Over the course of this series we have built the case. We have presented the evidence. There is only room for logical and rational consideration. And right thinking should bring with it real-world implications. Beliefs, if taken seriously have consequences. Once we see the Truth….
One day when Jesus was speaking with his disciples He asked them “ ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:16) For Peter that was a defining moment of confession and affirmation. He had seen for himself the miracles, and the ministry. He had heard the teachings and observed the character of the man Jesus. Now he followed that evidence to a decision. Because of that realization, that decision, his life would never be the same.
So much of this study has been an exercise in considering the evidence for the existence of God, specifically the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus. It required no action on the part of the reader. But there comes a time when statements about the nature of truth require action, require a decision. Now, that evidence tells us convincingly that there is a God. There is a consistency in Biblical Christianity with regards to both its internal belief system and its correspondence with the nature of reality that is not found in the other major religious traditions. That correspondence with reality has its confirmation in findings in archaeology, history and science. This is a faith based on the cold facts of reality, built upon the truth. It is just as it claims. This is not a faith founded on contradictory logic or mystical wishful thinking. This is not a faith that says the sincerity of your belief is enough. It is the object of your trust that is important, not how strongly you hold to that belief. Would Jesus have so willingly died if it were just not necessary, if any path would do?[i]
We have approached the question from several different angles and it has pointed us in the same direction.
- Thinking philosophically about the nature of truth and reality we found that truth does exist and that it points us to the existence one, single source of universal morality.
- Even the presence of evil itself confirms our belief in an all-powerful loving God.
- We have followed the trail of the scientific evidence to find unmistakable signs of an incredibly designed and complex universe on every level from DNA to the cosmos itself. Along the way we noted the theoretical failings of the Neo-Darwinist model.
- When considering the claims of Christianity we established the credibility of the Scriptures.
- We noted the amazing accuracy of the prophecies and their fulfillment in the person of Jesus. He was the promised Messiah.
- Even the evidence for the resurrection was found to be extremely compelling.
So, when Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am,” we must take the question very seriously.
It is a question of more than just intellectual interest. Our answer defines our destiny. There is an offer implicit in the question. It is the point of the whole of the Christian message. It is as Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee who had come to him to learn more about a man whom he recognized as a prophet of God. “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3) He was talking about a total transformation, a spiritual rebirth. For that is the offer that He makes us. He says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
It is an offer that is open to whoever believes. And to whoever believes He will grant a measure of that spiritual power that will enable this spiritual rebirth. The offer is not just to those that qualify in some way. It is not just for those that somehow become worthy of salvation. The offer is open to everyone, to whoever believes! There is nothing we can do to earn this salvation. It is the free gift of God. As C.S. Lewis so succinctly put it, it is not that “God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because he loves us.”[ii] This is Christ’s offer to each and every one of us.
“Who do you say I am?” That question demands action. Faith demands a decision. It calls for much more than just mental assent. It calls for commitment.
God is offering us the reality of divine reconciliation. And there is no price for this gift of salvation. There are no qualifying pre-conditions. God calls us to come the way we are, sinners lost in sin. We are asked to accept the gift of Christ on a cross, serving as our substitute. The Son of God takes on our sins and we are credited with His righteousness. Sounds crazy, but that’s the offer. ‘Here is my Son, kill him if you must. Then believe on Him and He will set you free.’ God recognizes our sinfulness and our inability to do anything about our condition. He sees us lost in our sins. Even the best among us has failed to live up perfectly to the law. It is not enough to have done more good than evil. The law demands perfection. We have all failed. He knows our hopelessness. So, He comes to our rescue.
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-24)
That is the price of faith. Free! It is available to all who believe and put their trust in Jesus. That is the testimony of the word of God, the free gift of full pardon to us, the guilty ones. It is the love cry of the Father calling us into a family where we will always be loved, where we will always belong. By the blood of Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, we are offered entrance into the Holy of Holies; eternal communion with the God of the universe. We are offered the chance to become the children of God.
It’s a ‘come as you are’ offer. There is no price for salvation, though salvation is priceless. For as Paul says of Christ in 2Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Here is what God says to the World. Accept this offer! Surrender to Jesus…..and be set free!
[i] Grant Jeffrey, Jesus: The Great Debate, Frontier Publications, 1999, pg 273
[ii] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Broadman & Holman, 1996, pg 64
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