This We Believe - Round 2

Who Are We?
“For the Christian Church to ignore, euphemize, or otherwise mute the lethal reality of sin is to cut the nerve of the gospel. For the sober truth is that without full disclosure on sin, the gospel of grace becomes impertinent, unnecessary, and finally uninteresting.” -Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

What is truth? Pilate asked, and we still deal with that today. The truth is that we all start out as sinners. We all have a lethal condition that, if not dealt with, will result in our destruction. But the truth is also that there is a cure – a vaccine that will save us from death.

Original sin is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is ingendered of the offspring of Adam; wherby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation.
-The ninth of the Anglican Articles of Religion (1563)

What is sin?
-Sin is rebellion.
-Human life is rebellion. Rebellion against God is the natural state and condition of the entire human race.

What's the conclusion?
-Human beings are born rebels to God by reason of original sin.
-Acknowledging our need should promote humility, causing us to grow in our knowledge of God and of ourselves.

So, we now understand that we were born sinners. That is the Bad News. But it doesn’t stop there! There is Good News coming!

Who was Jesus?
Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?!

Ever heard anyone say. “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” The problem is that, to Jesus, who people believe him to be was of fundamental importance.

Let’s stop for a minute. Jesus claimed to be God, and to be the only way to God. Doesn’t that leave us a problem if we are going to try and accept him as just a “great moral teacher?”

The Lord, Liar, Lunatic debate was first proposed by CS Lewis in Mere Christianity. Let’s look at each of the three elements to help us understand his reasoning better.

Was he a liar?
If Jesus knew that he was not God, then he was deliberately lying. That would also make him a hypocrite, because throughout his whole life he was teaching others to be truthful! He also would have been very evil, as he was encouraging people to trust him for their eternal destination! On top of it all, he would have been a fool – as his claims led to his crucifixion. Was he all those things? Could Jesus be a “great moral teacher” and all those other things?

Stop and think about what you know of the results of Jesus’ life and teachings. If everything Jesus is about was a lie, then why is it that the result of his life and teaching leads to honesty? Liars become converted and tell the truth. Nations come under his power and choose to do what is right. It would be impossible to find anyone who has influenced the world to do so much right. Is it possible for all of that to have happened if it all started with a lie? Is it possible for a deceitful, selfish, depraved man, to invent and consistently maintain the purest and noblest character of anyone who has ever lived? And then sacrifice his own life for what he knew was a lie? Is it possible?

Was he a lunatic?
Could he have thought himself to be God, but been mistaken? It is possible to be sincere and wrong! If any other Jew in Jesus’ time proclaimed himself to be God and the only way to God – he would have to be a lunatic! It was a monotheistic culture! To tell others that their eternal destiny depended on you… that would have been lunacy.

They have places today where they lock up people who think they are Napoleon or Elvis. They lock them up because people like that are not “normal.” You can tell by interacting with them that they have a “few screws loose.” But Jesus spoke some of the most profound sayings ever recorded. The skill and depth of his teaching point towards complete mental wholeness. In fact, if he is not God then we have a new problem of trying to explain how a mere man could come up with such a depth of truth and insight!

Is he Lord?
It’s impossible to conclude that he was a liar or a lunatic, which leads us with the conclusion that he is Lord! Most Jews are convinced that Jesus was not a Liar or a lunatic, but they will also say that he was not God! How can that be?

All three of these options are possible but only one is probable. Only one is really even remotely possible.



But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31 (NIV)