A foolish person says in his heart, “There is no God.”
What does it take for you to believe something out of the realm of possibility? Most of us need to see some hard evidence before we lend credibility to the incredible. This is true when we speak of a loving God who sent his Son into the world to be tortured, mocked, and executed by a vicious regime of unbelievers.
The Biblical account of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion makes us cringe at the brutality of humanity. Passion Week forces us to look at betrayal, social pressure, and apathy with a finger pointed at our own rebellious heart. Rejection, fear, and abandonment jump off the page as we identify with the innocent man.
More shocking than the horror of Christ’s undeniable death is His miraculous resurrection. How can we grasp this event? Some people argue the disciples stole Jesus’ body. We read of an empty tomb behind a massive stone. Twenty huge men would have to push the stone aside. Besides this feat of strength they had to be quiet enough not to wake the Roman guards, the fighting machines of their day. There are 200 known eyewitnesses over 40-day periods who say they saw the resurrected Christ. Can we water down this phenomenon with baskets and bunnies?
“The Lord looked down from heaven and saw all men. All have sinned and gone their own way.”
The cross is not a sacrifice God needs in order to love us, but one we need to be reconciled to Him.
1.) In this the love of God is shown: He sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him.
2.) This is love: not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin.
3.) And we ourselves have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
What happens when we accept God’s gift of love? We meet the resurrected Son of God who continues to transform lives 2011 years later!
Bible verses taken from 1 John 4: 9, 10, 14
Psalm 14;1, 2
Romans 3:10
Portions of text from James Kennedy, and Chip Ingram
