he is called “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” At one time he calls himself “the Son of Man;” at another time, “the Son of God.” We are told he is “the child born, the son given;” and yet with the same breath we are told that he is “the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” He is Jehovah, God over all, and blessed forever, and yet he is a servant of servants. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, the ever living and ever unchanging one, and yet he is the crucified and buried Redeemer. If Jesus is appropriately called by all these diverse names, he must be Wonderful. (25)

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THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION

The beginning of Jesus was not His wonderful miraculous conception and subsequent birth in Bethlehem. Jesus is eternal. Jesus is deity (John 1:1-3). The introduction to the Gospel of John sets forth His eternality (John 1:1-18). Paul wrote, “He [Jesus] is before all things” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus declared His eternality when He stated, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). The phrase, “I am,” is a reference to deity from Exodus 3:14. The miraculous conception of Jesus, often referred to as the Virgin Birth, is one of the most fascinating doctrines in the Bible.

The Birth Defined. By the Virginal Conception [Virgin Birth] we mean that Mary gave birth to a son without normal conception with man. Jesus had no human father. The Bible never states He had a human father! Mary’s conception was by the power of the Holy Spirit. The mystery, and indeed it is a mystery unexplainable by man, can be summed up by the words of an angel to Joseph, “[F]or that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). The angel said the same to Mary, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Holy Spirit shall overcome you; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

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WHY I BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST

You and I live in an age of unbelief. The visible, material world so controls out thought and life patterns that only the most sensitive seem willing to look beyond the crass, the selfish, the violent, and the inhuman to the value and significance of faith in God. The problem of faith is as great today, if not greater, than at any time in man’s long history.

Many. however, who have a vague belief in God, seem totally unwilling to consider the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, the challenge of faith in Jesus as the Christ is probably dismissed by more people today than at any time since the Apostle Thomas’ famous struggle. Upon learning that the crucified Jesus had now become the risen Christ, Thomas exclaimed: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails. and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

In our time questions of literary criticism in the study of the New Testament Gospels have cast persistent shadows on the historical truthfulness of these records. Some students of the New Testament have lately devoted years of attention to the alleged “myths” of the New Testament. In the philosophical world there is a continuing, even if very faint, conviction that Jesus is not historically real. And even churchmen of late, affected by this historical-critical-empirical emphasis, have begun their ministries governed by the presupposition that Jesus was neither divine nor sovereign.

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HE LIVES!

  Christianity confronts the basic issues of life and death with the affirmation of the historical fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead. The great emphasis on this is evidenced in the documents that comprise the New Testament. It is seen in the report of eyewitnesses (cf. Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21; 1 Corinthians 15), the preaching of the early Christians (Acts 2-5, 9-10, 13, 17, 22-24, 26, et al.), and the regular weekly assembly to eat the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:20-34; 16:1-2). These documents say nothing about an annual observance known as Easter. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that the term Easter “does not properly occur in Scripture. . . . There is no trace of Easter celebration in the NT” (Porter 889). Thus, the practice of Christianity based on the New Testament will result in disciples meeting every Lord’s Day (i.e. the first day of the week) to eat the Lord’s Supper and, in this special way, remember their Lord.

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JESUS, THE MASTER TEACHER OF THE AGES

   The subject before me entails far more than that with which any man could ever fully deal. However, I do hope to deal with enough of the material involved to make it worth our time to be engaged in this study.

   I propose to prove that Jesus is the Master Teacher of the ages. I plan to do this (1) by dealing with His person (who He was/is), (2) by considering some things which He did, and (3) by concentrating on His attitude toward and His handling of the truth (God’s sacred word).

  

Jesus is the Master Teacher of the Ages Because of Why He Is

   The Bible teaches, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was God” (John 1:1). The Word eternally existed. The Word was eternally deity (God). There was never a time when He was not God (a member of the Godhead).

   But He became flesh (by being begotten and born in a way which was contrary to the laws of nature). “And the word became flesh . . .” (John 1:14; Matthew 1:18-2:1). He became what He was not before. Thus, He was God-man.

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Jesus and the Bible

“As long as I believe in Jesus, does it matter what I believe about the Bible?” Many ask this question, even Christians. You cannot separate faith in Jesus from faith in the Bible. The question we need to ask is: “What was Jesus’ attitude toward the Bible?” the Bible Jesus used was our Old Testament. His life and teachings were permeated by it. He referenced it often. By studying the gospels, we are able to determine Jesus’ attitude toward the Bible.

   Jesus believed the Bible was authoritative. He considered the Bible from God and as the “commandments of God” not to be transgressed by the teachings of men (Matthew 15:1-9). When a lawyer tried to trap Him, He asked, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” (Luke 10:26). He said, “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). Broken means “to break, annul, cancel” (Abbott-Smith 274). Thayer says it means unable “to deprive of authority” (385).

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ORIGINALITY OF JESUS CHRIST

There are those who maintain that nothing in Christianity is original; and that, therefore, Christianity is just another one of the religions of man. Here are a few suggestions concerning this challenge to Christianity.

The effort to find “parallels” to Christ—with reference to the virgin birth—was dealt with in a paper we distributed earlier. (Thomas Boslooper, “Jesus Virgin Birth and Non-Christian ‘Parallels’”, Religion in Life, Winter, l956-57, pp. 87-97).

God made Himself known to man in the beginning of human history. Some of the original revelations of God to man may well have been handed down throughout the generations, although often covered over to varying degrees by the traditions of man. (William Meade, The Bible and the Classics. New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1890).

It may have been that some nations were influenced by the patriarchs and by the law, as these nations came into contact—directly or indirectly—with God’s people.

Romans 2 seems to indicate that man has the power to make some moral discernments. After all, if there is moral law men should be able to see something of its working in human society. Consequences of transgression of moral law should manifest themselves in society and character. Selfishness does certain things to a character regardless of his race or of the period in which he lived.

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Is Not This the Carpenter?

  In 1978 I was given two apologetics books by the late Fred E. Dennis, during one of my visits to the Dennis house on Cutler Street in Marietta, OH. The first book was God’s Incomparable Word, authored by Harold Lindsell a founder of Fuller Seminary who also served as Editor of Christianity Today. The second book was More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, a popular apologist during that era. Fred Dennis was a preacher who was known by many during the 20th century. He died in 1983 at the age of 88. At his passing, a weekly publication of the Granny White Church of Christ, Nashville, TN, and “Home Congregation of Lipscomb [University] Students,” contained a front-page article concerning Fred Dennis. The article described him as “an outstanding preacher, holding fast to the ‘old paths’ . . . held in deep esteem . . . because of his consecration and sound preaching” (Hardy).

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The Resurrection – Ultimate Verification

In a day of growing unbelief, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ remains one of the great cornerstones of Christian joy and certainty.  One grieves with the repudiation of the supernatural aspects of the Christian faith during the last half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.  It is found in all realms of thought – science, historical research, philosophy, sociology and, sad but very true, in religious thought...

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The Crucial Connection - The Dismal Disconnection

 During a presidential election year, as well as a time when the nation mourns the loss of one of its greatest Supreme Court jurists, private citizens and public servants alike need reminded, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, that it is “not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with office-seekers …[that] the liberties of this country [will] be preserved” (Ostergard, The Inspired Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln 122). The most important connection that civilization has to safeguard its liberties, moral stability, and prosperity is a deep awareness of the Divine in the minds and lives of the people. ..

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Jesus Christ - The Son of God

 [Who] do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"' (Matthew 16:15-16, NKJV). By divine revelation (Matthew 16:17), Peter proclaims the Jesus as the Son of God.

John Dominic Crossan, the former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar, answers that Jesus was "a peasant Jewish cynic" (421). Bart D. Ehrman, a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Bible professor, teaches ''that Jesus did not teach he was divine" (169).

 

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One Solitary Life

Here is a young man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

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Jesus Sets Forth His Case

The Christian worldview, set forth in the Bible, is the culmination of biblical revelation resulting in the affirmation and defense of the proposition that the true meaning of life is not merely discovering a principle, or principles, but it ultimately is the discovery of a Person. This Person is identified as the Logos, and this Logos (the WORD) is God (John 1:1)...

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