Friday, August 23, 2013

August 24, 2013

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles," I Corinthians 15:3-7

Death is a big enemy that creates some gigantic fear in us mortals. I think I was about 30 years of age when I first came to grips with my mortality. Before that time the idea of dying really didn't stick with me. Dying was something that happened to other people - older people. I had three young children that I wanted to see grow to adulthood and I couldn't bear the thought of my life ending before they were grown. As I recall, the idea of death and dying haunted me for several weeks until I worked my way through that fear.

Are you familiar with that fear?

One of the truths that helped me deal with this horrendous fear of dying was the knowledge that even though death is bigger than life, God is bigger than death!

How did God conquer death? Through a death! Yes, a death! The death of His Son, Jesus Christ. And even more, God defeated death by a resurrection from the dead! The Jewish religious leaders arrested Him on trumped up charges, made those stand, beat Him savagely, and then killed Him on a cruel cross. Jesus did die. But three days later he was back to life! Through His resurrection from the dead, Jesus proved that God is bigger than death! He died to take away the sin and shame so you can be free from from the fear of death! BUT THEN He rose on the third day - came back from the dead! When Jesus walked out of that garden tomb on that first Easter Sunday, He conquered death! Forever! Death could not hold Him and neither can it hold those of us who follow Him and are called by His name.

Is a death a big fear in your life? And if that fear is robbing you of your peace about dying, remember the resurrection! Remember the love that motivated Jesus' life, His brutal death, and His marvelous resurrection! In other words, remember that God is bigger than death or any of your fears about dying!

Knowing Who Jesus Is and what He did to conquer death should be enough to help you conquer your fears about death. That is the power of faith! Are you going to choose to believe your fears or will you believe in a God Who has proven He is bigger than death.

So, God destroyed the power of death by allowing His Son to be unfairly mobbed and murdered. He affirmed that He is the source of the life that dwells within you by raising His Son from the dead! And the Bible tells you that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you through His Spirit!

His life in you through faith, is stronger than death that is working in you! And His life through you will raise you up to eternal life!

Do you have that life? Don't die with out it!










August 23, 2913

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:1-3
 
To believe in creation requires faith. Accepting the evolutionary theory of origin also takes faith. Because faith is defined as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". Neither creationists or evolutionists have seen their "first cause" each is certain of its existence. Creationists put their faith in Scripture while evolutionists put their trust in science. Which do you think forms the best foundation?

Frank Crick is a Nobel-prize winning biologist who helped with the discovery of DNA. He is a man who has devoted his life to science and has invested great faith in it. Here is a quote from him relating to the origin of the universe, "An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to almost be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have to have been satisfied to get it going."

Science journalist and author, Charles Siefe observed, "It seems like a tremendous conincidence that the universe is suitable for life."

Coincidence? Miracle? Random chance occurance? What is the origin of our universe?

One thing is sure, the tolerance for error in the beginning of the universe was extremely slight. Astro-physicist, Lawrence Krause, for instance, wrote that if the force of gravity were changed by 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001%, both the planet Earth and the sun would be nonexistent.

Honest examination of the facts and the evidence and the mathematical probabilities strongly favor supernatural creation as the origin of our universe. But your final answer will come down to where you place your faith. And faith is based on what you hope to be true.

Evolutionists hope that God does not exist and that the universe spontaneously exploded into existence. Why would they not want God to be the Creator of the universe?

Again, I hearken by to my two main reasons offered previously:

1) They want to be in control of their own lives.

2) They want to sin without having any consequences.

If, as Scripture records, God is the Creator, then He is in control and we are accountable to Him. But, if the scientific theory of the "Big Bang" and evolution are correct, then their is no God and we are in charge.

That is the essence of sin. St. Paul expressed it this way:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:19-21

I would caution you against hoping God away from the creation process. If there is no God and if all that we see in our world and universe is an incredible coincidence, then where is our security? If it all came together via a random occurance of matter and energy, what is to keep it from all coming apart? How can you have hope in the midst of that uncertainty? If we can only be certain of the moment in which we live then what is the purpose of living? If we are gods, what has our diety gained us?

If you are trusting in science, has science ever been wrong? Are you sure that you want to pin your hopes on something as inexact as science?

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for...." Be careful what you hope for.