Christian Foundations

C. J. Lewis once summarized the life and death of Jesus by stating: “Jesus is either a Liar, Lunatic or Lord!”  What we believe about Jesus is the most important decision in the history of mankind.

This is the second part of a post on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In our first part, we looked at His birth, His claim to being the Son of God and even to being the same as God.

A.  We begin this section by looking at the main events in the life of Christ from the four gospels:

1.  His Virgin Birth:

At one point in time and space, God entered the world in the person of Jesus Christ.   Jesus was conceived, through the work of the Holy Spirit, in the virgin womb of Mary.  He was fully man and yet, fully God.  His birth was in a manger in Bethlehem.  He came to poor parents, living in a small village, born as a slave would have been.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18).

All the Apostles and writers of the New Testament reaffirm the facts of His humble, virgin birth.

2.  Jesus’ baptism:

John the Baptist prepared the way for his cousin Jesus, as foretold in prophecy (Isaiah 40:3-5).  John baptised Jesus according to God’s instruction, as an example for us and as a sign of Jesus’ obedience.

3.  Jesus’ temptation in the Wilderness:

The Holy Spirit, who had descended upon Jesus at His baptism, now led Him into the wilderness for a time of testing.  He fasted 40 days (Mat. 4:11).  We see from Heb. 4:15 that Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are.  He conquered all three temptations by using The Word of God.

4.  Jesus’ Transfiguration:

On the ‘Mount of Transfiguration’, Jesus’ glory shone through His body as Jesus talked with Moses and Elijah, showing Himself as the Son of God (Matthew17:1-8).

5.  Healing and miracles for the People:

Jesus gave up the use of His divine attributes and limited Himself to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit’s we have today.  Some 35 miracles performed by Jesus are recorded in the gospels.  Miracles continue in the Name of Jesus even today.

6.  Jesus’ Obedience unto Death:

From His false arrest to the illegal trial and conviction, Jesus submitted to the Will of the Father.  He endured the mockery, the false witnesses, the abuse and the taunts thrown at Him.  He faced the most horrible of deaths – all without belligerence, denial or anger.  He ‘gave up His life’; it was not taken from Him.

In the end, He even asked the Father to forgive them because “… they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).  The hardest thing for Him to endure however, was Father turning away from the sin Jesus was carrying.

It is amazing to think, that had He taken up Satan’s offer, Jesus could have ruled the world.  He could have swept into the religious system with all His miracles and said to Father:  ”I can do the job My way.  I don’t really need to go through such a nasty death to reclaim the World.  Just let Me do this My way.”

But He didn’t.  He walked the path given Him by God, even unto death.  It is this humility and obedience that made Him perfect.  He now has the right to be the model for all other sons and daughters of God.

7.  After His death, Jesus descended into hell:

Ephesians 4:8-10, 1 Peter 3:19-20 describe a descent by Jesus into hell during the period between His death and His resurrection on Sunday morning.  One of the reasons He did this was to bring the Gospel to the Dead (1 Peter 4:6).  However, the following is also clear:

a.  Jesus fulfilled prophecy, showing death had no permanent power over Him.  The event declared Jesus’ complete victory over Satan.  He overcome and vanquished all opposing forces, thus declaring God’s future judgement on Satan and his hordes.

b.  Jesus “ …preached to the spirits in prison ….”, to those caught by sin, death and hell.

c.  He “….led captives in His train…..”  Possibly, Jesus brought Old Testament saints into God’s presence, to wait for the rest of the believers at the end of time.

d.   Because of this, Jesus “ … gave gifts to men…..”.

8.  Jesus’ glorious resurrection:

Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead is one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith.  The New Testament mentions the event in 104 different references, as in Acts 1:1-11.

As the writer Timothy states:  “He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

9.  Then He gave His commission to the Disciples and His followers:

“The Great Commission”, Matthew 28:15-20, is the climax of this Good News message.  It is as relevant for us today as it was for the disciples.  While Jesus intended the good news of His Kingdom to be given to the Jews first, He wanted All people, nations, tongues and tribes be brought into His kingdom (Acts 1:7).

10.  When all this was finished, Jesus’ ascended into the Heaven:

After 40 days, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, as our High Priest, making intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).  Jesus still has an active part in heaven: preparing for His Bride (Matthew 26:64, Acts 2:33-36, 5:31, Ephesians 1:20-22, Hebrews 10:12, 1 Peter 3:22, Revelation 3:21, 22:1).  Jesus had to leave the natural dimension, so He could send the Holy Spirit to continue His work on Earth (John 14:17, 16:7, Acts 1:4-8).

11.  The next accomplishment will be His second Coming:

Before His crucifixion and after His resurrection, Jesus promised that He would come back “…in His Father’s glory…” (Matthew 16:27).  He will return to complete the plan of salvation for believers.  He will return just as He left (Acts 1:11), in a physical body, as a Person, as Conqueror, Lord and Judge.

Every knee will bow and every tongue confess His deity at that time (Philippians 2:10-11).  His coming will be visible and unmistakable, with great glory and majesty (Matthew 24:30-42).

 

B.  The following events will be part of Jesus’ return:

1.  “The Rapture” (1 Thes. 4:17) when all the saints – dead and alive – meet Him in the air,

2.  “The Great Tribulation” will either begin or end (Revelation 7:14),

3.  The beginning of the “Millennium” of Peace (Revelation 20:2-7),

4.  “The Great White Throne” judgement for unbelievers Revelation 20:11-15),

5.  Final judgement on Satan and his hordes of demons will take place (Revelation 20:10).

Jesus did come to lead a revolution, but it was not a political one.  It was a revolution in the lives and the hearts of those He met.  Even if He wasn’t the sort of king the Jews expected, the kingdom of God had arrived.

 

C.  Let’s Explore some false theories:

1.  Rumours about Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

a.  If the enemy can discredit Jesus’ resurrection, he destroys one of the foundations of Christianity.  Various rumours were circulated about Jesus’ death.  Many of the ‘Christian’ cults have used these rumours as a basis for their false teachings, leading others astray:

b.  Matthew 28:11-15 records that the Jewish elders’ bribed the guards at the tomb to say that: “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep”.  Heretics have claimed this ever since, even though there was a big stone in front of the opening and soldiers, who would be severely punished for sleeping, guarded the tomb.

c.  Another theory: “Jesus really fainted and was revived in the cool tomb.”  Roman soldiers were good at their job, they made sure each person was really dead before taking them off the cross.  In piercing His side, blood and water gushed out, the sign that death had occurred.

d.  Scripture records eight main proofs of His resurrection:

2.  Only The two Marys saw an empty tomb (Matthew 28:5-6),

a.   Angels added their witness of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 1:10),

b.  He was seen by many, in 12 separate appearances.  Over 500 saw Him during the 40 days before He went to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:6, Acts 1:3),

c.  Jesus ate food showing that He was body as well as spirit,

d. Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:56),

e.  Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:8),

f. The apostles witnessed that He was raised from the dead.   Each one was so convinced of what they saw that they were martyred for their belief about Jesus’ resurrection.

Only God can raise the dead so even God is a witness for Jesus.  If the facts were not true, an outcry would have occurred by those who were ‘supposed witnesses’.

3.  Was Jesus Begotten OR a created being?

John 6:38, 6:46-47, Collisions 1:15-17 say that ‘Jesus’ was involved in creation.  Did Jesus the man stand with God the Spirit and speak the worlds into existence?  There is not one Old Testament verse, which talks about Jesus the man existing before His birth in Bethlehem.

John 1:1-4, 14 gives us insight: “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”  It was the spoken Word of God that created all things.  Jesus is the result of the Words of God, fusing with a human egg in the womb of Mary.  In other words Yahweh, Father God, is Jesus’ father and Mary is Jesus’ earthly mother.  Jesus is both the ‘Son of God’ and the ‘Son of Man’.  He is truly both God and Man.

 

D.  Conclusion

In this Unit, we have been laying the foundations of the Faith, the greatest story ever told!  Salvation was God’s idea before the beginnings of creation, a masterpiece plan of grace, love and redemption.

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philipiansl 2:6-11)

The Centre stage belongs to Jesus Christ.  He fulfilled all the OT prophecies and ushered in a season in God’s great plan through His preaching of the kingdom, His death and His triumphant resurrection.  Jesus has now ascended into heaven, but the good news of the kingdom is still being proclaimed by His body, the Church.  The return of Jesus as Judge will end time as we know it.

 

In our next post, we will discuss the Person of the Holy Spirit and Church rites we find today.  What is your calling, gifts and where does God want to use you?  “Change Sides and enter the Kingdom” is the challenge for all Jesus Follpwers as we examine the Christian Foundations of our belief.

 

E.  Sources Used in this Unit:

Blanchard, John.  Ultimate Questions, Evangelical Press, England, 1987.      Bible Society of Australia.  Jesus – Who is He?, Good News Bible, American Bible Society publishers, New York, USA, 1977.      Bible Visual Resource Book for do-it-yourself Scholars, Regal Books, California, USA, 1984.     Conner, Kevin J.  The Foundations of Christian Doctrine, Acacia Press, Victoria, Australia, 1980.      Erickson, Millard J.  Christian Theology, Baker Book House, Michigan, USA, 1983.     Gumbel, Nicky.  Why Jesus? HTB Publications, LONDON, England, 1997.      Hughes, Selwyn.  Every Day with Jesus, Nov/Dec 1997 issue, Waverly Abbey House, Farnham, England, 1997.      Hughes, Selwyn.  Every Day with Jesus, Christian Fellowship for Growing Christians, Waverly Abbey House, Farnham, England, 1986.      Peterson, Eugene H.  The Message, (a paraphrased version of the New Testament), Navpress, Colorado, USA, 1995.      Stott, John RW.  Explaining Bible Truth – Jesus Christ, Creative Publishing, Middlesex, England, 1979.      Tinney, Helen J. Mark’s Sketchbook of Christ, The Banner of Truth Trust Publishing Company, Michigan , USA, 1956.      Wallis, Tim.  “Christology”, Life Ministry Bible College Class Notes, Victoria, Australia, 1988.

May you know the love and peace that comes from being a Jesus’ Follower,

Susanne Fengler, Blog Author

www.christianfoundations.jesus-treeoflife.info

Tags: events in Jesus' life
Filed under: Foundations of our Faith, Series #1: Being a Jesus Follower