The Search for Jesus
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in 1999, ABC News' Peter Jennings told the world of his "Search for Jesus" in a
two-hour documentary. In doing so, he joined biblical "scholars" who
in recent years have, according to an April 8, 1996, cover story in U.S.
News & World Report, embarked on a historical quest to understand
Jesus, the man.
As
encouraging a sign as it may be to see an often liberal, anti-religious media
and scholarly world examining an issue as central to Christianity as the
Christ, their mission is doomed because the premise behind it fails to
acknowledge two essential facets of their subject: 1) that Jesus, the Man, and
Jesus, the Son of God, are one and the same; and 2) that the search for both
Man and Savior begins and ends in the Bible.
And
what exactly does that search reveal? Let's start at the beginning:
n John 1:1-5 – Jesus, unlike the rest of mankind, was
not a creation of God. He is God. He has always been and forever will
be.
n Philip. 2:5-8 – The Son of God forsook the privileges
of deity, obediently humbling Himself by taking on the form of man.
n I Pet. 2:22 – Despite everything He had to endure as
Man -- the reviling, the betrayal, the unjust condemnation, the humiliation --
Jesus did not sin.
n Matt. 26:52-54 – Christ willingly fulfilled His
mission as a sacrificial lamb. Christians sing a hymn that so aptly captures
the sacrifice Christ made: "He could have called ten thousand angels, but
He died alone, alone instead."
n Luke 24:1-8 – As promised, Jesus arose from the dead
on the third day.
n Acts 1:9-11 – After His resurrection, Jesus ascended
to heaven.
n I Tim. 6:14-16 – He reigns there as "the blessed
and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord and Lords," and will appear
again "at the proper time" to call His own to Heaven.
n I John 5:11-12 – Because Christ emptied Himself,
lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins and arose again, all men
have the hope of eternal life, if they believe in Him.
n Matt. 10:32-33 – Jesus will confess before God those
who confess Him as the Christ before men, and He will deny those who deny Him.
n Rom. 6:4 – And those who are buried with Christ in
baptism will be raised from spiritual death to "walk in newness of
life."
That
indeed is the wonderful story of Jesus, and no one need make a pilgrimage to
Palestine – or watch "a journalist's exploration of the historical
figure" – to fully appreciate it. Just digest the glorious message about
the Son of God as told in the Word of God itself. Then do what the Bible
commands so that you can inherit God's unmerited gift of eternal life.
Webmaster Note: For the
last three weeks you have read articles written by K. Daniel Glover. Danny
is my second son, and a member of the church at Centerville, VA.