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Easter: Ultimately Important or Ultimately Stupid?
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Easter: either true and ultimately important, or not true and ultimately stupid?
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Why do Christians wear those crosses?
JFK supporters do not wear bullets on a necklace, nor do Michael Jackson supporters wear excess medications. Why, because those were tragic & sad examples of life taken. The cross was used by Romans for an excruciating death, yet has become the symbol of the answers provided by a life given.[/fusion_text][fusion_text]
Truth Claim
The previous sections focused on the reality that “God” exists, not only being far and away the best explanation of the evidence, but exposing fatal flaws in atheist and agnostic beliefs. If such a personal creator exists, the next logical question is: What God is it? There are many different religions or belief systems with different truth claims about different Gods, which is to be expected as people want to believe what they want to believe, and show a penchant for making a God that fits their likeness.
And, as we learned in the discussion on “truth”, whenever these claims contradict each other, only 1 of these truth claims, at most, can be true. You would be surprised at how effectively and clear you can compare all these different claims to demonstrate which one you can stand on with the reliable foundation of actually being true, see the You Made Your Bet section. This current article will focus on that singular truth claim, which stands apart from the others.
The TRUTH CLAIM is: We all have done things we know we should not have. If someone had a movie screen that projected all our thoughts and actions on it so everyone could see, most of us would want to run from that viewing area. We have not lived up to the standard of being holy, or purely good, and therefore carry something that will be separated from holiness. Part of the nature of God, and the condition of heaven, is holiness, and if God were to simply allow one like me into heaven, then it would cease to be heaven, as I would bring the same stuff that is here on earth, and God would fail to keep justice if not punishing and keeping the unjust stuff separate from heaven. That is the bad news.
The good news (the word “gospel” means “good news”) is that the same Bible that predicted the beginning & cause of the universe, and a personal designer of the universe, also stated that the personal cause of the universe did not remain distant, but instead provided a further – personal – disclosure in Jesus. Jesus came to earth, lived as a personal display of how God is, then suffered and died to take the cost of our wrong choices and actions on himself, so that justice was done with God himself paying for our pardon.
The Easter account is either true, or false, there is no middle-ground, and considering what is at stake, makes the account either unimportant (and pitiful to believe in), or ultimately important (and pitiful to reject) – the one thing it is not is only moderately important.
If this IS TRUE, then this would demonstrate:
- God understands our situation – as he lived through it
- Our position with God is serious – if the cross was what was required to set things right between us and a Holy God
- We have inherent value and we must be loved very much – because value is determined by what one is willing to pay, and Jesus paid the full price
- Jesus’ claims of authority beyond life were validated with the resurrection, therefore, what you do with your relationship with Jesus is as serious and impactful as it gets!
If this IS TRUE, then the cross is part of an amazing plan, and displays God going beyond what we expect, to provide definitive answers to life’s biggest questions.
- What is the meaning or purpose to life, my life?
- Does God exist, and if so, is he distant or uncaring, or does he have a purpose with me in mind?
- Isn’t being a “good person” good enough? What do I do in life to ensure the best results for me and my loved ones?
- Is there something after this life? How can I know?
If that claim is NOT TRUE, then:
- The Easter story is incredibly stupid
- Jesus and his early followers were either LIARS, who pulled-off the MOST AMAZING CONSPIRACY EVER, or they were LUNATICS, who willingly sacrificed all they had through constant horrific treatment and eventual executions, or they are LEGENDS, just made up from the murky past.
In any of those cases: the cross means nothing to us because there is no biblical God, and we should have very different answers to life’s most impactful questions (covered in the You Made Your Bet section). Therefore, if you want to ensure the best results for you and your loved ones, you would live your life very differently: different priorities, goals, hopes, investments and direction towards what is best, or you would pay the consequences for ignoring or avoiding reality, when reality comes home to you.
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Why is the most important figure in history so passed-over?
The way you answer life’s biggest and most impacting questions, a few of which were mentioned above, will lead to very different impacts on you – depending upon what is true about Jesus. So have you seriously considered this figure?
Seriously, look in your history books. How many pages, test questions, discussion and analysis time were spent on Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander the Great, etc. And how much was spent on Jesus? Jesus is an historical figure with an impact that can be recognized as the largest in history. This is an academic topic – but it is basically avoided.
Students at Harvard proved to be good critical thinkers, as their professor, Royall Professor of Law Simon Greenleaf, taught the same weak, circumscribed information about Jesus, until the students asked, “Well what about Jesus’ claim?” Great question. If Lincoln claimed he was God, was the only way to heaven, and will validate his claims with supernatural acts and a resurrection from the dead, those would be important facts to cover when considering Lincoln.
Greenleaf, one of the people responsible for bringing Harvard Law to its prestigious position, and who wrote what was known as the bible for examining courtroom evidence, examined the evidence in order to invalidate the claim, but instead determined the Easter claim is accurate, ultimately important, and like any good research professor, he wrote about it. When even lawyers are making it to heaven, the evidence must be extraordinary. In fact, it is so singular, that no other claimed “God” comes with comparable support.
It seems the Bible’s claim that Jesus will be a “stumbling block” to many people is accurate. Many trip over the truth of Jesus throughout their life, but simply get back up and keep moving along in the daily grind of life, or from one diversion to another, hardly considering a figure that may be the center point of history in general, and your life in particular.
Maybe people have emotional reasons for wanting to avoid Jesus and his claim, and then grab onto intellectual reasons to try to support that avoidance. Critics could claim that of Christians too, maybe we have emotional reasons for wanting Jesus to be true, a crutch, and we try to find intellectual reasons that try to support our belief.
Regardless, supporters and critics have poured over the issue of Jesus’ resurrection from ground zero to today, and many conclusive evidences have been found. In fact, there are multiple trend-lines of evidence available, which point to truth regardless of any emotions, opinions, or distractions, and are available for you to decide for yourself.
Only you can make your decision to accept or reject Jesus’ claim, and you will face any consequences that follow from that choice. To keep it simple, we will start with the Minimal Facts Approach in our next section titled “5-Minute-Fact-Run”.
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