The most important questions you will ever ask……..and answer…..come down to a simple binary decision:

Is Jesus divine…….supernatural…….God?

Or

Is he the greatest con-man who ever lived?

This question has a corollary:

Is the Bible true?

Or

Is it a myth?

Because Jesus endorsed the Torah. He also endorsed heaven, eternity, and a literal burning hell.

The answers to these questions will set you on one of two paths. The importance of these questions arises from the destination at the end of each of those paths:

Heaven, Hell, Eternity, something you made up, or dead black nothing.

There cannot possibly be any choice that you will make in your life that is more important. And here is the rub……..not deciding……..ignoring the question……..is, by default, choosing the con-man path.

So what is the evidence?

Jesus clearly and unmistakably said that he was supernatural……devine……..God. And he was crucified for it. This is a historical fact, documented in multiple contemporaneous sources, not to mention the Bible. If this is untrue, then Jesus was a con-man……..or perhaps a lunatic.

Peter saw Jesus transfigured into a supernatural being. Mary and Martha met him a few days after the crucifixion. Paul spoke with Jesus on the road to Damascus years later. If this is untrue, then the divinity of Jesus is not only the rant of a con-man, it is a conspiracy.

Jesus appeared to hundreds of followers on Pentecost. Now, it is a vast conspiracy.

All of the disciples, save John, were brutally killed for their faith. Not one of them ever denied the divinity of Jesus.

Somewhere between 25 million and 100 million Christians have been martyred since then. They died rather than deny the divinity of Jesus. If Jesus is not divine, this is now a vast, lethal conspiracy. Some have called it a delusion.

My first question is this:

Can you name any other belief system that is supported by hundreds of eye witnesses………..any other belief system that tens of millions of followers have endorsed at the cost of their very lives?

My second question is this:

Search your heart. Do you really believe in dead black nothing as your destiny?

Or

Do you really believe that you get to decide the nature of your eternity? Because, if you get to dictate the terms of eternity, then people should be building churches…….to worship you.

“I and the Father are one.”

Jesus, claiming his divinity, John 10: 30, ESV

Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

The transfiguration, Matthew 16:1-5, ESV

Paul had an ailment. He called it a “thorn in his flesh”.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul discussing his illness with God, 2 Corinthians l, 12:7-9, ESV

Paul’s ailment clearly bothered him. It bothered him enough that he repeatedly asked God to heal it. But, God said “no”. Sometimes “no” is God’s answer to our prayers. It can even be the answer given to the greatest leaders of the church, leaders like Paul. If anyone ever deserved……earned…..an answered prayer, it was Paul. But, God denied Paul’s prayer…….over and over. And Paul accepted God’s answer…….and he was content.

How often does God answer a sincere, honest, perhaps desperate, prayer from you…….with “no”. God says “no” and we ask “why”? At best we decide that we don’t understand, and we trust God. At worst we lash out at God. We may even reject God altogether. Have you ever heard something like this, “I refuse to accept a God who would let my child die.” It happens every day. God says “no” and we try to punish him by rejecting him.

Back to Paul and his “thorn”. Instead of healing him, God sent Paul a physician. This physican became a close friend and traveling companion of Paul in addition to being his personal doctor. In return, Paul was likely a mentor in the faith for the physician.

The physician’s name was Luke.

Yes, that Luke.

A decade or so after Paul’s death, Luke wrote two books, “The Gospel, according to Luke” and “Acts of the Apostles”.

Together, Paul and Luke wrote over half of the New Testament. This happened because of a friendship and collaboration that grew out of God’s refusal to heal Paul. God had a better idea. Perhaps, God knew what he was doing after all.

The moral of the story is this:

God is working out his plan…….not ours. We cannot see the whole plan. We cannot expect that everything that God does will make sense to us. We cannot expect that everything that God does will satisfy our short term needs and appetites. What we can expect is that God loves us and is building something fabulous for those who accept him, honor him and love him.

We must be like Paul. We must trust God and be content.

The Bible is full of answered prayers. Elijah prayed for drought and it didn’t rain for 3 1/2 years. Then he prayed for rain…….and it rained. We love the answered prayers on the Bible. They give us confidence. There are precious few unanswered prayers in the Bible. But, those unanswered prayers are the most important prayers in the Bible.

I believe that the most important prayer in the Bible was unanswered. It was Jesus’s prayer, in Gethsemane, that he be excused from the crucifixion. He repeated it three times……just like Paul. In the Bible, repetition means “PAY ATTENTION…..THIS IS IMPORTANT”. And God was silent. By his silence, God said no to the prayer of his son.

Think that through:

If God had answered the repeated prayer of Jesus…..there would be no crucifixion.

No crucifixion……..no resurrection

No resurrection……..no reconciliation

No reconciliation……..no forgiveness of sin

No forgiveness of sin………means that we are all doomed.

The simple reality of the denial, by God, of his son’s prayer, is this:

The only reason that I have the hope of paradise……….is that God said NO…….to another guy’s prayer.

Something to ponder……the next time God says no to you.

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus……the greatest unanswered prayer……ever,
Matthew 26:39, ESV

Jesus began his ministry in about 30 AD.

He was crucified in 33 AD.

Paul, as Saul, viciously persecuted Christians from 30 AD to 40 AD.

Paul had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus in about 40 AD and began his ministry.

Paul wrote his letters between 50 AD and 60 AD.

Paul was executed in 65 AD.

The four gospels were written between 70 and 100 AD.

Let that sink in.

Paul’s entire ministry occurred before the Gospels were written.

Paul wrote his letters between 50 AD and 60 AD. In addition, he mentored Luke. Indirectly, he was responsible for the gospel of Luke and of Acts. Together, these letters and books constitue just over half of the New Testament. This means that most of the New Testament was either written by or inspired by Paul before the Gospels were written.

Paul (Saul) was a passionate enemy of Christianity. He had never read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He had obviously heard about Jesus and was familiar enough with the fledgling Christian faith to persecute them mercilessly.

Then, one day, out of the blue, he became an itenerant preacher and the first author of what would become the New Testament. He did this without having read the Gospels.

He never recanted his teaching about Jesus, and he was imprisoned and beheaded for it.

A few days after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to His supporters and the apostles. Six or seven years later, he appeared to Paul (Saul), arguably his greatest and most dangerous enemy. This was clearly a very special, “one off” event.

Paul’s conversion from persecutor of the Christian church to the second most important founder of the Christian church, after Jesus, occurred in a 3 day encounter on the road to Damascus. More importantly, it did not come from a study of the Gospels. Paul’s conversion came about as a direct, first person, revelation delivered by Jesus himself. Nothing quite like it had ever occurred before. Nothing like it has ever occurred since.

Of millions of people, Jesus chose Paul. Jesus chose his most virulent enemy to be his spokesperson…….to author most of the New Testament.

What was Jesus thinking?

I can only speculate; but, I think that Jesus saw Paul’s talent and his passion. I think that Jesus chose Paul to initiate the writing of the New Testament. Jesus orchestrated a catastrophic event in Paul’s life in order to “turn Paul’s head”,

The history of Paul’s ministry, in particular, the three days on the way to Damascus, is more than just another “Bible story”. It is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As such, it is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence supporting the truth of the entire Bible.

I can imagine no other experience that would lead to such a drastic change in Paul…….no experience short of a first person encounter with the resurrected Jesus Christ.

I, too, will someday have that experience.

So will you.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Luke, relating a conversation between Jesus and Paul,
Acts 9: 1-5, ESV

So…..what is the opposite of freedom?

Enslavement
Restriction
Loss of control

Nope………the opposite of freedom……….is safety.

I know a guy.

He has made his way through the last 40 years without a regular 9 to 5 type job. He makes his living through tens of thousands of small individual transactions. He gets up in the morning, has his coffee, and decides how he will spend his day. This guy understands freedom. He lives it. But, he doesn’t have a clue as to where the money will come from next month. He doesn’t have a pension. He never has carried a lot of insurance. He has survived cancer and multiple hurricanes without it. In a word, he has freedom; but, he has given up a lot of safety.

I am the polar opposite.

At age 12, I chose a career path that would guarantee me a good stable income, respect, and prestige. I worked my fanny off. One summer I worked a job that was 36 hours on and 12 hours off…….all summer long. I have almost no memories of college. I slept during the day and studied at night. I did this to avoid the distractions of a social life. And it worked. I had a fabulous, extremely successful career. I live a liberal retirement. But, to get here, I have thrown away freedom by the truckload.

Freedom vs. Safety

It occurs to me that one of the most important choices that we will make in our lifetime is a choice between freedom and safety. It is the choice between secular humanism and Christianity.

Secular humanism offers us freedom. We can do whatever we want. If you don’t like being a man……identify as a woman. If you have an unwanted pregnancy….abort it. If you disagree with a law…..ignore it. Ultimately, you are in charge. Nobody can tell you what to do. You live freedom……every day. But, you are going to die. At that point, the lights will just go out. And, that is the best possible case scenario. The worst possible case is hell. Looking at it from a long-term perspective…….you have no safety at all.

You are on a tight rope with no net. And…..sooner or later…….you are going to fall.

“No one gets out alive”.

Jim Morrison

Christianity, on the other hand, is a way of life that imposes expectations on us.

Love God
Love everyone else
Obey the 10 commandments
Accept Christ as your leader……your saviour

These expectations will restrict everything that you say and do for the rest of your life…….if you do it well. You will give up freedom by the truckload. In exchange, you will gain ultimate safety. No matter what life sends your way…….you will spend eternity in paradise with a creator who loves you………a creator who made you for that one purpose.

Freedom or Safety.

And here is the amazing part.

You get to choose.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus, a poem by Henley

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Psalm 23: 4-6, ESV

I am, by training and career, a scientist. My career was in medicine, radiology to be specific. When I was in residency, I trained with a guy who was really, really smart. I know this because he never missed a chance to tell me how smart he was. One day he explained to me, in some detail, why it was mathematically impossible to perform an MRI scan in less than an hour.

This morning I had an MRI. My scan began at about 7am and I was out of the building at 7:10am.

So, what does this have to do with theology?

Scientists are constantly telling us what is impossible:

Creation in 7 days

God

The resurrection

Heaven

Hell

Eternity

An MRI in 12 minutes

But, there is a disclaimer that they never mention. This disclaimer should follow every pronouncement that any scientist makes:

“This statement is based on the one one millionth of the universe that I understand at this instant.”

For example: Dark matter and dark energy make up over 90% of the universe. Scientists cannot find either of these, much less understand them. And that is just matter and energy. Scientists cannot tell us how big the universe is. In fact, they cannot even tell us how much they don’t know.

When asked to explain anything, an honest scientist would say, “I am, for the most part, ignorant; but, here is what I understand today. Come back tomorrow for an update.

“It would be tragic for you to run your life based on scientific evidence that tells you that heaven and hell are not possible only to find out at your death that the scientists just hadn’t discovered them………yet.

The point is this:

Don’t plan your life based on things that scientists tell you are not possible. Because, the thing that was impossible today may be entirely possible, perhaps routine, tomorrow…….like a 12 minute MRI.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Paul, Romans, 11:33, ESV