Tough Questions About Jesus
Material taught by John Hawbaker
At Manor BIC, July 29,08 , used by permission
EXPLAINING OUR FAITH TO OTHERS
• Every Christian is a Theologian
We have ideas about God, who he is, what he is up to in our world.
• Understand our generation
• Cultivate our relationship to God
Questions:
• Is Jesus the ONLY way to God?
• Isn’t Christianity too narrow? 66% of the worlds population non-Christian
• Can all the other religions be wrong?
• Jesus Christ may be the only Way for you, but how can you claim He is the only Way for everybody?
• Can you prove that Jesus is the only way to God?
Because of these and other questions, people have claimed Christianity cannot be defended logically.
I. Is Jesus the ONLY way to God?
A. If you wanted to know who George W. bush was:
* you could ask others
* you could go to his speeches, find out what he wrote about himself
B. We can go to the Bible to find what Jesus said about himself.
When we do, we find some astonishing things.
• Mark 2:5-12 … forgives sins, Jesus spoke to this man’s spiritual needs first
• John 14:6-9 … I AM the ONLY Way to the Father
• John 3:16-18 … Believers in Jesus will be saved / unbelievers, lost
( Jesus is the Way, Truth, Life )
C. Jesus made bold, exclusive claims. He is unique among all founders of religions.
1). Others said, “follow me and I will lead you to God
2). Jesus said, “ I AM God – now follow me.
D. Jesus presents Himself as the ONLY WAY to God
* Tolerance, the watchword of this generation
The mood of our generation is tolerance – for anything and everything
Jesus said, some things are objectively true, whether you believe them or not. These truths are not subjective, they do not depend on what you think about them.
These things are True for all people, everywhere and at all times.
Yes, the claims of Jesus are outrageous – unless they are true.
Many people like to make Christianity more tolerable, more welcoming by downplaying the claims of Jesus. Remember there is no Christianity without Jesus
C.S. Lewis put it this way. “Many people say, “I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher – but I don’t accept him as God.”
However, a man that said the things Jesus claimed would not be a great moral teacher but either a 1). Lunatic or 2). The devil of hell.
You can shut Jesus out as a fool, you can spit on him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. Let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a good man.
Jesus did not let that open to us – He did not intend to.
E. What did Jesus’ good friends and followers believe?
* Acts 4:12
The apostles presented Jesus as He presented himself. The Jesus of the Bible could not be held down by death. He is truly alive today. Take it or leave it!
A story:
A Buddhist man was converted to Christ. Someone asked him, why did you change religions. The Buddhist said
“if you were walking down the road and came to a fork in the road and two men were standing there and one was dead and the other alive, which man’s directions would you follow?”
That is the Biblical message, we are not inviting people to follow a dead Christ, we are inviting them to the eternal son of God, who was dead and is now alive, forevermore.
II. Isn’t Christianity too narrow?
Isn’t all truth narrow?
A man jumped off the Empire State Building. As he passed the 10th floor someone stuck their head out a window and asked, “how is it going”?
The man said, “I feel fine, so far.”
• The Law of Gravity is narrow.
If you jump off the ESB you will not break the law of gravity, it will break you.
• The mathematics table is narrow
• The law of overdraft at the bank is narrow
We are used of strict truth in many aspects of life.
The claims of the Bible are narrow only because they are true. You will not break Jesus and His claims, you will break yourself first.
Lu 20:18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
III. Two thirds of the world’s population is not Christian – can all these religions be wrong?
This question implies a larger question:
Can the majority be wrong?
a).in the year 1,000BC, everyone thought the earth was flat
all religions are wrong when they deny that Jesus was not both man and God.
IV. Some people say, Jesus truth may satisfy your needs but Christianity doesn’t satisfy mine.
Tolerance vs. Truth
Some things are relative, your preferences
• Isn’t that Pit bull cute?
• This hiking trail is going to be easy
• I don’t have a thing to wear
Yes, in some things you are entitled to your own opinion
But Truth IS Truth!
V. We live in a day of science and logic. Can you PROVE that Jesus is God?
That depends on what you mean by proof.
As Christians we invite every person we talk to to examine the evidence themselves.
• Read the gospels and see what Jesus says about himself and see if it makes sense.
• Read a book like Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis
• Pray sincerely and ask God, is this true or only nonsense. Help me to know if it is true.
• We say to our friends, “ I find the evidence compelling, what do you find?
• People don’t come to Jesus because we beat them at an argument, no, Jesus draws them.
• We can either cloud the real Christ or unveil the true Christ.
VI. What about the people who have never heard about Jesus at all?
What about their eternal destiny? If they have not heard they cannot believe.
It seems totally unfair for God to send them to hell.
Q. How do we answer this question?
Ans. You can say to the person, it seems that you have a real sense that God ought to be fair. Where did that sense come from?
God is going to be more fair and just than you can are so you can trust him with this. One thing is sure, no one ca be saved except through God’s grace and atonement through Christ.
How much of this must a person in a remote tribe in New Guinea understand before he can receive salvation? Luke 12:48. God is perfect love and justice and what he does in the end will satisfy even your longing for justice.
Q. I have a question for Christians. What is God going to say to Christians who know Jesus is the only way- yet never talk about it? They never witness, they just enjoy the blessings of God for themselves and hope somehow God will get the message out to sinners.
Q. To a Christian. I am not sure I know the whole answer, lets start with you. What are you going to do with Jesus? Are you willing to come with us and start following?
VII. Isn’t religion a negative thing?
People are fed up with religion. They have been burned by religion, mistreated etc.
Should we tell them to reject religion and just follow Jesus?
It all depends on what you mean by religion.
1. Any system of rules and rituals people use to make themselves acceptable to God
2. New Testament religion is different. It is positive.
N.T. religion is a system of beliefs and practices that people follow sincerely out of reverence and love for God. This describes the N.T. church.
Religion defined: What are the differences?
#1 puts man at the center
#2 puts Jesus at the center.
#1 is about self-effort
#2 puts emphasis on God’s initiative and grace
#1 is all about mans rituals and duty
#2 is about a relationship with Jesus which uses ritual and duty
#1 is all about keeping rules because they are rules
# 2 is all about letting the life of Jesus fill you as you keep his commandments out of a heart of love-service.
Jesus attack and rejected the first type of religion.
He came and died to bring us the second.
The religion of Jesus has changed the world for the better.
When your friends talk about religion and reject it, be gentle. Ask them what has been their past experience and feelings about religion. Talk about these distinctions.
What should be our response to God?
1. Ask God to continue working on sharpening our minds 2.Continue in prayer 3. Live righteously 4. Live a life of love
NEXT MEETING: In the home of Myron and Ruth ... Topic will be Prayer
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