Tag: Jesus Christ

A sweet aroma to the Lord

“You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish.” Numbers 29:2

To prepare the new generation of Israelites to enter the land of Canaan, God gave instructions concerning all the “offerings” or sacrifices that the priests were to make in a year for the whole nation (28:1-29:40). One of the main emphases found in these instructions is that the animals to be sacrificed must be “without blemish” (28:3, 9, 11, 19, 31; 29:2, 8, 13, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 36) as “a sweet aroma to the Lord” (28:2, 6, 8, 13, 24, 27; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36).  

This is a beautiful foreshadowing of the perfect (“without blemish”) sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 3:18) who was and is fully God and fully Man (cf. John 1:1, 14). His death on the cross was “a sweet aroma” to God the Father whose holy demand to punish sin was satisfied (I John 2:2) so that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 

But you may say, “I’m religious…I go to church… I’m a good person…I help the poor… I don’t do anything that’s really bad.” These are all good, but good living, going to church, helping the poor, or any other good thing you might do, say, or think, cannot get you to Heaven. The Bible says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). God looks at the good things we do, such as attending church, being baptized, confessing our sins, and persevering in good works and sees they are all stained with sin. None of these “good things” can take away our sins. We must believe or trust in Jesus alone, and God will forgive all of your sins (Acts 10:43) and give you everlasting life (John 3:15-16).

If up till now, you have been depending on your good works or on Christ plus your good works to get you to heaven, Jesus now invites you to depend on Him and His finished work on the cross alone to get you to heaven (John 3:15-16, 36; Ephesians 2:8-9). The moment you trust in Him alone, He gives you eternal life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29), He saves you from Hell forever (Acts 16:31), and He places you in God’s family forever (John 1:12; 6:37). Jesus will also come to live inside of you through His Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17; Galatians 2:20) to give you the power to live a life that pleases Him (Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 5:15). 

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 8

8. The evidence of CHANGED lives supports that the Bible is true.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

No book has impacted the lives of people and the course of world events more than the Bible. The Bible has been translated into more languages, has influenced more thought, inspired more art, and motivated more discoveries than any other book. The Bible has always been at the top of the all-time best-seller list. Its power is surpassed by none:

The Bible is able to transform the sinner into a saint; the guilty into the forgiven; the hateful into the helpful; the promiscuous into the pure; the greedy into the generous. God’s Word changes lives. However, we must be careful not to defend the Bible from personal experience. For example, a Muslim could argue that the Qur’an has changed his life or a Mormon could argue that the Book of Mormon changed his life. People have false experiences all the time – drugs can cause hallucinations, dreams can seem real, and mental illness can alter a person’s perception. Experiences can be deceiving. All experiences, no matter how real they may seem, must be measured by some other criteria. Hence, we must understand that personal experience does not validate the Bible; the Bible validates personal experience. This is why Christians should question their own experiences if they do not line up with God’s Word. 

In conclusion,when quoting what Moses wrote in the Old Testament, Jesus referred to it as what “God said”in Matthew 15:4. Peter refers to the apostle Paul’s writings and then to“the other Scriptures,”indicating that Paul’s writings were authoritative Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God”(2 Timothy 3:16).  The word “inspiration” means “God-breathed.” The writers of the New Testament claimed that the Bible is the very Word of God. If we insist that the Bible is not true, then we are saying that we know more than Moses, David, Peter, Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ did. 

Since the Bible is true, we must take time to read and apply it to our lives if we are to grow spiritually. The Bible says, “31Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ ” (John 8:31-32). In order to be Jesus’ disciple, those of us who believe in Him must “abide” or make our home in His Word. Christ promises that as we do that, we “shall know the truth” which “shall make” us free from the lies that enslave us to sin (8:32). Daily abide in Christ’s Word, the Bible, and you will grow spiritually and become more like Christ Who is “the truth” (John 14:6).

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 3

3. The evidence of Bible PROPHECY supports that the Bible is true. 

The Old Testament predicted what would happen to certain nations, cities, and people, all of which happened or are happening just the way the Bible said. The book of Genesis records God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would never be wiped out (Gen. 17:7-8, 19-21; 21:12-13, 17-18; 22:15-18); today the Jews and Arabs, descendants of Abraham’s first two children, Isaac and Ishmael, are still with us as distinct peoples. Yet there are no more Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites or Babylonians, Medes or Persians. Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome all rose and fell just the way the book of Daniel said they would (Daniel 2:19-45; 7:1-8:27). There are many predictions about the coming of the Messiah that were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For example, Psalm 22 describes the crucifixion of Jesus in vivid detail. The amazing deal…Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before Roman crucifixion was even established. A glimpse at a few of these prophecies (see above chart) shows that they were given and fulfilled in great detail. 

Do All Religions Lead to God?

“I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.” Isaiah 43:11

God created Israel to worship and serve Him alone. He said, “Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior” (43:10-11). Among “all the nations” of the world (43:9), only Israel’s God could deliver His people and know their future and be in control of all things.

We live in a world today that teaches there are many different ways to God. Many people insist that all religions lead to the same God (Universalism). Is this true? The God of the Bible has told us Himself  that “besides Me there is no savior” (43:11). If God had said there are many ways to Himself, then, yes, there are many ways to Him. But He has not said that. He says that He alone is the “savior.” 

In addition, God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14, 18), so we can believe what Jesus says about this issue. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).Jesus did not say that He is “a way…to the Father,” implying that there are many different paths to God. No, He said He is “the way” to the Father. According to Jesus Christ, there are no other ways to God the Father.

You may ask, “What right does Jesus have to make such an exclusive claim?” The Bible affirms that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead”(Romans 1:4). The proof that Jesus rose from the dead was that He was seen alive after His death by over five hundred eyewitnesses (I Corinthians 15:5-8).

The resurrection of Christ is the most attested fact of history. Thomas Arnold authored a three-volume history of Rome and was appointed to Oxford’s Chair of Modern History. Concerning the evidence behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he said, “I have been used for years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than that Christ died and rose from the dead” (see EvanTell’s tract, “How Can I Believe in Christ, When I Don’t Even Believe The Bible”). 

The early followers of Jesus made it clear that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”(Acts 4:12)other than Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:10-11). The Bible, God Himself, and His followers teach that there is only one way to God and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe or teach something else means you must deal with the authority of the Bible and the credibility of Jesus Christ (see EvanTell’s 2014The Evangelism Study Bible, p. 776).  

If you have never understood and believed this, listen to what God says in Isaiah 45:22: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” God the Son, Jesus Christ, now invites you to believe or trust in Him alone to save you from eternal death and give you His free gift of everlasting life.  Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). When you believed in Jesus, the Bible says you can “know” you have eternal life. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life”(I John 5:13).

How to Witness to those who do not Believe the Bible

I was recently asked the question, “How do you tell a person about Jesus if he/she does not believe in the Bible?”

A mentor of mine, Larry Moyer, has effectively witnessed to many non-Christians who did not believe the Bible. He taught me the following: 

I would recommend you start with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The truth about Jesus does not stand or fall with the Bible. It stands or falls with Jesus’ resurrection. Even if there was no Bible, every person on earth would still have to deal with the Person of Jesus Christ because of His empty tomb. So challenge the non-Christian by asking, “Has anyone disproved Jesus’ empty tomb?” The empty tomb is based upon well documented historical facts apart from the Bible. Challenge them to read former skeptics’ books containing evidence that persuaded them to believe in Jesus such as Josh McDowell’s “Evidence That Demands A Verdict,” or “The Resurrection Factor,” and Lee Strobel’s “The Case For Christ,” or “The Case For Easter.” No one has succeeded in proving that Jesus did not rise from the dead. If Jesus did rise from the dead (and He did), then they must deal with what Jesus said in the Bible. 

For example, many skeptics have a difficult time believing the supernatural events of the Old Testament such as the creation of the first man and woman, Noah and the worldwide flood, or Jonah and the great fish. Jesus taught that such events were historically true (Matthew 12:39-41; 19:4-5; 24:37-38; Mark 10:6-7; Luke 11:29-32; 17:26-27).  Have them start with the Gospel of John which is written to non-Christians to tell them how to get to heaven (John 20:31). When they eventually believe in Christ for everlasting life (John 3:15-16), His Holy Spirit will help them understand and apply the Bible to their life (John 14:26; 16:7-14; I John 2:20-21, 27).