Jesus Christ: He's Not Dead, and I Can't Get Over It!

If you read anything on this website, you know that I go out on street corners with some witnessing crosses, and a "Free Bibles" sign, as a way to minister here in my small community of Marshalltown, Iowa. Over the last couple of years, I'll occasionally get someone driving by and yelling out of their car window, "He's dead - get over it!!!" I call them "drive-byes" because they never stop to have a conversation, but oh well. They do make an interesting point, though, one that the Apostle Paul discusses in his first letter to the church at Corinth: that is, the Christian faith that we believe and preach rests upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

If there was no resurrection, Christianity is false, and we have no hope.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20  

"Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

The historical evidence of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been challenged for around 2000 years, and is still compelling. This resurrection is a declaration of who Jesus really is, and is also God's guarantee that some day in the future, all men will be judged in absolute righteousness, by this same Jesus Christ. Read on....

In the introduction to Paul's letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle says that Jesus' resurrection from the dead is a powerful declaration of who he truly is: the Son of God.

 Romans 1:1-4 

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"

Finally, in the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul is preaching to the men of Athens, he again brings up the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In presenting the true God, he calls attention to the fact that God commands all men everywhere to repent: to change their minds and turn from worshiping false gods to the one true God. Why?Because there is a day coming, yet future, in which God will judge all men in absolute righteousness, by Jesus Christ. The assurance of this future fact is that God raised Jesus from the dead - the resurrection.

Acts 17:22-31 

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 

Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 

Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

As in Paul's time, so it is today. It's not that we can't find God; it's that we don't want to find God. George Wald, (Nov. 18, 1906, - April 12, 1997), American biochemist who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1967, was an honest atheist. He stated:

George Wald-Nobel Prize winning biochemist

"There are only two possible explanations as to how life arose. Spontaneous generation arising to evolution, or a supernatural God.... There is no other possibility.  Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others, but that just leaves us with only one other possibility...that life came as a supernatural act of creation by God, but I can't accept that philosophy because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore I choose to believe that which I know is scientifically impossible...." (Wald, G. 1954. The Origin of Life. Scientific American August: 44-53.)

People who hold exclusively to a belief in naturalism exclude anything supernatural, and thus scoff at the idea of a man being raised from the dead, and sometimes (not always) mock those who believe so. This may come out as: "He's dead. Get over it!" 

Here's how Paul's hearers responded to the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Acts 17:32-34

"And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

2000 years later, God's word the Bible is still truth. In the little 1 chapter book of Jude, followers of Christ are told this:

Jude 1:17-18 

"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts" 

The historical fact is that Jesus, the Son of God, stepped out of eternity and took on the form of a man some  2000 years ago. He fulfilled over 300 prophecies regarding the promised Messiah - the Savior - that God promised to send into the world, including his death on the cross to pay the debt you and I owe God because of our sin against Him. Jesus died, was buried, and 3 days later that tomb was empty (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus arose, ascended to Heaven, and will return some future day, not as a humble servant, but as a conquering, victorious King. His promise to those who trusted him then, and those who trust him now, is forgiveness of sins and eternal life (John 14:19).

As the Apostle Peter said in the tenth chapter of the book of Acts:

Acts 10:43 

"To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

How about you?  The resurrection is also a reminder that God's promise is still out there, and available to all who will turn to God just the way they are, as sinful men and women, and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins. Whoever wants it can have it. Your options are:

• You can scoff at that promise and walk away, or...
• You can say yes to that promise, and trust in the risen, living, Lord Jesus Christ, as I did, nearly 24 years ago.

We pray you have trusted Jesus. If you have, please tell someone else. If not yet, we pray you will trust in him, and you may contact us with questions or concerns. If you do trust in Jesus Christ, like me, you'll never get over it!

By the way, here's a "3D" gospel tract we are giving out this year: as you move the card the scene changes from pre-dawn darkness, showing Jesus' tomb still covered by the stone, to the sun rising and the stone rolling away.

Back of this gospel tract reads:

 HE'S ALIVE!

When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He is the...

SON OF GOD: "Declared to be the Son of God...by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:4)

SAVIOR: "Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

JUDGE: "The Father...hath committed all judgment unto the Son....He that heareth my work, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:22,24)

Here's an article I found out on the web on historical evidence that would support the truth of the resurrection, "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Fact or Fiction? Just click here: LINK

Maranatha!

Paul 

St. Patrick's Day

With approach of March 17th, 2019 - "St. Patrick's Day" - approaching, I just wanted to share something on the true history behind so much of the myth associated with this holiday on our calendar. Read, consider, and share the gospel as Patrick did! 
Paul.

Who Was St. Patrick?

by Avery Foley on March 17, 2015 

(https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/who-was-st-patrick/)

 

Every year on March 17 millions of people around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with parades, parties, and the color green. But who was the man who inspired these traditions and why do we still celebrate him today?

Who Was St. Patrick?

Although there is scholarly disagreement on the exact date (and even the year) of St. Patrick’s birth, the traditionally accepted consensus is that St. Patrick was born Maewyn Succat in the Roman colony of Britain around AD 387 to middle-class Christian parents. At the age of 16, Maewyn was kidnapped by pirates and carried off to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. In Ireland he learned a new language and the culture of the Druids. At that time in Irish history, Ireland was a dark nation where the religion of the Druids reigned. This pagan religion involved worshiping nature, violence, and even human sacrifice. 

When young Maewyn was kidnapped, he was not a Christian but was essentially an atheist. However, his father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest, so Maewyn had heard the truth as a boy. During the long, cold, and lonely days and nights caring for his master’s sheep in the Irish countryside, Maewyn began to pray. Soon he had developed a relationship with the triune God of Scripture and was praying nearly 100 times during the day and night. After six years of slavery, he claims he was told in a vision that a ship was ready to take him home. He hiked 200 miles to the coast, boarded a ship, and eventually returned home. 

Back in Britain, Maewyn claimed to have received a vision in which he heard the people of Ireland saying, “We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.” After studying for the priesthood, being ordained a bishop, and changing his name to Patrick, he headed back to the nation of his slavery to be a missionary among the Irish. 

St. Patrick was tremendously effective and saw many pagans turn to put their faith in Christ.

St. Patrick was tremendously effective and saw many pagans turn to put their faith in Christ. Despite how his extant writings testify to how much he missed his homeland, he chose to live and serve among the Irish he grew to love. He even suffered imprisonment and persecution at the hands of the Druids. But his dedicated and tireless evangelistic efforts, according to tradition, resulted in his baptizing 120,000 new believers and building over 300 churches in Ireland. He served and worked among the people for 30 years before he died on March 17, 461, and was buried in Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day

We now celebrate St. Patrick’s Day each year on the anniversary of his death, March 17. Originally, this was strictly an Irish feast day in the Roman Catholic Church to commemorate the patron saint of Ireland. However, Irish immigrants coming to North America brought the tradition with them, and it is now widely celebrated each year. Sadly, few people remember the devoted missionary who stands behind the St. Patrick’s Day tradition.

Symbols of St. Patrick

There are a myriad of symbols that we associate with St. Patrick’s Day today, including the color green, leprechauns, pots of gold, and corned beef. All of these things arose long after St. Patrick died and have nothing to do with the courageous missionary. Indeed, most are American additions to the Irish holiday.
However, there is one St. Patrick’s Day symbol that is actually associated with St. Patrick. According to tradition, St. Patrick used a shamrock (clover) to teach the concept of a Trinitarian God to the Irish. Each of the three lobes of the shamrock represents one member of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Of course, no analogy is perfect, but one can easily relate how three nearly identical leaves make up one shamrock.

How Should Christians Respond to St. Patrick’s Day?

Just like St. Patrick preached to a pagan audience, so do Christians today preach to largely pagan audiences. In the West, we can no longer take for granted, like we used to, that people have background knowledge of the Bible or that they trust what the Bible says. When we say “God,” we can’t even assume people are thinking about the biblical God! Essentially, we live in a nation of pagans. They need to be reached with the gospel, just like the Irish Druids that St. Patrick reached.

Just like St. Patrick took something that was common to the culture, the shamrock, and used it as a springboard to present the truth about the one, true God, so can we take what is common to our culture and use it to share the gospel with others. Paul did this very thing in Greece when he used the “altar to the unknown god” to proclaim who that God was! Creation evangelism provides the perfect opportunity for us to do just that. We can take something common to our culture, like clothing, law, or education, and use it to present the gospel from the very beginning. 

For example, why wear clothes? It goes back to sin and shame and the need for a Savior in Genesis 3. Why do laws exist? Because God is the ultimate lawgiver, and we need laws to rein in our sin nature ever since sin came into the world in Genesis 3. Why should we educate our youth? It is a biblical mandate (Deuteronomy 11:19; Proverbs 22:6), so they too can learn the truth of God’s Word that leads to the gospel. In a secular culture, why wear clothes if we are just animals? Why have laws when nothing really matters? And why purpose ourselves to educate our kids that nothing has a purpose?

Today, our pagan culture largely doesn’t understand what sin is or why we need a Savior.

Today, our pagan culture largely doesn’t understand what sin is or why we need a Savior. We have to take them back to the beginning, in Genesis, to show them who God is, why there is such a thing as sin, and why we need a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This St. Patrick’s Day, use the true story of St. Patrick as a springboard for presenting the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with others.

Jesus the Promised Savior of Sinners

Pastor J.D. Farag from Calvary Chapel Kaneohe posts Bible teachings on their YouTube channel. In a Thursday night Bible Study in the book of Job, Pastor J.D. shared an example of fulfilled prophecy that was a topic of discussion by the late Professor Peter Stoner. 

Prof. Stoner was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953; Chairman of the science division, Westmont College, 1953-57; Professor Emeritus of Science, Westmont College; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Astronomy, Pasadena City College.

He co-authored a book, Science Speaks, in which he calculated the probability of any one man fulfilling eight prophecies concerning the Messiah: the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷. 

The prophecies examined were Micah 5:2; Malachi 3:1; Zechariah 9:9; Zechariah 13:6; Zechariah 11:12; Zechariah 11:13; Isaiah 53:7; and Psalm 22:16. I posted an excerpt of this book below, for reference.

I like to give away the booklet, "One Second After You Die" by Mark Cahill. In it, Mark gives the example from Professor Stoner, and it is a challenge to get people thinking about the truth of the Bible as God's word, and of Jesus Christ actually being the one-and-only Savior of sinners.

 

 Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proven perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world. 

It has been said that skepticism is looking for light, but that unbelief is being content with darkness. For any skeptics out there, please read the following excerpt from Dr. Peter Stoner's book,  Science Speaks, and think seriously and deeply about the implications.

CHAPTER 3: THE CHRIST OF PROPHECY

"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." - John 5:39. 

THE WORD "Scriptures" in this passage refers to the Old Testament. Christ is saying that in the Old Testament we will find the prophecies referring to Himself. It is therefore in these prophecies, and their fulfillment, that we may look if we wish to find evidence that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, the saviour of mankind, and everything else which was prophesied of Him, and which He claimed to be. 

If we find these prophecies to be fulfilled in Christ, we will establish not only that Christ is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament, but that those prophecies were given by God Himself. For if they were not given by God, no man would have fulfilled any number of them, as will be evident later in this chapter. 

In order to evaluate our evidence we shall use the same principle of probability which was stated and used in the preceding chapter. 

In evaluating these prophecies, we shall have to answer this question regarding each prophecy: One man in how many men has fulfilled this prophecy? I realize that some will object to this question, saying that these prophecies were made with respect to Christ, and no other man has, or even can, fulfill them. This, of course, is true when you consider the mass of prophecies regarding Christ, but it is not true of all individual prophecies. It was prophesied, for example, that Christ would be born in Bethlehem; certainly other persons have been born in Bethlehem. It was prophesied that Christ would be crucified; other men have been crucified. I certainly am not trying to be sacrilegious in asking these questions; but I am trying to look at the evidence entirely unbiased, that I may the better give a clear argument. 

The Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Pasadena City College sponsored a class in Christian evidences. One section of the work of this class was to consider the evidence produced by the fulfilled prophecies referring to the first advent of Christ. The students were asked to be very conservative in their probability estimates. They discussed each prophecy at length, bringing out various conditions which might affect the probability of any man fulfilling it. After discussion, the students agreed unanimously on a definite estimate as being both reasonable and conservative. At the end of the evaluations the students expressed their feelings thus: If any one were able to enter into the discussions and help in placing the estimates, as they had done, that person would certainly agree that the estimates were conservative. The estimates used in this chapter are a combination of the estimates given by this class on Christian evidences combined with estimates given me later by some twelve different classes of college students, representing more than 600 students. I have carefully weighed the estimates and have changed some to make them more conservative. If the reader does not agree with the estimates given, he may make his own estimates and then carry them through to their logical conclusions. 

We considered the following eight prophecies:
1. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
This prophecy predicts that the Christ is to be born in Bethlehem. Since this is the first prophecy to be considered there are no previously set restrictions, so our question is: One man in how many, the world over, has been born in Bethlehem? 

The best estimate which we can make of this comes from the attempt to find out the average population of Bethlehem, from Micah down to the present time, and divide it by the average population of the earth during the same period. One member of the class was an assistant in the library so he was assigned to get this information. He reported at the next meeting that the best determination of the ratio that he could determine was one to 280,000. Since the probable population of the earth has averaged less than two billion, the population of Bethlehem has averaged less than 7,150. Our answer may be expressed in the form that one man in 7,150/2,000,000,000 or one man in 2.8 x 10⁵ was born in Bethlehem. 

2. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me" (Mal. 3:1).
Our question here is: Of the men who have been born in Bethlehem, one man in how many has had a forerunner to prepare his way? John the Baptist, of course, was the forerunner of Christ. But since there appears to be no material difference between the people born in Bethlehem and those born any other place in the world, the question can just as well be general: One man in how many, the world over, has had a forerunner to prepare his way?
The students said that the prophecy apparently referred to a special messenger of God, whose one duty was to prepare the way for the work of Christ, so there is a further restriction added. The students finally agreed on one in 1,000 as being extremely conservative. Most of the members thought the estimate should be much larger. We will use the estimate as 1 in 10³. 

3. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon ... a colt the foal of an ass" (Zech. 9:9).
Our question then is: One man in how many, who was born in Bethlehem and had a forerunner, did enter Jerusalem as a king riding on a colt the foal of an ass? This becomes so restrictive that we should consider an equivalent question: One man in how many, who has entered Jerusalem as a ruler, has entered riding on a colt the foal of an ass? 

The students said that this was a very hard thing to place an estimate on. They knew of no one but Christ who had so entered. The students thought that at least in more modern times any one entering Jerusalem as a king would use a more dignified means of transportation. They agreed to place an estimate of 1 in 10⁴. We will use 1 in 10².

4. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends"(Zech. 13:6).
Christ was betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples, causing Him to be put to death, wounds being made in His hands. 

There seems to be no relation between the fulfillment of this prophecy and those which we have previously considered. We may then ask the question: One man in how many, the world over, has been betrayed by a friend, and that betrayal has resulted in his being wounded in his hands? 

The students said that it was very rare to be betrayed by a friend, and still rarer for the betrayal to involve wounding in the hands. One in 1.000 was finally agreed upon, though most of the students would have preferred a larger number. So we will use the 1 in 10³.

5. "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver" (Zech. 11:12).
The question here is very simple: Of the people who have been betrayed, one in how many has been betrayed for exactly thirty pieces of silver?

The students thought this would be extremely rare and set their estimate as one in 10,000 or 1 in 10⁴. We will use 1 in 10³. 

6. "And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord" (Zech. 11:13). 

This is extremely specific. All thirty pieces of silver are not to be returned. They are to be cast down in the house of the Lord, and they are to go to the potter. You will recall that Judas in remorse tried to return the thirty pieces of silver, cut the chief priest would not accept them. So Judas threw them down on the floor of the temple and went and hanged himself. The chief priest then took the money and bought a field of the potter to bury strangers in. Our question is: One man in how many, after receiving a bribe for the betrayal of a friend, had returned the money, had it refused, had thrown it on the floor in the house of the Lord, and then had it used to purchase a field from the potter? 

The students said they doubted if there has ever been another incident involving all of these items, but they agreed on an estimate of one in 100,000. They were very sure that this was conservative. So we use the estimate as 1 in 10⁵.

7. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).
One man in how many, after fulfilling the above prophecies, when he is oppressed and afflicted and is on trial for his life, though innocent, will make no defense for himself? 

Again my students said they did not know that this had ever happened in any case other than Christ's. At least it is extremely rare, so they placed their estimate as one in 10,000 or 1 in 10⁴. We will use 1 in 10³. 

8. "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet."(Ps. 22:16).
The Jews are still looking for the coming of Christ; in fact, He might have come any time after these prophecies were written up to the present time, or even on into the future. So our question is: One man in how many, from the time of David on, has been crucified?
After studying the methods of execution down through the ages and their frequency, the students agreed to estimate this probability at one in 10,000 or 1 in 10⁴, which we will use. 

If these estimates are considered fair, one man in how many men, the world over, will fulfill all eight prophecies? This question can be answered by applying our principles of probability. In other words, by multiplying all of our estimates together, or 1 in 2.8 x 10⁵ x 10³ x 10² x 10³ x 10⁵ x 10³ x 10⁴. This gives 1 in 2.8 x 10²⁸, where 28 means that we have 28 ciphers following the 2.8. Let us simplify and reduce the number by calling it 1 in 10²⁸. Written out this number is 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

This is the answer to the question: One man in how many men has fulfilled these eight prophecies? But we are really concerned with the answer to the question: What is the chance that any man might have lived from the day of these prophecies down to the present time and have fulfilled all of the eight prophecies? We can answer this question by dividing our 10²⁸ by the total number of people who have lived since the time of these prophecies. The best information available indicates the number to be about 88 billion or 8.8 x 10¹⁰. 

To simplify the computation let us call the number 10¹¹. By dividing these two numbers we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷. 

Editor's note: It is probable that 88 billion or 8.8 x 10¹⁰ assumes a growth rate for the earth's population which is much too small - that most of the people who have ever lived are still alive today - suggesting that this number may be too large by a factor of ten. If so, this will affect the final result by the same factor of ten; ten times fewer total people who might have fulfilled these prophecies means only one tenth the chance that one of them might have done it by accident. Our number would become 10¹⁸ instead of 10¹⁷. The number used in this book is very conservative.
 
Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. 

What chance would he have of getting the right one? 

Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom!

Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10¹⁷ of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ.
This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one change in 10¹⁷ of being absolute.