“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.” (John 20:30-31 NLT)
It may be true that life is the best teacher, but problems arise when we misinterpret or misunderstand the lessons we’re being taught. God will use the things we experience in our lives to give us insight, not only into who He is, but who, at our core, we are. But if we miss what He’s trying to teach us, we’ll likely miss why He so desires us to learn the lessons He wants us to learn through the experiences He allows.
Faith isn’t a hard sell to a child, not because they’re gullible or not able to understand, it’s because their soul is unstained, and their heart is open to learning. Are they not able to sin? Of course, and they do, but their conscience is tender, and they quickly and eagerly gravitate to a God who is a loving Father, kind, caring, and forgiving.
Much of what we learn about how life works and how we should respond to life isn’t taught as much as it’s “caught.” Our parents, whether believers in Christ or not, teach us with their lifestyles what they’ve learned, and we have a front row seat to how that’s working out for them. The problem is, too often our heart is hardened before we learn there is a God, or the “god” we learn about through our parents and their life’s experiences, isn’t the God of the Bible, thus making it more difficult for us to make an educated choice to love and follow Him.
What does this have to do with why I believe? Quite a lot actually. When I was first introduced to the God of the Bible, I didn’t read of Him in His Book as much as I “read of Him” on the pages of the lives of those who were telling me about Him. Why is that important? Because we can only teach what we’ve been taught.
As I’ve mentioned in some of my earlier blog articles, with rare exception, we aren’t simply taught “the Bible,” we’re taught someone’s understanding of the Bible, with the result we’re not “taught,” we’re indoctrinated into their “brand” of what the Bible teaches. That’s not necessarily bad unless your parents, pastors, or other significant adults or peers haven’t been instructed in the true, Biblical version of the Christian Faith.
So, here’s the bottom line as to why I believe that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be – the Son of God, God in human form, sent to earth to be our Savior, who was murdered on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin and to free us to become all God created us to be. Then His resurrection defeated death, hell, and the grave, forever freeing us to find in Him what no one in all eternity has or will ever be able to offer us except Jesus – forgiveness of sin and a forever home in heaven.
Over the years, I’ve read and re-read the Bible many times. I’ve studied difficult passages and researched for myself what critics have said about Jesus and the Bible. I strongly urge you to do that also. However, I have and will continue to tell you, do not take my word or anyone else’s word when it comes to what you should or must believe, that’s between you and the Lord. The only unalterable criterion is that it must align with what the Bible clearly teaches. But what if different “scholars” disagree on a particular word or passage?
We’ll pick this up in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 