“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:” Daniel 2:27-28
There is a God in heaven. People are always looking for an answer of where we came from. People are always searching for answers for various aspects of their life. They search all manner of ideologies such as we see in Daniel chapter two. When looking around the community you will see card readers, mediums, and astrologers amongst other things. These people take your money and tell you what you want to hear. Being told what you want to hear isn’t always the best thing for us. However, being told what is true whether we like it or not is always the best thing for us.
The truth is, there is a God in heaven! The God of creation loves His creation so much that He sent His only begotten Son to earth to die for our sins. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Jesus Christ our savior was the full embodiment of the Godhead on earth. Scholars will come and teach other ideas contrary to what we see in the Bible. They will teach that Jesus was only a man, Jesus was not a real person, Jesus never died on the cross, Jesus cannot be God, and a host of other ideas. Here’s the plain truth: in Jesus was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul taught that in Him, that is in Jesus Christ, dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:8-10.
Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:9.
We must remember that Jesus is the Son of God! Jesus came according to the scriptures in the “likeness of men”. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11.
What makes people so afraid of Jesus and His teaching is the claim to His origin. If He has come from God, if He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and He came in the likeness of men, then all men indeed will bow the knee to Jesus!
It’s important to remember that even non-biblical sources from the 1st Century point to Jesus and many of His attributes. These claims cement His origin as coming from God the Father who is all-powerful, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, and the Creator of all things.
One of the most foolish things people do is discount the nature of the Bible and discount the historicity of the person Jesus Christ. Look at Some historical writings from antiquities.
CONCERNING HIS LIFE, WISDOM, MIRACULOUS NATURE, CHRISTHOOD, CRUCIFIXION, RESURRECTION, & CHURCH
Josephus, “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he… wrought surprising feats… He was the Christ. When Pilate… condemned him to be crucified, those who had… come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared… restored to life… And the tribe of Christians… has… not disappeared.”
CONCERNING SUNDAY WORSHIP, SINGING, RIGHTEOUS LIVING, & LORD’S SUPPER
Pliny the Younger, “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food – but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.”
CONCERNING HIS CRUCIFIXION & HIS MIRACULOUS NATURE
Babylonian Talmud, “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald … cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.”
CONCERNING CHRISTIAN WORSHIP, FREEDOM FROM THE LAW, HIS CRUCIFIXION, CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP UPON CONVERSION, & RIGHTEOUS LIVING UNDER THE LAW OF CHRIST
Lucian, “The Christians … worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account…. [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.
CONCERNING CHRIST FOLLOWERS BEARING HIS NAME, HIS SUFFERING, TEACHING OF CHRISTIANITY
Tacitus, “Nero fastened the guilt … on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of … Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome…”
Friends and brethren, the truth is out there biblically and historically. There is a God in heaven and His Son is Jesus Christ who came and died for the sins of all who would believe His gospel! Amen and again I say Amen!
“The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.” Psalm 14:1a