Sincerity as Evidence for the Christian Faith

A few nights ago, I was reading a portion of the Gospel of Luke to my son Christopher before bedtime. In that portion of the Scriptures, Jesus was healing men and women of various illnesses and afflictions.

At a break in the reading, my son asked, "How do you know that's true?" Puzzled, I responded, "What do you mean?"

Christopher said, "Those miracles. How do you know they happened? It sounds like someone's lying to us."

At that moment, I realized that our son was taking a huge step in his development. He was not believing something merely because his parents believed it. He was questioning it.

My wife Janet and I assured him that it was proper to question us and the Bible. He needed to know that he was not alone in his doubts; he needed to know that it was a part of spiritual growth to raise questions. After all, those kinds of miracles do not happen every day in our lives. We have seen some remarkable answers to prayers for healing, but we have not seen anything like someone walking on water or someone being raised from the dead. In fact, even the apostle Thomas did not accept the resurrection of Jesus until he saw the Lord for himself.

We explained to Christopher that we have not seen the miracles recorded in the Bible firsthand, but eyewitnesses to those miracles preserved a record of them for us.

A few nights later, we returned to the subject. I let my son know that those eyewitnesses spread the word about Jesus and his miracles to everyone they encountered for the rest of their lives. Even though they faced severe persecution and death for telling people about the resurrection of Christ, they never stopped spreading the good news that Jesus had died for their sins and had risen from the dead in order to save them.

If the apostles had not honestly believed what they were saying and what they were writing in the Scriptures, they could have changed their story very easily in the face of death. But they remained committed to their account of Christ's message.

Sincerity does not necessarily prove one's testimony to be true. However, when a man remains committed to his eyewitness testimony in the face of death, it's a strong indication that he truly believes his message. Something happened in his life that he cannot deny.

And that's one good reason to take seriously the message of the apostles and other early Christians who wrote the New Testament. We know that they were not lying.

"And they have conquered (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death" (Revelation 12:11).

(The picture above portrays the crucifixion of the apostle Peter)

People Who Inspire Me: Jesus Christ

In this series on people who inspire me, I have gone in chronological order from William Wilberforce to Corrie ten Boom. In my final post on the subject, I will go back to the one who inspired them and me: Jesus Christ. In each of the people who inspire me, one can see characteristics of the Lord. One can see his kindness, his courage, his perseverance, his compassion, and many other qualities. However, there is one thing in the character of Christ that cannot be imitated by anyone else. Why does Jesus inspire me? As the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ died in my place, taking the wrath of God for my sins, and was resurrected in order to save me from the fate I deserved.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were still God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Romans 5:6-11, New International Version).

Truth in Blogging

If you have read my blog for very long, you will not be surprised by anything that I am about to share. But I thought it might be a good idea to write a few words about myself and my perspectives so that any reader would know where I'm coming from theologically and socially.

My Theology

I am a member of the Church of Christ. My theology can be best described as conservative evangelical. I don't try to be innovative in doctrine. I try to be accurate and biblically orthodox. For example,

I believe in the doctrine of the trinity. I believe that the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit are (or is) God. (I'm not sure how to write that sentence in a grammatically correct way.) I believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, always present in his creation, and completely holy in his character.

I believe that God created the universe as it is revealed in Genesis. I believe that he prepared the earth for people in six days. I believe that he made Adam and Eve in his image from the dust of the ground on the sixth day.

I believe that Satan tempted Eve. I believe that the sin of Adam led to the corruption of a good universe and to the alienation between God and man.

I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that he needed to die in my place in order to turn away God's just wrath against me and sinners like me. His resurrection gives me confidence that his Father accepted his sacrifice on my behalf.

I believe that I am saved by God's grace (as seen in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection) through faith (in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior) apart from any work on my part that could cause anyone to think that I deserved to be saved.

I believe that the Holy Spirit lives in God's church today. I believe that he is active in making believers more like Jesus.

I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the words of the Bible. I believe that the Bible was given to humanity as God's completely accurate message to us...without error because God is completely honest and completely competent.

I believe that repentant believers in Christ need to be baptized, because we need to identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We need to be able to mark the end of our lives without Christ and the beginning of our lives with Christ.

I believe that Christ's church consists all repentant baptized believers who are committed to following Jesus Christ and glorifying God.

I believe that Jesus Christ will return and usher in new heavens and a new earth that will be the home of righteousness. The Day of Judgment will come. Heaven and hell are equally real and equally eternal.

My Social Concerns

This will be much shorter.

I am concerned about loving people. According to Jesus, it's the second greatest commandment (behind loving God).

I concentrate on loving the people around me first. I want to be a good husband, father, son, brother, employee, neighbor, citizen, and church member.

Then, I focus on broader social concerns that affect people. Many of my posts will reveal that I think a lot about abortion, adoption, caring for God's creation, poverty, racial harmony, and strengthening marriages and families.

If anyone was confused about where I'm coming from, I hope this helps. I try to be honest and open.

Suicidal Thoughts and the Longing for Something Better

Recovery from depression can be an incredibly difficult and long process. Your body is worn out. Your emotions are frayed. You know that something is wrong, but you may not be able to describe it adequately.

Sometimes depression leads to thoughts about death; sometimes to thoughts about suicide. Something is wrong, and you want to escape. You know that you are not right, but you feel like so many things are wrong that you cannot possibly make things right again.

If you are in such a situation, please seek wise counsel. You may want to seek medical advice, too. Don't deal with it alone.

Also, please take a little time to think about the spiritual implications of your condition. It could be a turning point in your spirituality. It could be a time to grow closer to God for comfort and strength. If you are not living in a good relationship with God, it could also be an opportunity to reassess your life. It could be a time to put an end to a life without Christ in order to embrace a life of hope in following the Lord. It could be a time to fulfill that longing in your heart for something better...for Someone better.

Consider the words of Romans 6:3-11. "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Christ offers a new life to those of us who have grown tired of our lives of sin, guilt, and regret. Please consider his offer. It could be the beginning of something great.

Use Words if Necessary?

Francis of Assisi has been credited with saying, "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary."

I am not certain what he intended when he said those words, but I have seen the quote used to justify being silent about the gospel of Christ. The problem with such an application of Francis' words is: It's always necessary to use words to preach the gospel.

If one concentrates on doing good deeds without telling others about his motivation (the gospel), he risks stealing the glory away from God. Christ should be honored by the Christian's good deeds, but how will anyone know to honor Christ if the Christian is silent about him? As Max Lucado has said, "If we ever get to the point where our goal is to have people say, 'What a wonderful person,' we're missing the mark. Instead, our goal is to have people say, 'What a wonderful God this person serves.' Our task is to have people say, 'Tell me about your God,' and to point people to him." As Jesus Christ said, "(L)et your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

If someone is helping the poor and caring for the vulnerable, he may be doing God's work. However, if he is doing those things without letting anyone know about what Christ has done, he is not doing God's work. He is doing something that, at best, helps someone temporarily. At worst, he is doing those things to feel good about himself. In either case, he falls short of glorifying God. He sins.

The goal of Christians' good deeds is "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (Titus 2:10). Good actions and attitudes enhance the credibility and attractiveness of the gospel, but they do not replace the gospel of what Christ has done. They are not intended to place the focus on Christians. They are intended to shift the focus to the Savior who has motivated and empowered us to love others.

In dying for our sins and being resurrected from the dead, Jesus Christ has done something worth mentioning to others. In ascending into heaven and promising to return, he motivates us to tell others about his accomplishments and promises. In sending the Holy Spirit to live in his people, he empowers us to lead God-honoring lives that point people to him as the Savior and Lord.

People need to hear about what Christ has done for them. Many are living in frustration, struggling with their sins, addictions, and inadequacies without help from above. They need to hear about the hope of heaven and the warnings of hell. They need the opportunity to believe. They need the opportunity to repent. They need the opportunity to bury their lives of futility and to be born again with a real reason to live.

We are doing no one any favors by remaining silent about Jesus. He has done something special, and everyone needs to know it.

Use words. They are necessary.

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:15-16).

No Need to Baptize (Yet)

After reading my post at http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/dad-why-would-someone-go-to-hell.html, a concerned friend asked me why I had not baptized Christopher yet. She explained that she had her daughter baptized at birth so that her daughter would not go to purgatory if she died as a child. My friend is a good mother. I would have done the same thing if I had shared her understanding of baptism. No decent parent wants his or her child to suffer in such a manner.

However, as I explained to my friend, I have a different understanding of baptism. Baptism was meant to be an expression of one's faith and repentance.

Before being baptized, a person needs to understand his need for God. He needs to have some comprehension of his sin and its consequences. He needs to know that he has violated God and faces the danger of God's wrath.

He needs to understand that he cannot do anything to pay off his debt to God. He must realize his need for God's mercy and grace.

Then he needs to know that Jesus Christ is his only hope of forgiveness and a guilt-free life. As the Son of God, Jesus suffered God's wrath on behalf of sinners. He took the penalty in our place. He died to save us. When he returned to life, he did so by the power of God, proving God's acceptance of his sacrifice for us.

If a person believes that message and it affects his emotions and will to the point that he wants to give up his life without Christ in exchange for following Jesus, he is ready for baptism. He is ready to follow the apostle Peter's instructions: "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:38). He is ready to walk with God and to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He is ready to follow the instructions of Christ who wants disciples to be baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). He is ready to mark the end of his old life and embrace a new life living in the grace of God. As the apostle Paul taught, "When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace--a new life in a new land! That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country" (Romans 6:3-7, The Message).

I expect to baptize Christopher someday. Janet and I are sharing the message of Christ with him every day. We are loving him. We understand baptism to be an expression of a heart that trusts in Christ and wants to turn from sin to follow him. We do not want to baptize him before it would be meaningful to him. We will continue to pray, teach, model, and wait until our son is impacted by God's love to the point that he wants to be baptized. Then we want to celebrate his baptism with him.

How Believing the Bible Led to Faith in Christ

Recently, a reader asked me to explain why I believe the Bible to be accurate and trustworthy. He (or she) wanted to know whether I believed the Bible simply because it claimed to be accurate and reliable.

Twenty-five years ago, I began to understand my need for God. My good friend, Sandra Snow, had drowned in Tulsa's Memorial Day flood of 1984, just days before her sixteenth birthday. She and I had become good friends a few years earlier because we had shared several classes together, a similar religious background, and the experience of parents who were divorcing at roughly the same time. At her death, I realized the need to deal with important questions in life: Does God exist? Is the Bible true? What would happen to me when I died? Could I be forgiven of all I had done wrong against God and others?

I did not want to get the wrong answers to such important questions, so I spent much of my spare time at libraries and bookstores devouring as much information as possible on spiritual and religious topics. I read the works of atheists, New Agers, Christians, and many others.

Of course, I read the Bible, too. At some point along the way, I came across these words:

"See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him--
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness--
so he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

"Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

"Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

"He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

"Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

I recognized immediately that Isaiah was describing Jesus Christ. I had read the Gospels and had seen the movies depicting the life of Christ. Isaiah was describing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

But I was confused. The book of Isaiah was in the Old Testament, a portion of the Scriptures written before the birth of Christ. How could he have described those events in the life of Christ so clearly? Adding to my surprise, I soon discovered that the book of Isaiah had been written approximately seven centuries before Jesus' birth.

At that point, I knew that the Bible was a book of substance. I saw that it was almost unbelievably accurate and reliable. And I understood that the God to whom it pointed could be trusted. At that moment, genuine faith was sparked within me. Soon, because of the Bible's accuracy and trustworthiness, I would place my trust in Jesus Christ, and he would change the course of my life.

There is more to the story, but believing the Bible was absolutely crucial to bringing me to faith in Christ.

How Could God Forgive Me?

Sometimes a person can feel the weight of his or her sins and wonder How could God forgive me? I have been selfish all my life. I have been arrogant. I have hurt other innocent people with my actions, my attitudes, and my words. I have divorced the only one who ever loved me. I have alienated my children. I have ignored God all my life. I have always hated the church and the Bible and anyone associated with them. I have destroyed my life and my reputation. Nobody would ever trust me--and with good reason. I have______(fill in the blank with other reasons that God should never forgive or accept me).

This could surprise someone who is struggling with such feelings, but I do not know a Christian who has not felt the same way. I have felt it myself. I know that I deserve God's anger and judgment...and that's what makes his forgiveness seem so strange, but so appealing.

On the cross, Jesus Christ prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Even as he was dying, Christ wanted to forgive those people who were killing him. He understood their sins. He was suffering because of their sins. But he also understood their needs. More than anything else, they needed forgiveness.

As the apostle Paul would explain later, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6, 8). Jesus was paying the price for our ungodly sins. He was suffering for our selfishness, pride, and careless attitudes toward God and those around us. He was satisfying the demands of sin so that we could be forgiven and free from those sins.

After Christ's resurrection and return to his Father, the people for whom he had prayed--the people directly responsible for his death--received the opportunity to be forgiven. The apostle Peter confronted them with these words: "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'

"Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:27-38).

"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 2:41).

Thousands of people who had sought the death of Jesus were given forgiveness. If God can forgive the people who murdered Christ, he can forgive me...and you. They did not deserve God's forgiveness, but he offered it to them anyway. We do not deserve God's forgiveness, but he offers it to us anyway. Their sins were horrible, but God forgave them. Our sins are horrible, but God is willing to forgive them, too. They accepted God's forgiveness. He asks that we accept it, too.

The Resurrection and the Life

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26).

Believing in Jesus as the resurrection and the life changes everything.

The believer is free to enjoy life. He sees life as a blessing. He can savor the experiences. He knows that life is a gift from Christ. He worships as he lives his life.

The believer can face obstacles with courage. He recognizes his limitations. He knows that he will face problems too big and opposition too powerful for him to handle, but he knows that his failures and defeats will not be the end of his life's story. Death may await him, but so does a resurrection. Even in failure and defeat, he can be an overwhelming conqueror.

The believer can live in hope. He looks forward to the return of his resurrected Savior, to the day of the resurrection, and to the liberation of creation from the curse of decay. He sees a bright future ahead as he eagerly waits for heaven and earth to become one, for the kingdom to come in the ultimate sense.

"Do you believe this?"

Heaven

I just finished reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn. In the book, Mr. Alcorn makes the case that Christians can anticipate not only going to heaven when we die, but also the time when heaven will come to earth in the end.

His thesis is based on Revelation 21:1-5, which states,

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'"

He challenges the common perception that our final state of existence will be non-physical and boring. At our anticipated resurrection, we will experience an actual physical resurrection just like Jesus did. "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised" (1 Corinthians 15:13). Since Christ has been raised, his followers hope to be raised like he has been.

In the end, not only will people enjoy the resurrection, but the universe itself will take part in a physical resurrection and be restored to the condition in which it existed before sin entered the "very good" creation of the beginning. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-21).

In the new heavens and new earth, resurrected and glorified people will enjoy the presence of our Savior forever. God will live with us. He will give us opportunities to serve based on how we have handled our responsibilities on the old earth. We will enjoy life with each other without the presence of relationship-destroying sins like envy, pride, hatred, or any other sin. A new culture will develop as we use our gifts and abilities to continually enrich the lives of others.

Although Mr. Alcorn engaged in some speculation about what the future may hold, his general thesis is solid. We can look forward to a new heavens and a new earth in our resurrected and glorified bodies. Christians will enjoy the presence of God forever. To his credit, when he engaged in speculation, he admitted it. He acknowledged that he could be wrong on some of the details, since he was using his imagination to describe in more detail what the Scriptures reveal in a more general manner.

Heaven is a book worth reading. It inspires hope for the future. It warns against the alternative of hell. It motivates people to trust in Christ and to follow him. It encourages the use of one's gifts and abilities to love people and honor God in concrete ways as we await the coming resurrection and renewal of creation. It prompts people to appreciate God in all his glory.

"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:11-13).

He Got Better

"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, NIV).

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17, NIV).

"If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries" (1 Corinthians 15:19-20, The Message).

When Christopher was 2 years old, we were driving along a street as he spotted a church building with a cross on it. He exclaimed, "That's a cross!" Janet and I were a little surprised, but we responded, "Yes, that's a cross." Then Christopher asked, "Jesus died there?" I said, "Yes, Jesus died on a cross. Then what happened?" With full assurance, Christopher answered, "He got better."

"He got better." In his own words, our 2 year-old son had articulated an accurate understanding of the most important event in human history: Jesus Christ had risen from the dead after paying the penalty of death for our sins.

His resurrection substantiated everything he had claimed. He really had fulfilled the expectations of the Law and the Prophets. He really had satisfied God on our behalf. He really was the Son of God.

Now, Christ's followers can look forward to the day he returns (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). Yes. "He got better" and he made it possible for his disciples to get better, too.

Isaiah 53

I owe my parents (Billy Laudett and Joyce Parks) a great deal of gratitude and respect, because I grew up knowing about Jesus Christ. When I was young, my family thanked God for our food before our meals. My sister Tina and I were always in Bible classes on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. We were always in the worship assemblies on Sunday mornings and evenings. Therefore, I came to know most of the historical accounts of the people in the Bible. Most importantly, I knew about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I was provided with a good amount of basic knowledge that would later serve as a foundation for my personal faith in Christ.

However, I did not become a true believer until I was 17 years old. At some point in that year, I found the following passage in the Bible:

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:1-12, NIV).

I recognized that the passage was describing the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but I found it strange that it was in the Old Testament. I knew enough about the Bible to know that the Old Testament was written before the birth of Christ. After a little research, I discovered that the passage from Isaiah was written 700 years before the birth of Christ!

How could someone living 700 years earlier have such a clear vision of what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus would look like? I understood that no one could accurately predict anything 700 years in his or her future, so how could Isaiah have done it? Obviously, it was supernatural.

With my childhood knowledge of the Bible and my recent discovery of Isaiah 53, a genuine faith in Jesus Christ started to develop within me. I had come to recognize that the Bible was reliable and authoritative. It could be trusted. Therefore, I could trust the one it was pointing to as the Savior and Lord. After a few months of reading the Bible, contemplating its message, and assessing my life, I knew that I needed God. I placed my trust in Jesus (who he is and what he has done), committed myself to following him, and was baptized in his name. That passage from the Old Testament gave me a new life...and it is a life of gratitude to God for what he has done for me.

The Agony of Christ

"And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground" (Luke 22:44, NASB).

Before Jesus went to the cross, he spent some time praying in a garden. During that time, he became so involved in talking to his Father that his sweat became like drops of blood.

Earlier this week, I heard that people doubted that such sweating could occur, until the Germans conducted experiments during World War II involving how people responded to fear. They discovered that people could be terrified to the point of sweating blood.

If that is the case, what could have frightened Christ to such an extent? He had taught his disciples that they did not need to fear circumstances or people. Even more, Jesus had modeled fearlessness every day of his life. So, what was happening? Was he afraid of death? No, he feared neither people nor what they could do to him. Was he afraid, as I have heard taught, of being seperated from his Father? Not exactly.

I am convinced that Jesus feared facing the wrath of God. As the apostle Paul wrote, "Much more then, having now been justified by (Jesus') blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans 5:9, NASB). As he faced death, Jesus knew that he was dying in the place of sinners who deserved to face the awesome wrath of God. While we may wish to downplay the seriousness of our sins and their consequences, Jesus recognized that "it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31, NASB).

So why would Jesus Christ place himself in such a position? He looked forward to the results. He knew that his Father would be satisfied with his sacrifice. He understood that many people's lives would be changed forever as they placed their faith in him and what he had done for them. He realized that his resurrection would change everything, bringing hope to all who would follow him.

Jesus approached the cross dreading the agony of facing God's wrath, but anticipating the joy of renewing the relationship between his loving Father and his rebellious brothers and sisters. "For the joy set before Him, (Jesus) endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2, NASB).