Highland Baptist Church, Florence
That the man called Jesus lived, taught and died in Israel is a matter of historical fact. The Bible tells us about Him, but so do the secular historians of the day. If a man denies that Jesus lived and died on a Roman cross, he might as well deny that George Washington or Winston Churchill existed. The only thing that remains open for debate and disagreement is who He was and what He claimed about Himself.
In John 14 Jesus made a pivotal claim about Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” When His disciples expressed their doubts and questions, Jesus said they should know Him because of the time they had spent together. To help them He gave them one more reason to believe. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” They had seen Him do many miracles. He had fed 5,000 with a few loaves and some fish. He had walked on water, opened blind eyes and even brought dead men back to life. All of those things testified to who Jesus claimed to be.
Even in the face of all they had seen Him do, His original disciples were still limited in their understanding. His identity as the Son of God is the dividing line. If He is not the Son of God and just a man who lived and died then He is not the only way to God. If He is the Son of God there can be no other way for a man to know God. Because God knew we would still be unconvinced in the face of overwhelming evidence, He gave us one final proof. He raised His Son from the dead. Paul said in Romans 1 He was declared the Son of God “with power by the resurrection.”
Jesus is alive. Some of the world’s greatest minds have come to believe Him when they could not refute the resurrection. His life, death and resurrection provided completely for our salvation. Receiving Him as Lord is the only way to truly know God.
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