Thoughts by Theophilus

[theophilus]

Nearly everyone is familiar with the parable of the good Samaritan, found in Luke 10:30-35.

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

There are several people mentioned in it and there are lessons to be learned from each one of them.

The main character, of course, is the Samaritan. Jesus cited him as an example to follow if we wish to carry out God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Just as the Samaritan is a positive example for us to follow, the priest and Levite who saw the injured man and passed by on the other side of the road are negative examples, warning us of behavior we should avoid.

The robbery victim himself shows us our condition apart from God. We cannot do anything to save ourselves and are certain to perish unless God sends someone to meet our needs.

But there is one other person in the parable who is often overlooked. He is mentioned in verse 35:

And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

What can we learn from studying the innkeeper?

The Samaritan and the innkeeper apparently knew each other well enough to trust each other. The Samaritan was confident that if he gave the innkeeper money to help the injured man it would be used for that purpose. And the innkeeper believed the Samaritan’s promise that he would return and reimburse him for any added costs.

The innkeeper’s responsibility is an illustration of the responsibility that God has given to Christians. He has commanded us to help those who are in need and he has given us the physical and spiritual resources we need to carry out this task. Jesus has promised that he will return and when that happens we will be rewarded according to how well we have fulfilled our responsibility.

[theophilus]

After Gideon raised an army to battle the Midianites the first thing God did was reduce the size of it so they wouldn’t think that they had won a victory by their own power. The first step in this reduction was to send home all those who are afraid. This eliminated 22,000 of the soldiers and left only 10,000.


But God thought that 10,000 men was still too many. Joshua 7:5-7 shows how he reduced the army even further:

So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

The reason for the first reduction and sending away the 22,000 is obvious. Anyone who as afraid wouldn’t be an effective fighter. But what was the point of the second test?

Those who dipped up the water with their hands could still be watching out for an enemy attack while they were drinking but the ones who knelt down couldn’t and would have been unprepared if the enemy had attacked then. Those who were eliminated were the exact opposite of those who had been eliminated before. The first group was afraid; the second group was not only not afraid but they were completely indifferent to danger.

The 300 who were finally chosen avoided both of these extremes. They weren’t afraid of the enemy but they still remained alert to possible attacks. Christians today are involved in a spiritual war against the forces of Satan and if we are to fight effectively we must also avoid being either afraid or overconfident.

[theophilus]

The laws God gave to Israel through Moses included a requirement that they sacrifice animals as an atonement for their sins. These sacrifices didn’t actually take away sins but only served as a picture of what Christ would do when he died for sin. Hebrews 10:11-14 says,

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Now that Christ has come these sacrifices are no longer needed.

The last part of Ezekiel, from chapter 40 through the end, describes what life will be like in the Millenium. The land will be divided among the twelve tribes. A new temple will be built. And animals will once again be sacrificed in accordance with the Mosaic law. But if Christ has paid for sins what will be the purpose of the sacrifices?

Before his crucifixion Jesus established a new practice which was to take the place of the sacrifices.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

But there was to be a limit on how long this practice would be in effect. The next verse says

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

After his return animal sacrifices will apparently be resumed to serve as a reminder of what he did. The purpose of the Old Testament sacrifices was to show what Christ was going to do; the purpose of the Millennial sacrifices will be to remind them of what he had done. The present age, in which the sacrifices aren’t offered at all, separates the two.

There is another possible reason for the resumption of animal sacrifices. The Bible’s descriptions of life in the millenium show that death will be extremely rare. It may be possible for those born during this time to go through their whole lives without any personal contact with death. But the salvation message will be the same, that Christ died for our sins. In this age we don’t have any problem understanding this because we see death all around us and know what happens when someone dies. But those who lack our personal knowledge of death will probably find it harder to understand the message. Perhaps one of the purposes of animal sacrifices will be to show them what death is like so they can understand better what Christ did.

[theophilus]

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.
Deuteronomy 30:19

This says that whether we are saved or lost depends on our choice.

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Ephesians 1:4

This says that whether we are saved or lost depends on whether we are among those he chose before the foundation of the world.

How can we reconcile these apparently contradictory statements?

Here is one way.

Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29,30

God knows who will choose to receive the salvation he offers and on this basis he predestines them to salvation.

Here is another way.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44

God draws those whom he has chosen to himself and gives them the power to choose him.

This explanation seems to go in circles. God predestines us to salvation because he knows we will choose to be saved and he gives us the ability to choose because he has predestined us.

We live in a universe which had a beginning and will have an end. One component of this universe is time, which flows in one direction so that some things are in our past and some things are in our future. The decisions we make may be influenced by our past but they can only affect our future. Temporally a cause must precede its effect so that one event can be the cause or effect of another but not both.

This limitation doesn’t apply to God and his actions because he isn’t part of the creation and so not subject to its laws. Because we are part of the creation there are many things about God that we can’t understand and it is because we lack understanding that many of the truths he reveals seem to contradict each other.

It is possible to eat food and be nourished by it without understanding anything about the digestive process. In the same way it is possible to be saved without understanding all the details of the salvation process. God commands people to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ and promises to save anyone who will do this. That is all that is necessary for salvation.

[theophilus]

It is a common belief among Christians that when a person dies he immediately goes either to heaven or to hell and remains there for all eternity. A careful study of the Bible shows that this is not correct, although it is very close to the truth.

When someone who has been forgiven thru faith in Christ dies he immediately goes to be with Christ, and Christ is now in heaven.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43

But the Bible teaches that one day Christ will return to reign over the earth, and when this happens all the believers will return with him. In Revelation 20:1-4 we learn that God will create a new earth for people to live in.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

God created humans to live on this earth. Because of sin we leave earth thru dying and if we are Christians we then go to heaven. But this is only a temporary dwelling place until God restores the earth to what he intended it to be. The new earth will be inhabited by new humans, who have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ.

All those whose sins have not been forgiven will be condemned to spend eternity in hell, but if you read Revelation 20:11-15 you will find that they will not go there until after the final rebellion at the end of the millennium.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

So where are they until then? In Luke 16 Jesus tells of a rich man who died and went to a place called Hades.

The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

This is a temporary place for the unsaved to stay until their final judgment. When Jesus spoke of hell in other places he used the word Gehenna, not Hades. Unfortunately some Bible translators have used the word “hell” for both of these places and this has caused some confusion about this subject.

In one sense, the popular belief is correct. Those who are saved go immediately to a state of eternal happiness and the unsaved go to a place of eternal torment. But when studying the Bible it is important to study all the details to make sure you are interpreting it correctly.

[theophilus]

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 2 Timothy 2:20

When you read this verse it might seem at first to be saying the the gold and silver vessels are the ones for honorable use and the wood and clay for dishonorable use. But look at what the next verse says.

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21

Here we find that the use of a vessel is determined not by what it is made of but by how clean it is. Suppose you need a cup to drink something and there are two cups on the shelf, one made of gold and the other of clay. You take the gold cup down from the shelf and discover that it is dirty inside. But when you look at the clay cup you discover that it is completely clean. Which one would you use? The cleanness of a cup is more important than what it is made of.

God follows this same principle when choosing people to carry out his work. We all differ in out natural abilities and some people have skills that others don’t. It might seem that those with the greatest abilities would be the ones most useful to God. But God chooses his workers in the same way we choose what dishes we will eat out of. He chooses those who are morally clean rather than those who are the most talented.

Here are the three steps we must take if we want to be clean.

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

“Flee youthful passions.” The first is to flee from any desires that will lead us into sin. Since Timothy was young Paul told him to flee youthful passions. As we grow older there are many changes in our lives, including the kinds of temptations we face. Whatever age we are there will always be some ways in which we are tempted to do wrong so the warning to flee sinful desires is always applicable to us even when we are no longer youths.

“Pursue righteousness.” It isn’t enough to avoid sin. Cleanliness requires that we cultivate positive virtues as well. In fact, it calls for us to pursue them. The picture presented here is one of running away from sin and toward righteousness.

“With those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” The final step is having fellowship with others who share our desire for purity. We can’t serve God fully in isolation from other believers.

If we compare ourselves with other Christians who are more talented we may be tempted to give up hope of being able to serve God effectively. On the other hand if we are among those who are talented we may be tempted to think that our abilities are all we need to serve God effectively. Both of these attitudes are wrong because our usefulness to God doesn’t depend on our talents but on whether our lives have been cleansed from sin.

[theophilus]

Where did the water go? This question is sometimes asked by those who don’t believe there was a worldwide flood. They think such a flood is impossible because there would be no place for the water to go after the flood was over. But there is a simple answer to this question. The water didn’t go anywhere; the flood ended when parts of the earth’s surface rose up to form the continents and islands that exist today.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
Psalm 104:6-9 ESV

We can understand this better if we look at where the water came from in the first place. The answer to this is found in Genesis 7:11,12.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

There were two sources of water. One was rain, which fell for 40 days and 40 nights. But not all of the water was the result of rain. “The fountains of the great deep burst forth.” The earth broke open so that water that had been trapped underneath came to the surface and covered the earth completely. Whatever force broke open the surface of the earth continued to operate and made parts of the earth rise up above the surface of the water and thus ended the flood it had begun.

Some people answer the question of where the water went by saying that the flood wasn’t really worldwide but only covered part of the flood. This explanation certainly solves the problem of where the water went but it creates two new ones. Genesis 9:8-17 says:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

God made a covenant with Noah and promised that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. But there have been many floods since then, many of them covering large areas and killing many people. If this flood wasn’t worldwide then God has often broken the covenant. So we must believe one of two things: either the flood covered the whole world or God can’t be relied on to keep his promises.

But we need to also consider the sign of the covenant; God set a rainbow in the clouds. This speaks of the rainbow as being something new that hadn’t existed before. This means that before the flood atmospheric conditions were very different from what they are today and rainbows never appeared. A change like this couldn’t possible be local but must be worldwide.

Here are two good sources of information about the flood:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2

http://www.worldwideflood.com/default.htm

[theophilus]

There are many doctrinal divisions among Christians. For example, some believe that human beings repent and believe because God causes them to do so by choosing them to be saved while some believe that people believe and are saved because they choose to do so. What does the Bible say about this?

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.
Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV

Whether we are saved or lost depends on our choice.

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Ephesians 1:4 ESV

Whether we are saved or lost depends on whether we are among those he chose before the foundation of the world.

How can we reconcile these apparently contradictory statements?

Here is one way.

Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29,30 ESV

God knows who will choose to receive the salvation he offers and on this basis he predestines them to salvation.

Here is another way.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44 ESV

God draws those whom he has chosen to himself and gives them the power to choose him.

Both sides can find support for their views in the Bible. Does this mean that the Bible contradicts itself and can’t be trusted as a guide to the truth?

We can find a possible answer to this by looking at a subject that at first may seem completely unrelated: the nature of light. Here is what Wikipedia says about this subject.

Wave-particle duality is perhaps one of the most confusing concepts in physics, because it is so unlike anything we see in the ordinary world.

Physicists who studied light in the 1700s and 1800s were having a big argument about whether light was made of particles shooting around like tiny bullets, or waves washing around like water waves. At times, light seems to do both. At times, light seems to go only in a straight line, as if it were made of particles. But other experiments show that light has a frequency and wavelength, just like a sound wave or water wave. Until the 20th century, most physicists thought that light was either one or the other, and that the scientists on the other side of the argument were simply wrong.

In 1909, a scientist named Geoffrey Taylor decided that he was going to settle this argument once and for all. He borrowed an experiment invented earlier by Thomas Young, where light was shone through two small holes right next to each other. When bright light was shone through these two small holes, it created an interference pattern that seemed to show that light was actually a wave.

Taylor’s idea was to photograph the movie coming out of the holes with a special movie that was unusually sensitive to light. When bright light was shined through the holes, the movie showed an interference pattern, just like Young showed earlier. Taylor then turned down the light to a very dim level. When the light was dim enough, Taylor’s photographs showed tiny pinpoints of light scattering out of the holes. This seemed to show that light was actually a particle. If Taylor allowed the dim light to shine through the holes for long enough, the dots eventually filled up the movie to make an interference pattern again. This demonstrated that light was somehow both a wave and a particle.

To make matters even more confusing, Louis de Broglie suggested that matter might act the same way. Scientists then performed these same experiments with electrons, and found that electrons too are somehow both particles and waves.

Today, these experiments have been done in so many different ways by so many different people that scientists simply accept that both matter and light are somehow both waves and particles. Scientists generally admit that even they do not fully understand how this can be, but they are quite certain that it must be true. Although it seems impossible to understand how anything can be both a wave and a particle, scientists do have a number of equations for describing these things that have variables for both wavelength (a wave property) and momentum (a particle property). This seeming impossibility is referred to as the wave-particle duality.

This shows that in the physical realm two ideas that seem to contradict each other can both be true. Isn’t it possible that this is true in the spiritual realm as well?

The Wikipedia article shows that if we accept the results of scientific research we must believe that light is both a particle and a wave even if we don’t see how both of these things can be true. If we believe the Bible we must believe that God is completely sovereign in the matter of salvation and chooses whom he will save and we must also believe that each person is responsible to choose whether or not he will be saved even if we don’t understand how they can both be true.

We live in a universe which had a beginning and will have an end. One component of this universe is time, which flows in one direction so that some things are in our past and some things are in our future. The decisions we make may be influenced by our past but they can only affect our future. Temporally a cause must precede its effect so that one event can be the cause or effect of another but not both.

This limitation doesn’t apply to God and his actions because he isn’t part of the creation and so he is not subject to its laws. Because we are part of the creation there are many things about God that we can’t understand and it is because we lack understanding that many of the truths he reveals seem to contradict each other.

It is possible that the two natures of light that we see are manifestations of some natural law that scientists haven’t yet discovered and that if we understood that law we would see that there is no contradiction in the way light behaves. In the same way, the doctrines of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility to choose are probably manifestations of some higher truth that hasn’t been revealed and if we could understand that truth we wouldn’t see any contradiction between the two.

While there are many things about salvation we don’t understand the Bible makes it perfectly clear what we must do to be saved. God is holy and and his holiness demands that he punish all sin. We have all sinned. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty that we deserve and rose again from the dead. Anyone who repents of his sins and puts his faith in Christ will find salvation and be forgiven. It isn’t necessary to know whether you are believing of your own free will or because God has given you the ability to believe. It is possible to eat food and receive nourishment from it without understanding how your body digests it; in the same way it is possible to receive salvation without understanding all that is involved in it.

On this subject, as on many others, we need to keep in mind what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:12.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

[theophilus]

Most people have either read this poem by John Godfrey Saxe or have heard the story that it tells.

It was six men of Hindustan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy the mind.

The First approached the Elephant
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side
At once began to bawl:
“Bless me, it seems the Elephant
Is very like a wall.”

The Second, feeling of his tusk,
Cried, “Ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear.”

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Then boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake.”

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“’Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Hindustan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right
And all were in the wrong.

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

The last stanza of the poem compares the arguments of the blind men with the way people today argue about God and religion. The two kinds of argument are very much alike. God has revealed his existence and power through what he has created and he has given all of us an innate concept of right and wrong, so everyone knows something of God. But that knowledge is incomplete and is usually mixed with a lot of false beliefs. In most theological arguments those involved are like the blind men in that “each is partly in the right and all are in the wrong.”

Most people who have heard this story don’t know of an event that happened to the blind men later. Someone else brought an elephant to the town where the men lived. However this was not a live elephant but a model elephant which was small enough for a person to hold in his hands. He heard about how the blind men were always arguing so he gave each of them an opportunity to examine his model elephant. As a result all six of the men finally came to an understanding of what an elephant was really like and this brought an end to their arguments.

If we had a small model of God that we could examine perhaps it would put an end to our theological arguments. But of course that isn’t possible. Or is it?

The first chapter of John’s gospel introduces someone called the Word who is God but who also became a human.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 ESV

Verses 17 and 18 tell us who the Word was.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

One reason Jesus came was to show us what God is like.

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”
John 14:8-10 ESV

Just as the blind men could understand what a real elephant was like by examining the model, we can learn what God is like by seeing what Jesus was like.

Jesus is no longer on the earth but is seated in heaven so it is no longer possible for anyone to observe him directly but in the New Testament we have the words of those who did see him.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1-3 ESV

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
2 Peter 1:16-18 ESV

By reading and studying what they wrote we can come to understand God as well as we could if we had seen Jesus in person.

Jesus went through the land teaching and healing those who were sick. By his teaching he told people what God was like and corrected any false ideas they held and his healing proved that he was really who he claimed to be and also showed that God wants to do good for us.

But he did one more thing which is probably even more important. He allowed himself to be crucified. The people who crucified him couldn’t have done so without his permission. He demonstrated that clearly when he was arrested.

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Matthew 26:51-54 ESV

What possible reason could there be for someone who was God in human form to die? The answer is found in the words of John the Baptist.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29 ESV

f we compare our lives with what Jesus taught it is obvious that none of us has done all that God requires of us and therefore we all need forgiveness. Jesus died as a sacrifice to take away our sins and his resurrection shows that God has accepted his sacrifice. This means that anyone who turns from his sin and puts his faith in Jesus can be forgiven.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Romans 10:9-10 ESV

The fact that the death of Jesus was necessary before we could be forgiven shows us two important truths about God: God hates all sin and will judge it but he loves us and he expressed his love by sending Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26 ESV

Salvation includes more than having our past sins forgiven. We receive eternal life and in John 17:3 Jesus tells us what eternal life is.

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

The model elephant helped the blind men to understand what an elephant was like but that was all it did. But Jesus did much more than simply enable us to know more about God; he made it possible for us to actually know God.

[theophilus]

Two brothers named Bob and Bill decided to get medical examinations. Neither was aware of any health problems; they simply wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with them.

Bob went to Dr. Smith. When his test results came back the doctor discovered he was suffering from a fatal disease. Fortunately there was a medicine available that would easily cure the disease. But he didn’t want to frighten or upset Bob by telling him he was dying so he decided to adopt a positive approach. He simply gave Bob a prescription for the medicine he needed and told him it would make him perfectly healthy. Bob thought he was already in good health so he didn’t bother to have the prescription filled and he soon died.

Bill went to Dr. Jones. The tests showed that Bill was suffering from the same disease Bob had but Dr. Jones didn’t respond to this information the way Dr. Smith had. He told Bill he had the disease and described exactly how it would affect him. Bill was frightened to hear this and when the doctor gave him a prescription for the cure he had it filled and took the medicine faithfully. As a result he was quickly cured.

No real doctor would behave as Dr. Smith did and prescribe medicine for someone without telling him he was sick. Unfortunately some people follow this approach in the way they share the gospel with others. They begin by simply telling people that Christ died for their sins and they can be forgiven by believing in him. The problem with this approach is that most people don’t think they are sinners and don’t see why they need to be forgiven. They respond just as Bob did; they ignore the cure because they don’t realize they have the disease.

If we want our evangelism to be effective we need to follow the example of Dr. Jones. We must start by telling people about God’s standards of righteousness and showing them that they fall sort of these standards. When people understand how sinful they are and realize that they need to be forgiven they will be prepared to listen to us when we tell them that Christ died for their sins.

A lot of jokes begin with one person saying to another, “I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?” Christians do have good news and bad news for the rest of the world. The bad news is that everyone has sinned and deserves God’s punishment; the good new is that Christ died to bear that punishment and they can be forgiven if they put their faith in him. But we don’t have the option of asking them whether they want to hear the good news or the bad news first. We must give them the bad news first so they will understand why the good news is good news.