Hi everyone,
Now I would just like to answer a couple of question which J. Kudo had asked me previously. That is, is Jesus Christ the Son of God? How do we know that? Can I prove it?
There is no other place to search for he answer than to look into the Bible. In order to believe in the Bible, it must first prove to be credible and true. The Bible is separated into two sections: The Old Testaments and the New Testaments. The Old Testament (OT) was written long before Christ was born. And the New Testaments (NT) was written about 50 AD after Jesus was crucified on the Cross.
Many people have mistaken that the OT are books of teachings given to the believers of how to live a moral and righteous life. This is a misunderstanding. Most of the books in the Bible (For example, the 1st and 2nd book of Samuel, the 1st and 2nd books of Kings, etc) were actually historical accounts of Israel. They tell of how the nation Israel was formed, what they do, and who ruled them. Another reason why the claims by critics that the Bible are a book full of lies is really irrational because if any one of you would read the accounts of Israel. You will realize that Israel fail the standards of God time and time again. However the weird thing is that the Israelis never cancel all those negative reports about them from the Bible! Instead they leave it as it is. The credibility of the historical accounts is easy to verify, you can simply do a check on the history of Israel to prove whether the OT is correct.
In the OT, it also make mention of great kingdoms like Babylon and Assyrian. Of how they affect the nation Israel and the wars they fought. Every detail of the wars was accurately written down in the OT.
Other then, historical accounts, the OT also wrote of beautiful poems and love stories. There is also a book called Proverbs written by the richest King of Israel, King Solomon. This is even more incredible. The Proverbs written were things like, behave morally, speak up for those who are unable to defense themselves, submit to authorities, respect and obey our parents, etc. These are what we know that we should do, aren’t they? There weren’t any form of manipulation to believe in a form of religion, were there? No. So you see, guys, there weren’t much to talk about in terms of theological doctrines that were used to manipulate others. There are just none.
So what and how does the Old Testament play apart in the Christian Faith. Well the OT tells of how God loves mankind and long for all to have a proper relationship with Him. The OT also tells us about how God plan to do this. The OT predicted that somebody will come in human form and bare the sins of many. How? By having a Man to be crucified on the Cross. (Now this is a funny thing. The death penalty of crucifixion on the cross was not invented only until the Roman Empire, but yet the OT writers were able to predict that this thing will happen long before its time! Surely, no man could have invented this up.) Not only that the OT also predicted accurately the time and place of the birth of Christ. it also predicted what Jesus will do here on Earth. For example, He will heal the sick, deliver people from demons possession, and will be a light and a hope for all who have none. The OT also predicted how Jesus will die, where He will die, when He will die and by whom.
So you see, the OT is not in anyway a hoax to try and convince people to believe in their religion. But its base on true historical facts and tell us the moral standards we should live our lives.
Now we move on to the NT. I’ve previously refute the idea that the NT is use as a religious propaganda to manipulate people for some religious cause. However, that’s not all. The New Testament approves the credibility of the Old Testament and thus affirming that what the Old Testament writers predictably wrote was true. The New Testament though were written by different writers, yet was able to give the same account that can be easily refuted by those outside to be lies, but there was none. There were also non-Christian sources who affirmed the dates and venues of the events to be accurate. Some of them were Josephus; Tacitus, the Roman Historian; Pliny the Younger, a Roman Politician; Phlegon, a freed slave who wrote histories; Thallus, a first-century historian; Lucian, a Greek satirist; Celus, a Roman Philospher; Mara Bar-Serapion, a private citizen who wrote to his son; and the Jewish Tamuld, etc.
Now that we are slightly clear on the credibility of the Bible. The Bible is not just some theological doctrines for the believers, but it contains love letters, stories, and proverbs on how to live a righteous and Godly life; and historical accounts of ancient times and the life of Jesus. Let us now see if Jesus is the Son of God….
The Old Testament had predicted that a Man, who will be born of a virgin supernaturally, who is from God will come and save mankind by shedding His blood for the cleansing of the sins of mankind. Jesus fits them all. The OT contains more than 48 Messianic prophecies concerning Jesus. Here are some of them…
Genesis 12: 3, 7
Genesis 49:10
Jeremiah 23:5-6
Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah 52:13- 53:12
Micah 5:2
Malachi 3:1
Daniel 9:25-26….
Okay, so we know that the OT fits Jesus completely, but does Jesus really wants us to worship Him? The answer is yes! Jesus confirms the OT by quoting them and affirmed that who the OT writers wrote was Him. He affirms his deity by doing miracle works, and showing from the Bible the things that were said of Him. Most importantly, as predicted by the OT, he died on the Cross crucified; none of His bones were broken by the Roman soldiers unlike the other two prisoners who were crucified with Him; He was instead pierced into His side by a spear; and after three days, He rose from the dead appearing to many of His believers.
So I’ve just answered the 2nd question of which J.Kudo asked …
[quote=”J. Kudo”]
2) Why do you worship Jesus Christ, who was a wise man, and based on many of his opinions and philosophies I would say that in worshiping him you are more or less deminishing everything he believed, and I honestly believe that he would not have wanted to be worshiped. [/quote]
Next J.Kudo asked.
[quote=”J. Kudo”]
1) If you aren't supposed to worship Idols, why do you idolize and worship idols of Jesus Christ… [/quote]
Firstly I would like to say that worshipping Jesus and worshiping the Idols of Jesus is different. We Christians don’t worship the idol of Jesus but we worship Jesus Himself. How? By coming to Him in prayer and every other daily affair we do with faith, reverence and love for Him.
Now worshiping Jesus is not idolatry. Idolatry happens when a man worship something that is not in essence God. Jesus, however, is different. Jesus is perfect. Jesus is not just a man. He is a God-Man! He has the essence of God and Man in Him when He was on Earth and even now when He is in Heavens. He is 100% God and 100% Man. This is definitely hard to grasp, but should we be so surprised? No. For we are just finite beings, trying understand an infinite being.
After spending much time here to clear some of the misunderstanding, I’m glad that at least some of those misunderstanding is cleared. Although I know that there are still many questions remain, I would like to ask that whether you guys asked them out of serious doubt? Or because you just don't wish to know and accept the Bible? Many of your questions are due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible, are you gona put it off just like that? Given an example, Our parents said they love us, but why is it that they scold us and cane us when we are naughty? Don't they know that its very hurting and painful? Yes they know, but they also knows that discipline and punishment are good for our future. But do we understand this when we are very young and void of much understanding? No. So do we put them off as bad parents becuase of that? No. Not only because we have got no choice coz we depend on them for providence, but also we trust in them and have faith in them. Remember the belief in Jesus not just about this life we're talking about, we are infact talking about eternalty. We can put down anything that we don't like, but truth is as real as gravity. It doesn't matter what's our opinion, they still work anyway. Just try jumping off a cliff, no matter how much you refute the laws of gravity with theories and experiment, it still work! Right now, its easy to be a Christian, but there will come a time, believing in Jesus gona be extremely difficult.
I'll probably not be answering any more of your questions. I believe I've done enough work here. As I have said before so I say now. I'm not here to force the Gospel down your throat but I'm asking you to decide carefully coz it is crucial.
Many of you ask why God allows bad things to happen. What many of you don't understand is this. If God wants perfect peace, He can do it. He will just have to take out the freedom to choose, our will. The freedom to choose is the greatest priviledge that Man ever had. Just like the days in the Garden of Eden, when God tell Adam to choose between the tree of good and evil(which will eventually led to death) and the tree of Life(which is immortality), so are we called to choose today in this present era.
Like all of you here, I have many questions when I started out as a Christian. However, I didn't put down Jesus just because I couldn't make out his ways. But I seek to know and understand with a sincere heart. Making sure that every evidence is real, truthful and credible. Making sure that the words I've heard from witness are not lies. While I do have many bad habits and many desires I hope to accomplished,(which I thought that I would't be able to do so if I was to accept Christ, but I was wrong.)God slowly change me like never before. Thus I came to a conclusion that Jesus is a real God and He is worth our everything and I hope that you will too.
Kyo83
