Why I Am A Christian (5) – The Resurrection of Jesus

 

Read: John 20:1-18

This week, for my day off, I did something rather unusual. I went tramping through Sighthill Cemetery looking for the grave of Andrew Bonar, the minister of Finnieston Free Church in the 19^th Century and a man whose writings and life I greatly admire. After a good while searching, I finally found what I was looking for – the final resting place of the man whose biography I have read and re-read. There’s nothing remarkable about the place he is buried – an unremarkable stone covered with spray-can graffiti – nothing special. This greatest of Glasgow men dead and buried now for 115 years. But today, and every Lord’s Day, this congregation en masse goes gravehunting – we are looking for the body of truly the greatest of men – but we never find it. We go looking for the body of the crucified Jesus Christ, but we always find His tomb empty – the Jesus who 2,000 years ago was executed on a Roman cross, but on the third day, He rose from the dead and is alive and alive forevermore – the tomb is empty – His body is not there – He is risen!

 

The Shorter Catechism on God (Q.4): 11 – God is Good – Love

Read: Hosea 11:1-11

 

Could there be a more horrific world than the idea of a wicked God wielding every possible power in order to ruin us? Unfortunately, many primitive religions believe in a God or God’s like that. They live in fear of everything – from thunder in the sky, to monsters of the deep – everything is a sign and symbol of the displeasure and hatred of their gods towards them. How amazing it is then to think that we don’t live in a world like that – that whereas we worship a God of infinite power, that God is also full of infinite love. It is the love of God, and particularly the love of God in Christ Jesus, more than anything else, which causes us to fall on our knees in worship, praise and adoration.

 

The Shorter Catechism on God (SC.4): 10 – God is Good – Benevolence

Read: Psalm 145:1-21

 

When I was a child, in common with many other children, I read C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books. The best known of his books is probably “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, where we are introduced to Aslan – the Jesus-figure of the books – a great and awesome lion – the King of Narnia. The first we hear of Aslan in the book is when the four children are in the house of the Beavers, and Susan asks Mrs Beaver about Aslan – “Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meet a lion.” Mrs Beaver replies, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, their either braver than most or else just silly.” Lucy, the youngest child then pipes up, “Then he isn’t safe”. But Mr. Beaver comes out with the one line I’m sure we all recognise from the book, “Safe, don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

 

Why I Am a Christian (3) – The Character of Jesus

Read: John 14:1-14

 

One of my favourite sayings is ‘the best of men are men at best’. It is true that those we idolise, those in positions of power and respect whether in sport, government or the church, whilst they may be great men and women, are all too fallible. Ben, contestant in TV’s X-Factor admitted this week his addiction to cocaine. John Prescott was exposed as an adulterer. The best of men are men at best – even in us, we know that there are flaws, things we do well to hide, but if they came out into the open it would cause a scandal. Over and above the best of men stands one who is unique – one whose words combined so perfectly with his works that He was a one-of-a-kind – the best of all men but without the flaws which mark us off as human beings. Someone whose dignity, nobility and glory; someone whose love, compassion and mercy were so pure as to make Him the centre-piece of all human history – someone whose personality and character has so enraptured millions of people as to draw them to Him in a way we aren’t to anyone else. Of course, I speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is He, and His life, which constitutes the third reason why I am a Christian today.

 

Shorter Catechism on God (Q.4): 9 – God is Justice

Read: I John 1:5-2:2

 

I would suggest, that more than any other attribute of God’s character, His justice is the least understood and most disliked. People fall for a God of love – a cosmic Santa – but they hate a God of justice. But, if we are being fair to the Bible and to God, we must try and understand what His justice does and does not mean.

 

Putting the pieces together after a bad sermon day …

Try it and see how fast you can solve it …

Why I Am a Christian (2) – God’s Word

Read: Psalm 19:7-14

 

I recently bought a book of the short stories of a 19^th Century Russian author named Anton Chekhov (not to be confused with the Chekhov in Star Trek). Chekhov was a prolific writer whose short stories are a testament to God’s common grace. The book has an introduction written by a professor of English literature at Columbia University. In his introduction, Plante writes, “In Chekhov’s writing, everything, absolutely everything, is seen as a problem that has no solution; everything, absolutely everything, is questioned by why? Why? Why? though no answer to the question is ever proposed.” Again Plante writes that Chekhov’s works are dominated by “a great, unrealizable longing impelling the cry “Why, why?” while the one crying knows that there are no answers.” It is little wonder that Chekhov became fascinated with the philosophy of Nihilism, where nothing really matters. But what I want to know, and I’m sure what you want to know, is whether Chekhov is right – are there no answers? You won’t find answers looking in Chekhov’s short stories, but is there a book we can go to which will both state the problems of the human condition and at the same time provide realistic and workable answers to the why? questions?