A Reason To Believe
Acts 15:12-28
At the Wisconsin State Capital, the atheist group, Freedom from Religion put up a display featuring this sign: “Nobody died for our sins, Jesus is a myth.” This is just the latest in the now popular assaults against Christians.
This organization utilizes bully tactics in their extreme intolerance. They display both bad manners, and unfathomable ignorance.
Last week, we looked at the content of the gospel from 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Today, we will briefly examine the evidence for the gospel.
My question for you today is this, “Is there sufficient evidence to believe that the gospel is true, and if there is, what will you do about it?”
We return again to the Resurrection chapter where we find a clear definition of the gospel and the resurrection of Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:12–28 (ESV) — 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Paul makes it clear. The resurrection of Christ is a historical reality and the central belief of the Christian faith. Simply put, if Jesus rose from the dead, then his message must be believed and faith in him is the only way to have our sins forgiven. If the resurrection of Christ is true, then the promise of eternal life can be believed with confidence. This passage presents these assertions and also provides the foundation by which we can know that the resurrection happened just as the gospels declare.
The first proof in that Jesus lived in Real Time here on earth. Christ’s life was on full public display. His birth was witnessed by King Herod, Wise men, Temple servants, and humble shepherds. He lived a normal life with people from Nazareth knowing about him from his upbringing. He was known in Jerusalem as the young boy who spoke so powerfully in the Temple. And in Capernaum and surrounding region of Galilee his miracles were witnessed by thousands.
The reason that this is important is that these are the same places where Christianity was first established in the lifetime of the original witnesses! William Lane Craig suggests that, “Without the belief in the resurrection, the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even if they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have silenced any hope of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad shameful end of his career.” Therefore, it is crucial that the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are true and historically accurate.
1 Corinthians 15:5-8 provides a list of some of the post resurrection appearances. Jesus was seen by Peter, then The Twelve, then by more than 500 at once. This eliminates the possible accusation that those who testified of seeing him alive were manipulated by some psychological need. And most of these witnesses were still alive at the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. This means that if Paul were writing something false, he would have quickly been discovered to be a fraud.
Josh McDowell says this about the significance of the resurrection. “All but four of the major world religions are based on mere philosophical propositions. Of the four that are based on personalities rather than philosophies, only Christianity claims an empty tomb for its founder. In 1900 B.C. Judaism’s Father Abraham died. In 483 B.C. Buddhist writings say Buddha died “with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind.” June 6, 632 A.D. Mohammed died. In 33 A.D. Jesus died but came back to life appearing to 500 people over a period of 40 days. Josh McDowell, “Evidence that Demands a Verdict,” Here’s Life Publishers, Inc., 1979, (180).
Proof #2. The Gospels give us an Accurate Record of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
Jesus is the most written about person in human history. There are four gospel writers.
Each of them written either by APOSTLES or associates of Apostles (Matthew and John were Apostles, M ark wrote under Peter’s authority and Luke under Paul’s.) There is complete unity in the story.
The accuracy of the New Testament is seen in 3 crucial facts:
1. The earliest complete copies of the NT date to 300 years after they were written. The earliest portions date to 20 years after they were written.
2. No ancient documents have the accuracy of agreement between the existing manuscripts as do the NT.
3. No ancient document has the number of manuscripts as the NT.
The following chart demonstrates the unique attestation of the New Testament manuscripts when compared to other foundational historical documents. Note that historians consider other sources as completely credible, even though those documents have far less manuscript support. It appears that the doubts concerning the story of the New Testament have a deeper root than just honest historical skepticism. The disbelief is a spiritual blindness against God’s authority.
Ancient Secular Manuscripts
Writer Date Earliest Copy Copies Time Gap
Plato - Greek Philosophy 427 – 347 BC 900 AD 20 1240 + years
Aristotle - Greek Philosophy 384 – 322 BC 1100 AD 49 of any 1 work 1420 + years
Caesar - Roman History 100 – 44 BC 900 AD 10 940 + years
Josephus -Jewish History 1st Century AD 500 AD 15 of any 1 work 400 + years
Tacitus - Greek History 100 AD 1100 AD 20 1000 + years
New Testament Manuscripts
There is a continuous line of more than 20,000 manuscripts with less than a 300-year time between the time the New Testament first was penned till the entire New Testament was contained in one volume.
With the discovery of the Magdalen Papyrus dating to @ 70AD, we now have portions of the New Testament (from the Gospel of Matthew) that actually predate the completion of other portions of the New Testament (completed @ 90 AD).
SOURCE: christianevidences.org/manuscript-evidence/authenticity-of-new-testament/ancient-manuscript-comparison/
According to professor Clark Pinnock, “There exists no document from the ancient world, witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies . . . Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias.” Clark Pinnock, Mcmaster University SOURCE: "Evidence of the Resurrection" by Josh McDowell. Leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
Proof #3 - Non Biblical Record of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Some treat the Bible as a fairy tale, akin to Mother goose or Aesop’s Fables. It’s just a book of fanciful stories. But non-Christian historians and documents verify the historical record of Jesus Christ.
The TALUMD. The Talmud is a collection of rabbinical writings from the 1st and 2nd Centuries. Perhaps the best proof apart from Scripture that Jesus performed miracles comes from his greatest detractors – namely, the Jewish leadership of the time. Note the quote from the Baraila (Talmud) “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu (meaning Jesus) was hanged because he practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy” When the Talmud refers to Jesus’s being hanged – this is a reference to His crucifixion. Notice that the Jewish leadership of the day doesn’t doubt or even question that He performed wonders and miracles - they just attribute it to sorcery. Matthew 12: 24 even refers to this notion which the Jewish leadership erroneously held. Even the Jewish Talmud admits that Jesus performed Miracles! SOURCE:christianevidences.org/archeological-evidence/eye-witness-testimony-supporting-new-testament-accuracy/talmud/
TACITUS was regarded as the Greatest Roman historian. He lived from 56 AD to 120 AD. The following quote is taken from Annals 15.44 - his work on Roman history. In the narrative presented below, Jesus and the Christians are mentioned. This is in the context of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself (after Nero set fire to Rome in 64 AD):“But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.” Tacitus testifies to the following:
Christ’s existence
Early Church’s existence
Pilate sentencing Christ to death
Pilate as Procurator of Judea
PHLEGON. Phlegon, another 1st Century historian, mentions the Darkness that Occurred during Jesus’ Crucifixion In his work called Chronicles, he testifies that darkness came over the land at the time Christ was crucified. This is also referred to by Origen (185AD – 254AD) – one of the Church’s early theologians. “And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at that time (in whose reign) Jesus appears to have been crucified” Phlegon also testified to the fact that Jesus apparently could predict the future: “Jesus (had) a knowledge of future events…also the results corresponded to his predictions”
THALLUS. Perhaps most telling of all is that Thallus (another Roman historian who lived from 50 - 70 AD) criticized Phlegon for saying that the eclipse lasted for three hours. He argued that no eclipse of the Sun could last as long as three hours. Thallus’s quote itself has been lost to history apart from others referencing it. Isn’t it interesting however, that one Roman historian from the 1st Century takes another one from that same era to task about the casue of the darkness! Notice that they don’t argue whether or not it occurred. Phlegon and Thallus testify to the following:
Jesus’s existence
Long period of Darkness in the middle of the day while Jesus was on the Cross
Jesus’s ability to predict the future. SOURCE:christianevidences.org/archeological-evidence/eye-witness-testimony-supporting-new-testament-accuracy/phlegon/
So what is your response? There are many reasons people become Christians. So come to Jesus because they have been told that they will have a better life. Young parents sometimes become interested in Christianity to have well nurtured kids. Others are seeking personal happiness, or morality, or prosperity. Some come to Jesus because they have made a bargain with God to get out of a crisis. While all of these reasons may be part of what causes us to see our need for Divine help, none of them are sufficient reasons to believe in a lie.
Ultimately, the only reason to believe is because it is true! This is the essence of Paul’s appeal in 1 Corinthians 15:14–19 (ESV) — 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
If the gospel is true, then you must face the facts:
You are a sinner and accountable before God
God loved you so much that Jesus came to die for you
You can be forgiven, escape judgment in hell and live forever in heaven with Jesus
Jesus is coming again!!!!
There is more than sufficient evidence to accept that Jesus was a real person in real time. The testimony about him must be considered and appears to be certain. The consequences of this are enormous. Give your heart to the man who came to earth to die and was raised again.
