Why do you believe what you believe?
Or, why should you believe, if you don’t believe?
I started this series last week, asking this same question
WHY? Not so much what do you believe, but why?
Why do you or should you believe in God?
Why do you, or should you believe in Jesus Christ as Savior & Lord?
Why should you commit your life toward following Him - as His disciple?
So, our answer, went like this:
-you look at the complexity & organization of the heavens & the earth & life
-& you can’t help but understand there’s a God - a mastermind behind this
-but that doesn’t tell you much about God
-& you’re still left with the important question
Who is God? Is Jesus God or the way to God?
Why Jesus?
Why should I believe Jesus to be the Lord & Savior - God in the flesh?
Most of what we believe about Jesus - is found in the Bible
Therefore, last week, we considered the question,
Why should I believe in the Bible?
-& we saw, the Bible is absolutely trustworthy
& we have every reason to believe the Bible to be accurate
& historically true to what happened
-for a number of good reasons
-we have very early manuscripts & many manuscripts
-that authenticate our current Bible as being true to the originals
-we have a Bible that was written by those who saw the events
-they were right there
-& it was circulated & read by many others who would have known
-& could confirm it as right or wrong
-we have collaboration from outside sources
-the Bible is historically true & accurate
The Bible claims to be the Word of God
-& we have every reason to believe that it is the Word of God
-it’s God’s message to us - to the world
Now, what about Jesus
We can believe the Bible to be an accurate account of what happened
What Jesus said, & did - & what the disciples said & did after Jesus
-it really happened - we have every reason to believe that!
We need to back up to the What questions briefly, & ask:
What is it about Jesus that we need to believe - before we answer WHY?
And very simply, the most important thing & astounding thing that we believe
-is that Jesus is God!
Jesus made it very clear, that He believed Himself to be God the Son
-& His disciples & the writers of the N.T. were very clear:
Jesus was God in the flesh
God had become man - in the person of Jesus
John 5:16-23
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Jesus claimed to be God the Son
-& He claimed to do things that only God could do
-& He claimed to deserve honor - essentially worship
& He accepted worship from people
-there are a whole bunch of examples of Jesus being worshipped
What would Jesus be guilty of - if He accepted worship from others?
-if He didn’t think He was God
-He would have known, that was breaking the 10 Commandments!
-& so were His disciples who worshipped Him
There are many other examples & claims to look at
-to be sure that Jesus thought He was God
-to understand that His followers believed He was God
-& that’s what we, as Christians to this day believe
Jesus was God in person!
Realize, that’s an astounding claim - a man, being God!
-regardless of how special & good He was
-this is an astounding claim - this is not easy to believe!
Now, Why? Why do you, or should you believe Jesus to be God?
Let’s take a professional sports team - football, hockey, basketball, baseball,
soccer
-these teams are always looking for good players to recruit
-& many come from a college draft
-but sometimes, there will be someone who’s really talented
-who’s not included in the draft somehow & he thinks,
“I’d like to try out for the team!”
-let’s say, he calls the general manager - “I’d like to try out for your team”
-the general manager asks, “What qualifications do you have?”
-if the player has some qualifications - maybe, he played in a different league
-the manager might give him a try -
“Show up next Monday, & we’ll give you a look!”
-so, the guy shows up, suits up, & gets out on the playing field
-the coaches look him over - how fast, how strong, how good at catching,
-kicking, blocking, - all the skills that are necessary for playing the game
-& after they watch him perform, they determine,
“Is this guy a legitimate player for a professional team - or not?”
Well, kind of in a similar way, just look at Jesus perform
-was He legitimately God?
John, who followed Jesus, wrote his gospel account on the life of Jesus
-& he summarized much of the main reason for writing this:
John 20:30-31
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
There were a lot of things Jesus said & did,
& John is including just a few highlights
John 21:24-25
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
John writes this book of the Bible saying,
“Here, look at Jesus - this should convince you -
“He’s the Christ & Son of God - & faith in Him will give you eternal life!”
So, backing up to some of these highlights,
John 2 - Jesus is at a wedding
-& they run out of wine
-Jesus turned 6, 20-30 gallon jugs of water into great vintage tasting wine
John 4 - Jesus, heals the son of a government official
-a boy who was close to death with a high fever
-& He didn’t even have to go there,
-Jesus, from a distance, just by the power of His word healed that boy
John 5 - Jesus heals a man who had been an “invalid”
-he likely had some form of deformity that was obvious
-& he hadn’t walked or moved well for up to 38 years
-Jesus, again, by the power of His command - healed him
“Get up & walk!” & he did!
John 6 - Jesus feeds thousands - at least 5K men - so, possibly 15-20 thousand
-He feeds them with only a boy’s lunch!
-Jesus made - created an abundance out of essentially very little or nothing
-& there were even leftovers!
John 6 - while the disciples were caught in a storm at sea,
-experienced boatmen as they were
-Jesus comes to their rescue while walking on water
-& then the boat is transported (kind of Star Trek style) to the shoreline
John 9 - Jesus gave sight to a man who was born blind!
John 11 - Jesus raises a man from the dead, Lazarus,
-who had been dead for 4 days!
-this was not some form of CPR, or precordial thumb
-to resuscitate a heart arrhythmia
-this was bringing someone back from the dead!
There were a lot of other miracles, many recorded in the other gospels
-& many more that weren’t recorded at all
-but John used a selection of them to prove a point
Look at Him - Jesus was God!
Jesus claimed to be God!
Jesus did things, that only God would or could do!
Only God is,
-omnipotent - all powerful
-omniscient - all knowing
-omnipresent - able to be present anywhere
Jesus displayed those abilities in the things He did & taught
-Jesus was God in person!
-Jesus was not just a good man! As some/most claim that’s all He was
-in fact, there’s an account of a man who came up to Jesus & called Him,
“Good Teacher!”
Luke 18:18-20
A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good — except God alone.
What options does He leave us with?
He either wasn’t a good man, or He was God!
Jesus did not think of Himself as just a good man
-He thought of Himself & laid claim to the fact that He was God
-& His followers believed He was God
-& worshipped Him as God
Many people - most people today - readily agree - Jesus was a good man
-but no, it doesn’t make sense to believe that
-Jesus wasn’t just a good man - He was God
There’s an old sort of philosophical way of looking at Jesus
He claimed He was God - & not just a good man
Now, there are people who’ve claimed to be God before
Thinking about it - there are only three options:
1. Was He a Liar?
-in other words, Jesus claimed to be God - which He did,
-& He knew He wasn’t God - that would make Him a liar
Is it conceivable that Jesus was a big liar?
There’s no way -
-even people who don’t believe Him to be God,
-still think He was a good man
-the idea of Jesus being such a hypocritical liar is inconceivable!
-Jesus was a good man! There is no doubt of that
-the teachings of Jesus have changed more lives for the good
-than anyone or anything else
-has ever come close to - as for influencing this world
-His teachings have changed whole nations & the course of history!
What did Jesus have to gain by this lie?
-essentially, a humiliating, painful, premature death at a young age
-why would He propagate such a lie?
-if He were a liar, He ranks right down with the Devil
-& that’s not Jesus - no one believes that!
Jesus was not a liar - He didn’t claim to be something He knew He wasn’t
Is it possible that He claimed to be something that He thought He was
-but wasn’t?
In other words, was He crazy?
2. Was He a Lunatic?
I’ve seen & heard people claim to be God
“I am God!”
“I am Jesus Christ”
“Yeah, well, do you know what day it is? Tell me about these voices”
-it’s always been very obvious that these poor people are mentally ill
-not so obvious to the person in the delusional state
-but quite obvious to everyone else around
-Jesus was not one with schizophrenia or some psychosis
-obviously not!
Jesus taught with impeccable accuracy & logic
Jesus was on task - His organizational scheme in raising disciples
-& accomplishing His vision & ministry - has been a model for 2000 yrs.
His teachings have cured in-numerable sufferers of mental illness
Jesus is the perfect example of mental soundness of mind!
So, Jesus wasn’t a Liar, He wasn’t a Lunatic
What was He - other than LORD!
Those are your only options - Liar, Lunatic or Lord!
The only one that makes sense - is Lord!
He passes every test you can give Him when it comes to being God
If it’s your team - sign Him up!
And that’s what John suggests is the response for us
-accept Him & believe in Him & follow Him - into eternity!
John 20:30-31
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
If you believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord & the Savior of your life
-be confident with what you believe
-you have every reason to believe & follow Jesus - God the Son!
-so, when Jesus asks us for commitment - we have reason to give it
Luke 9:23-24
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Why give your life in submission & complete devotion to Jesus?
He is God - He’s the Lord & Savior!
If you haven’t been sure, about Jesus, go ahead & ask,
Why should I believe?
-look at the man
-He claimed to be God!
-& He lived up to the position in every way!
-you have every reason you’ll ever need to believe Him to be Lord
-& you can trust your life - you need to trust your life, to Him
-to be your Savior!
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