FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF CHRISTIANITY
ILLUSTRATION
As the new plant manager walked through the factory he noticed, in the distance, a worker hit the machine he was at with a large hammer. The manager stopped and watched the worker. It was remarkable, every three minutes the worker would pick up a large ballpeen hammer and strike the machine a savage blow. The manager turned to the area foreman, who was walking with him, and asked why the employee was striking the machine with a ballpeen hammer. The foreman nonchalantly replied: “That is what we always do.” The plant manager finished the inspection tour and returned to his office.
The next day, at the morning department manager’s meeting, the plant manager asked if anyone knew why there was an employee beating on his machine with a ballpeen hammer. None of the production managers had an answer. The procurement and supply manager made the statement: “Probably because we only stock ballpeen hammers.” By this time, irritation could be easily discerned on the plant manager’s face. He stated, rather firmly: “You mean we have an employee beating a piece of equipment with a hammer and no one knows why?” An old and rather crusty maintenance manager spoke up: “did this happen at the annealing furnaces?” “Yes,” replied the plant manager. Rubbing his jaws with a large knurled hand, the maintenance manager slowly commented: “I bet it was at the 101 line. About 10-years ago that line had a froze link in it and every time the link came around to the center idler cog you had to hit the machine on the idler bearing mount to keep the chain from hanging up. But we fixed that chain a long time ago” The room grew very quiet as the plant manager leaned forward and gently said: “ten years ago.” “Yep, at least 10-years, just as soon as we got a new link,” replied the maintenance foreman. The annealing department manager blurted out: “no one ever told us that the machine was fixed!” The plant manager leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling thinking: “I wonder just how many people in this factory don’t know … why.” He slowly leaned forward and placed his hands, face down, on the table in front of him. He spoke gently: “When our people do something without knowing why they are doing it we have reduced them to nothing more than an extension of the machine they are working at. We cannot build a quality workforce unless everyone knows …WHY!
SERMON
HISTORICAL TRUTHS
1. The Godhead; God, Jesus and Holy Spirit created the physical world and all that is in it. (Genesis 1 and 2)
2. Satan, a powerful spiritual being, rebelled against God and led mankind into rebellion against God. (Genesis 3)
3. Mankind is now in a depraved state and we are doomed to eternal punishment and separation from God. (Romans 3:23, 6:23)
4. God does not want to see mankind doomed to eternal punishment and separation. (John 3:16)
5. God made an initial covenant with mankind and in this covenant God provided a means for dealing with our sins. In a place representing the throne room of God, a high priest sacrificed an unblemished animal once a year and this temporally set aside the guilt of our sins. But, only a perfect sacrifice, in the actual throne room of the Godhead and conducted by the ultimate high priest would provide a means for mankind’s sins to be forever forgiven. (Romans 3:21-30, Hebrews 9)
A PERFECT SOLUTION TO REUNITE MANKIND WITH THE GODHEAD
It is without question that God is the author, perfecter and finisher of our salvation. This is not, however, a universal salvation! Our salvation requires we hear about Jesus so that we might have a personal knowledge of, and faith in, the power of the perfect sacrifice. (Luke 11:28, Ephesians 4:21, John 17:20) The very essence of our salvation is wrapped up in the requirements of the perfect sacrifice.
1. Scripture defines the requirements for the perfect sacrifice as being:
a. spiritually pure;
b. physically pure;
c. conducted by the ultimate High Priest; and
d. with direct access to the throne room of the Godhead.
2. Herein lays a key issue:
a. Obviously nothing physical could meet these requirements, and
b. Obviously nothing spiritual could meet these requirements.
Please note, only a perfect sacrifice would redeem mankind and it has to be a combination of physical and spiritual perfection. What all this boils down to is the fact that the sacrifice must be a perfect spiritual being, housed in a physically pure human body. Ergo, we have the requirement for the incarnation of the Creator. God must come to earth in human form: a virgin must give birth to an incarnated element of the Godhead.
In reference to how the incarnation actually took place … mine is only an opinion. Did the Holy Spirit create sperm and an egg or did the Holy Spirit create an already fertilized egg or did the Holy Spirit simply implant the genetic code in one of Mary’s eggs? I suppose I would lean toward the Holy Spirit supernaturally creating an already fertile egg in Mary’s womb. What is of scriptural certainty, however, is the FACT that no human father was involved.
Mary, because she found favor with the Godhead, was chosen to be the incubator in which a spiritually and physically perfect baby was grown. (Luke 1:26 -35) This incarnation would teach mankind the requirements of salvation and then He would give up his life as a perpetuation for our sins. Our salvation would be verified by the resurrection and ascension of the perfect sacrifice to Lordship over all creation.
I think the words of Dr. Ian Richard Kyle Paisley say it best. “As a fundamentalist I believe in a supernatural Christianity which presents a supernatural Christ Who had a supernatural Birth, Who lived a supernatural Life, Who died a supernatural Death, Who rose in a supernatural Resurrection, and Who is coming again in a supernatural Manner.
Rejection, then, of the Virgin Birth is an attack on the supernaturalness of Christ. Of Christ's wondrous birth, human incredulity questions, "How shall this be?" Divine inspiration answers, "With God all things are possible."
When human impotence bows to that answer of divine omnipotence the Miracle of the Virgin Birth can be whole-heartedly accepted. He who questions the Virgin Birth challenges the almightiness of God. To discredit the Virgin Birth is not only to strike at the nature of Christ but at the very power of God.” (Dr. Ian Richard Kyle Paisley)
Our salvation required a perfect sacrifice and it is the essence of this perfect sacrifice that defines the essentials of Christianity. In my opinion, those who have identified these fundamental are correct and it would be most profitable if we taught all of mankind these requirements; that the Holy Spirit might mold the essential fundamentals of Christianity into a solid foundation on which an individual will build their relationship with Christ.
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PERFECT SACRIFICE
Irreligious libertine preachers, in all denominations and fellowships, have discarded the necessity of the virgin birth and with it they have thrown out the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. Their blackened souls cause them to fabricate teachings and doctrines, which are believable without any application of faith. Yes, they desperately want a savior, but they do not want a Lord and Master. Thus, they offer people a savior without deity and one who does not demand our subjugation. In denying the very fundamentals of Christianity, these false teachers have devoted themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. (1st Timothy 4:1)
Only a fool would deny the perfect sacrifice! And, if you do not deny the perfect sacrifice then you cannot deny the spiritual and physical perfection of that sacrifice. And, if you do not deny the spiritual and physical perfection of the sacrifice you cannot deny the absolute singular deity of the perfect sacrifice. Scripture makes it very clear: if Jesus was not an incarnation of the Godhead then He was nothing more than a man. And, if Jesus was nothing more than a man then He had no power to save us from our sinful condition. Praise God that Jesus was not merely a human; Jesus was the incarnation of the Godhead.
I am in agreement with bible scholars who believe our faith rests in:
1. Authority of Scripture – a person who does not believe the New Testament is God’s complete, final and accurate revelation of His instructions for mankind has absolutely nothing on which to anchor their faith.
2. Jesus Existed, As Part of The Godhead, Before He Came To Earth – this is a fundamental requirement for the deity of Christ.
3. Substitutionary Atonement – forgiveness of our sins was only possible through the perfect sacrifice.
4. Virgin Birth – the only means of achieving the perfect sacrifice was through a virgin birth of the incarnation.
5. Deity of Jesus – Jesus was the incarnation of the Godhead and in Him rested the essence, power, perfection and authority of the Godhead.
6. Mankind Must Submit To The Authority Of Jesus – we must believe in who Christ is, and we must demonstrate this belief by our desire to follow the teachings of Jesus.
7. Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection – Jesus died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice and He bodily arose from the dead having put on the imperishable spiritual body every Christen will one day inherit.
8. Second Coming – Jesus will return one day to judge all of mankind and to rule a new heaven & earth.
CONCLUSION
1. Believe
We say that we believe, but just what is it we believe? We say that we believe Jesus is the Messiah, but just what does this mean? Even the Demons can testify to a belief that God is one but this belief does not lead to their salvation. (James 2:19) Think about this for a moment. Is it possible that there are those who say they believe in Jesus Christ but have no idea what it is they believe? Of course there are such people … probably there is a vast multitude of such people. Why then do such people exist? Is it because the teachers never taught them what to believe? Or could it be that the teacher themselves do not understand what it is they believe? Perhaps the teachers do not really believe!
Lift up your eyes and look, within Christendom itself the fields are white for harvest!
2. By the Word We Are Children of God
First and foremost, we must clearly understand that ours is not a religious order founded on the teachings of a great man and his immediate followers. In fact, we are not really a religious order; we are the children and heirs of the one true living God: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We exist as Christians because we have heard the word of God; we have believed the word of God; and we now live the word of God. This is not the word as delivered by man, but the word of God as it is written in the New Testament. Neither have we believed through the persuasive power of the human tongue; we believe because the word of God has been engrafted into us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ and the foundation of our belief is forged from the essential fundamentals of the Word of God, as they relate to ‘Jesus the Christ’.
3. A Fundamental Creed
Are the fundamental requirements of Christianity a creed? I do not favor the word creed! Yet, I must admit that our fundamental truths could be viewed by some as a statement of faith. I ask myself: could I call someone a brother or sister who denied the virgin birth, or the bodily resurrection of Jesus, or anyone of the fundamentals? The answer is no. To deny anyone of the fundamentals is to deny the perfect sacrifice and to deny the perfect sacrifice is to deny the atonement: salvation only through Jesus. Thus, I must bow to the fact that Christian fundamentals can be viewed as a form of doctrine or creed; although, I prefer to consider them as essential knowledge required for someone to become a Christian.
4. Teach the Fundamental Truths of Christianity
In my opinion, a person who is not taught to believe these fundamental truths will not have been provided with a suitable foundation for building a sustainable relationship with Jesus. I believe the fundamentals of Christianity make up the rock on which we must build our Christian lives. (Matthew 7:24-27)
