Gospel Truth

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Can we really believe what's in the Bible? And is all that stuff about Jesus rising from the dead really true?

Those are lofty questions with eternal consequences. But who really knows the truth? After all, some people say the Bible is too old to be relevant in modern times. Others doubt the possibility of all the miracles it reports. And still others say the Bible is no greater than the scriptures of other religions.

With so many legitimate concerns out there, what makes the Bible stand out above every book ever written?

First, the Bible says it’s God's word — and then backs up its claim with hundreds of prophesies about events that actually happened decades or centuries later. For example,

the Old Testament records in detail God's plan for saving mankind through a Messiah. The prophet Micah wrote that the Savior would be born — in of all places — an obscure backwater of the Roman empire called Bethlehem. And as we read in the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled these prophesies in person through his birth, ministry, death and resurrection. And he did so to the letter!

Historically and scientifically accurate, the Bible is also the most studied and critiqued book in history. Try as many have, no one has been able to disprove its claims. Luke, the physician who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, also wanted the real scoop. So he interviewed the people who knew Jesus best and could attest to his existence. Let’s consider the opening lines of Luke's first book:

"Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. So I made a careful study of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. ... I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard."

The apostle Peter — someone who knew Jesus personally — also reassures us through his own testimony:

"When we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling just clever stories that someone invented," he wrote. "But we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes."

It all adds up to a mountain of convincing evidence that would stand up in court. So as Christ-followers seeking to grow in our faith, what's our response to this awesome reality?

First, we should take time each day to read and memorize the Bible. After all, it's God’s message to us that covers just about every facet of life. And of course, we also need to obey it — even if it doesn't make sense at the time. What's more, we should delight in it because we know it's the source of truth for our life. And this all leads to our final response: trust.

Indeed, God's word to us through the Bible is trustworthy. And who better to confirm that than someone who very much believed it himself: Jesus. Luke's gospel tells us that Christ even launched his public ministry by reading passages from the Book of Isaiah. A tiny Jewish congregation was the first audience for these stunning words of new-found meaning. But Jesus also meant them for everyone — even those today — with ears to hear them:

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Through God’s Eyes

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, 

he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

-- Mark 9:35

Let's consider it our Book of Life -- God’s words for us to live by. It’s through the Bible's pages that we learn our Creator not only loves us, but he’ll do whatever it takes to have an everlasting relationship with us. Meanwhile, we also discover that God’s ways aren’t our ways. And his thoughts aren’t our own.

That’s actually quite an understatement. For example, the world

teaches us to beat the competition, climb the corporate ladder and keep up with the neighbors (and then pass them by). We must have the biggest, the best and the shiniest. And we also need to drive the right car and have the right job. After all, life is all about us.

There’s little room for humility with that attitude. But God invites Christ-followers to see things from his perspective: To be first, we must be last. Of course, this viewpoint turns things totally inside out. And that’s just the point.

How much better would this world be if we saw things through God’s eyes and put the interests of others before our own? Jesus answered this question by example. First, he willingly surrendered his advantages as God’s Son. He entered the world amidst humble circumstances — a birth among farm animals in a lowly stable. When he grew older, he made a working-man’s living as a carpenter. And he could have lived in splendor as the King of Kings. But instead, Christ chose a nomadic existence to teach God’s Good News of salvation to his people.

These were humble circumstances. But Jesus’ ultimate act of humility was to suffer the fate of a common criminal — one that he didn’t deserve because of his perfect, sinless life. His was a horrific death on a cross to pay for the countless ways we’ve failed to live up to God’s standards.

How can we acquire Christ's remarkable servant-leader attitude? Above all, we must embrace our blessings by recognizing the wonderful things God has done for us — and continues to do for us every day. Without him, we are nothing. But through him, all things are possible.

Imitating Jesus to make God’s ways and thoughts our own will never be society’s formula for success. But when we turn our backs to the world and follow The Way, we’ll see that it’s through humility — not ambition — that both we and the world change for the better.

Open to All

When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him,
you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

-- Ephesians 1:13

There’s power in the principle of exclusivity.

For example, odds are that your interest is piqued when you receive a letter or an email marked Exclusive Offer. Nightclubs, restaurants and vacation resorts build their reputations on catering to an exclusive clientele of movie stars, politicians and power brokers. Reporters seek exclusive interviews with popular celebrities. And you might feel that you’ve made it to the top if you wear a certain brand of clothing, live in a high-brow community or drive a particular automobile.

Marketers understand that our attraction to exclusivity starts early. When you were growing up, were you one of the popular kids in school who was always picked first for the kickball team?

Or were you the odd-man-out nearly every time?

Some things don’t change, whether it’s on the playground or in the office park. How many times have you been looked over for that big promotion — or lost out to another job candidate? 

Here's some good news, particularly for those of us who were never crowned king or queen of the high school prom. And it covers something much more important and lasting:

God — the most powerful and loving Presence in the universe — has chosen you and me as his heirs. Once we accept Jesus Christ’s offer of salvation, we become an adopted son or daughter of the Creator. And as God’s children, we’ll all have an amazing inheritance to enjoy for eternity. 

That's a remarkable, eternal truth. And we don’t have to wait until we die to enjoy some of these special family benefits. One of them is the privilege of knowing God within a personal relationship. Through prayer, we can come to him directly with our joys, needs and sorrows. It’s this close bond that helps us overcome the rough spots that we’re guaranteed to face throughout life.

Jesus showed his disciples that God isn’t a strict, unknowable taskmaster who waits to zap us when we do wrong. He instead revealed that God is a warm, reassuring and loving Father in the best sense of the word. And to the amazement of all who heard him, Christ even referred to God as “Abba” — a child’s word that translates into English as Daddy.

God has chosen you and me as his adopted children. And what’s even more incredible is that it’s not an exclusive offer for just a certain few. As we read in Acts 2:21, “Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Many will be asked, but few will accept. Jesus just wants us to respond, “Yes, Abba!”

Broken

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,
in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

-- 2 Corinthians 12:10

How would you label yourself with a single word?

Would you say generous, energetic or perhaps successful? What about lonely, abused or divorced? How about broken?

The fact is that we’re all broken in one way or another. But the good news for Christ-followers is that we worship a Creator who truly understands. And whether we're the victim or the victimizer in our shattered state, God's grace is enough to help us overcome.

What is grace? It’s God's blessings to undeserving people like you and me. There's

nothing we can do to earn it. We just need to accept it, embrace it and live it with transformed lives through our faith in Jesus. Grace is also what keeps us together when everything is coming apart. In 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote about his own brokenness and how God answered his prayers through the power of grace:

“… Three times I begged the Lord for it to leave me, but his reply has been, ‘... My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

The Bible tells us that long before the world was formed, God knew our names. He knew when and where we would be born, what sort of life we would lead and when we would die. And he also knew that we would need a Savior from our failures and shortcomings. We could never save ourselves against the judgment we all deserve. So God decided to do it himself by personally living the human experience on Earth through his Son, Jesus Christ.

By literally becoming God with us, Jesus truly understands our sorrows and brokenness. He’s also promised his followers that he will never leave them or forget them. As a weak, broken people, let’s embrace the truth that it's with his grace we not only survive, but thrive in strength … and pick up the pieces.