Foundations of Faith
GOD THE SON (II)

What Is the Evidence for the Existence of Jesus Christ?

There are some people in the world today who declare that the Bible by itself is not a valid history book and that there is no evidence outside of the Bible for the existence of the Jesus of the New Testament. What answer can we give to such people?

There are, in fact, a number of lines of evidence outside of the Bible for the existence of Jesus. Tacitus, the renowned historian of the Roman Empire, wrote early in the second century about the Christians:”The name Christian comes to them from Christ, who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the Procurator Pontius Pilate.”

The Jewish historian, Josephus, in the latter part of the first century, mentioned Jesus in His book, Antiquities of the Jews. He referred to Jesus as “a wise man … a doer of wonderful works,” who was condemned to the cross by Pilate, and who “appeared to [His disciples] alive again the third day.”

Archaeological digs have yielded the Christian symbols of the cross and the fish dating to the first century. And in 1945, a sealed tomb was discovered near Jerusalem and dated at about 50 A.D. On one of the caskets were the words, “Jesus, help”; on the other, “Jesus, let him arise.” (Further evidences may be obtained from the editor of GROWING.)

By the way, have you ever wondered how the fish became a Christian symbol (often seen today on bumper stickers)? The Greek word for fish is ichthus, and each of the five Greek letters in ichthus stands for a word:Iesous CHristos THeos Uios Soter (“Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour”).

Why Was Jesus Born of a Virgin?

Do you remember the story in Genesis 18 where the Lord appeared to Abraham, along with two angels, all having the appearance of men? Now, why didn’t Christ come into the world like that? Because, if He had, He would not have been fully human, but only the Son of God taking an outward human form. Christ’s being born of a woman showed that He was fully human. Furthermore, His miraculous birth by a virgin, through the power of the Holy Spirit, showed that He was fully God as well as fully man. Those who deny the virgin birth of Christ deny the true deity of Christ–that He was the Son of God.

His being fully Man made it possible for Christ to represent man on the cross and truly to suffer physically, mentally, and spiritually for man’s sin. His being fully God made it possible for Him to suffer infinitely–to pay the full price required by God to make atonement for sin. Christ’s deity also demonstrates God’s perfect righteousness in judging the sin of man. God did not create a sinless being to suffer and die for man’s sin, but He sent His eternal, uncreated, co-equal Son for this purpose.

Another important consequence of the virgin birth is that Christ did not inherit the fallen, sinful nature of Adam (technically called “original sin”) like every other person born into the world (Psa. 51:5; 1 Cor. 15:47).

Now in the Incarnation of the Son of God, that is, when “God was manifest in the flesh” and “dwelled among us” (1 Tim. 3:16; John 1:14), we are told that Christ “made Himself of no reputation [or emptied Himself]” (Phil. 2:7). This leads us into the next point:

Of What Did Christ Empty Himself?

When the eternal Son of God came down from heaven and became a Man on earth, did He empty Himself of His deity (being God)? Certainly not! He never ceased to be fully God, even when He became fully Man. Did He empty Himself of His divine attributes (having all power, all knowledge, etc.)? Again no, but He did empty Himself of His divine rights as Son of God to use those attributes at all times. He “took upon Him the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7), He subjected Himself to His Father, never saying or doing anything apart from His Father’s will (John 5:19,30; 6:38; Rom. 15:3; Heb. 10:7). (See Assignment 12)

Christ also emptied Himself of the outward display of glory and majesty that He once enjoyed–and now enjoys again–in heaven. There was no room for Him in the inn, He had no place to lay His head, people called Him a devil, they spit in His face, they crucified Him. How contrary all this was to His eternal glory and majesty!

Do you remember an instance in the life of Christ where He allowed His glory and majesty to shine out for a short while? (Hint:Read Matt. 17:1-9).

CONGRATULATIONS!

Two persons completed all of the assignments for 1993. They are Julie Johnson (97.1% correct answers) and Andrew Johnson (91.6%), both of Bedford, Pennsylvania. One other person, Christopher Ochieng of Ruiru, Kenya completed over half of the assignments. Thirteen others sent in at least one set of assignments. We would be delighted to have many more of you doing the assignments in 1994.

Running the Race
DOING THE FATHER’S WILL

It was noted earlier in this issue that the Man Christ Jesus subjected Himself in every way to the will of His Father. One of the ways Satan tempted Him in the wilderness was by suggesting that He turn stones into bread since He had had nothing to eat for 40 days. Jesus’ well-known response was, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

There was nothing sinful in and of itself in what Satan asked Jesus to do. The point is that Satan tried to get Jesus to take an action without reference to the will of His Father. Since Jesus hadn’t been told by His Father to provide bread for Himself, He didn’t do it.

One of Satan’s major activities today involves distracting the followers of Christ from seeking to know and to do God’s will. Have you ever had thoughts like these: “I deserve a break; therefore I am going do what I want to do this time.” “I don’t have time to find out what God wants me to do; I’ll just do what seems best.” “If I ask God, He might tell me not to do it, so I will go ahead and do it without asking Him.”

Christ is our example. If you belong to Christ, and you truly believe that God is wise and good and that His will and ways are perfect, then be diligent to find out and carry out His will for your life.

(There will be more on this very important aspect of Christian living in later issues of GROWING.

Assignment 12: In the June 1994 issue of GROWING we learned that Jesus Christ, as Son of God, was omniscient, knowing all things. Find a verse in Matthew 24 and another one in John 8 that show that Jesus did not draw upon His infinite store of knowledge apart from His Father’s will.