www.DoYouKnowWhy.org
One Specific Prophesy
I believe it is important to cover one particular prophesy in more detail. It is the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ prophesied in Psalm 118:22 and fulfilled by Christ. The reason becomes clear when we look at the following passages:
Hebrews 9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
We see through this verse that the shedding of blood is absolutely necessary for sin to be forgiven.
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
This verse shows that Christ’s rising from the dead is absolutely necessary for the forgiveness of sins.
The Hebrews verse indicates the shedding of blood is necessary to forgive sin while the 1st Corinthians verse indicates Christ’s rising from the dead necessary. Does this sound like a contradiction? While it may seem so initially, the following should give you a better understanding of this seeming contradiction.
Could the Hebrews verse above refer to the shedding of just anyone’s blood? These following verses should answer this.
Hebrews 10:19 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus”
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin”.
Going back to the 1st Corinthians verse above, we see that it clearly shows that without Christ’s resurrection, our sins are not forgiven and that others should "pity” us. So if the 1st Corinthians verse is true then Jesus’ resurrection is one of the most important events in the Bible. But Hebrews 9:22, 10:19 and 1 John 1:7, show that only the “shedding of blood” of Jesus forgives and cleanses us from sin.
And again, these two verses seem to contradict each other. One verse indicates resurrection is necessary while the other indicates that the shedding of blood forgives us of our sin. How do we resolve the seeming conflict of one verse showing that the shedding of blood is required for forgiveness and the other verse showing that the resurrection is necessary to forgive sin?
Another detail has to do with who actually can forgive sin. Two Bible verses show the answer:
Mark 2:7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Luke 5:21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
These verses show that only God can forgive sin. So when considered with the verses indicating that the shedding of blood and Christ rising from the dead, we get a more complete picture.
When you think about everyone eventually dying, what would a person need to do to prove they were God? What would be something that only God could do that no one has ever done before or since to prove they were God? Wouldn't rising from the dead, their resurrection, qualify as something that only God could do? And with Jesus, not only was the resurrection proof that He was God but Jesus foretold that He would rise from the dead.
Luke 9:21-22 “And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Do you see how these two verses actually work together? Jesus Christ’s resurrection three days after dying on the cross fulfilled the prophesy and proves that He is God. And being God, His dying on the cross shows that His blood was sufficient to pay the price for our sin.
Evidence for the Resurrection – Josh McDowell
www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
There are those who challenge the validity of the Bible, because of supposed contradictions similar to this one. Some want the bible to be false so that they can feel more confident in their belief that there is no reason to believe in the existence of God, or at least the God of the Bible.
Supposed contradictions in the Bible are enough proof for skeptics that the Bible has errors and can’t be from God. Skeptics don’t try to find an answer for the supposed contradictions because an answer would conflict with what they've already decided to believe. The supposed contradictions confirm their worldview, and they aren't interested in evidence that would challenge their worldview.
Do a Bing search for: Bible Contradictions Answered, to find many sites answering supposed contradictions in the Bible.
When all the evidence is considered, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is who the Bible says and who He claimed to be - God in human flesh. Considering the evidences demonstrating fairly conclusively the truth that Jesus is God, do you want to be one who chooses to ignore these evidences and the implications of rejecting His payment for your sin?
Sites on Jesus:
“The Real Face of Jesus” – Amazing documentary on the Shroud of Turin!
If you find the video has been removed, do a Bing video search for “The Real Face of Jesus”
Jesus Fact or Fiction
www.jesusfactorfiction.com/journey.html
Jesus in all the books of the Bible
www.jesusplusnothing.com/jesus66books.htm
What is the Truth about Jesus?
www.compellingtruth.org/truth_Jesus.html
Other Sites With Evidence About Jesus
www.allaboutgod.com/is-jesus-god.htm
www.christiananswers.net/jesus/home.html
www.sitelevel.com/query?crid=0h2drw8q&query=JESUS&x=0&y=0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJ9i_apd_E
www.risenjesus.com/top-10-myths-about-jesus-resurrection
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay_Db4RwZ_M
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iyxR8uE9GQ
One more point. There are some who believe that Jesus never died and so He could never have been resurrected. They conclude that, “There can’t be a resurrection from the dead, if the body never died.” This belief ignores a few major facts:
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Rome had been performing crucifixions as a capital punishment for hundreds of years. They were experts at performing crucifixions and wouldn’t have made the mistake of allowing someone to survive the ordeal.
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The Roman guards certainly didn’t have any sympathy for Jesus that they would have reduced the torture that Jesus experienced. The guards wove a crown of thorns for Jesus to wear since Jesus was being referred to as king, and they beat him and pulled out parts of his beard. The Roman guards probably enjoyed beating Jesus considering He was a criminal of Rome and sentenced to death.
Check out the links below under the:
Medical Detail of Jesus Suffering
Jesus was killed by one of the most excruciatingly painful forms of execution in all of human history. When I realized this I started to wonder why.
I didn’t wonder,
“Why would Jesus Christ choose to be sacrificed for our sin?”
I wondered,
“Since Jesus Christ is God then why did he chose to enter history in the time of one of the most excruciating forms of execution ever invented?”
After all, if Jesus Christ was God then couldn’t he decide to enter history during a time when a quicker much less painful execution was the practice? What about being run through with a sword during the Middle Ages? Wouldn’t that be quick and much less painful compared to being crucified, while still allowing him to shed his blood? I’m sure there are other times in history when people were killed by methods causing far less pain as compared to a crucifixion.
I believe the reason Christ chose the time in history that he did is because He wanted us to know that not even the most brutally excruciating execution would be enough to keep Him from his mission, to pay the price for the sin we’ve committed and will commit, so that we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven. And why did He do this? Because He loves us so much!
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends".
A saying I’ve heard illustrating Christ’s love and commitment to us is:
“I asked Jesus how much He loved me,
and He said this much,
and He stretched out His arms and He died.”
To see specific details of the incredible price Jesus paid through scourging and crucifixion and the evidences of His death, look at the medical description of His crucifixion:
Medical Detail of Jesus’ Suffering
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RptnOb-IFFM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC9krDwjfZE
The Resurrection Argument That Changed a Generation of Scholars
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay_Db4RwZ_M
Evidence For The Resurrection - Craig Hazen
http://ffmp3.com/catalog/2001/13061.mp3
Evidence for the Resurrection of Christ in a Nutshell
https://credohouse.org/blog/evidence-for-the-resurrection-in-a-nutshell
Evidence for the Resurrection:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzNREgNC11k
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iyxR8uE9GQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pV5XxZQDLs
Did Jesus Really Rise? – Dr. Phil Fernandez
http://ffmp3.firefighters.org/catalog/2009/45623.mp3
Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? - John Ankerberg
http://ffmp3.firefighters.org/catalog/2001/13142.mp3
How the 12 Disciples Died Validates Christianity
http://truthisfree.org/how-the-12-disciples-died-validates-christianity/
Historical Evidence for the Resurrection
www.desiringgod.org/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection
Apologetics Conference - Evidence for the Resurrection
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocbtjLgUnQY
Testimony of the Evangelists - Simon Greenleaf
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/greenleaf.html
If Jesus Wasn’t God, He Deserved an Oscar – John Ankerberg
http://ffmp3.firefighters.org/catalog/2009/45551.mp3
Reclaiming Easter
www.josh.org/pages/reclaiming-easter
Essay Series: Is Christianity True?
www.apologetics315.com/2010/04/essay-series-is-christianity-true.html
Tackling Tough Questions - Sean and Josh McDowell
How Can You Trust That Christianity Is True If You Haven’t Examined All the Alternatives?
It is important to realize that we will probably never have evidences for everything pertaining to the Bible and God. There will be things that are impossible to check, primarily because archaeology hasn’t yet discovered the evidences, and may never. But remember again, archaeology has verified over 2000 of the approximately 2500 prophesies listed in the Bible, and not a single one has been proved wrong. The others haven’t yet been fulfilled because they speak of events to take place in the future. Considering this, I believe that the way to consider all of the evidences God has provided for us - the scientific, archaeological, and prophetic evidences - is that he has proven Himself in the things we can check so that we can have full faith in Him in the things we cannot check.
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