Sandcastles
How sure can one be about the things one bases one's life on? I'm talking about the big things like what life means and why what I do matters or even why I or anyone else matters, or what this all means. It sure would be helpful to have a reliable point of reference for these questions because these days everyone is an expert.
Sandcastles are fine until the tide comes in. The shifting sand on a sea shore provides a poor support for any kind of permanent structure. The one thing it can be relied upon to do is move. To support a permanent structure something like a rock is recommended. Since at The Structor we hope to build something permanent, the foundation must likewise be enduring. Popular opinion, feelings, fashion and cultural trends, like the shifting sands, are guaranteed to change. What we need is the truth. The absolute verifiable, unshakable and unassailable truth. That which will retain its integrity under all circumstances and over time.
The bible is a strange book. It presents some bold, often very counter cultural and counterintuitive ideas. It describes as historical fact, events and people more suited to fable and myth. It unblushingly declares itself to be a library of absolute truth and promises a reward for living by it and dire consequences for ignoring it. More important even than it's content, is its purported author. All its human authors claimed to be moved by the inspiration of The Creator of the universe himself. What does one do with such a book? It seems there are only two options to a claim of absolute truth. One may accept the claims or reject them. To do either, a person needs to evaluate the claims honestly.
I have come to believe that the bible really is what it claims to be and for me the evaluation is simple. Does the bible conform to what I know to be reality? Are the claims it makes verifiable in my own experience and that of those I know?
The Eyewitness Account
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-3
Twelve men who, by their own account, were unimportant, common men, told the story of a man who taught like no other, lived like no other and loved like no other. This man who claimed to be God incarnate, for no obvious reason that they could tell, chose these common twelve men as friends and took them into his confidence. He loved them and taught them for three years. Then the unthinkable happened and this God-man was killed for challenging the status quo and for his claim to be God. The craziest part of their story is that three days after he was killed this man rose from the grave and lives forever. These twelve men taught that the God-man died as a substitute for all mankind to avert the wrath of God our creator and that any person who placed their trust in him was promised a resurrection like his. For the rest of their lives, with no apparent benefit to themselves and at great personal cost and even on pain of death these men told this story to everyone who would listen.
That sounds like the stuff of legends except that more than two millennia after it was first told the story persists. Not only so but the story has a very strange effect on those who believe it. In the bible accounts as well as today, faith in Jesus Christ changes people in a way that cannot be explained by mere intellectual agreement with information presented. Just as these twelve followers of Jesus Christ were changed by his life and love, all these years later those who believe in his name are still inexplicably transformed from the inside out. They are really "born again" as the bible describes.
Controlled by Love
There is another story in the bible that I find remarkable. There was a man named Saul of Tarsus, a man belonging to the religious sect that orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus. This man was more determined than most to stamp out the legend of this Jesus before it took hold. At the height of his persecution of the followers of Jesus he had an encounter with the risen Jesus and was completely changed forever. This Saul later became known as Paul and has been the most influential follower of Jesus ever. He is famous for saying, among many things,
The Love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:14
The story of Paul's conversion and subsequent devotion to Jesus is remarkable, if you believe it, because it provides an independent confirmation of the eyewitness account. Here was a man who was, by his own account as well as the accounts of many, vehemently opposed the story of Jesus Christ. Here he was now preaching with fervor the very thing he had tried to eradicate. Something happened to Saul.
Isn't the story too convenient though? Maybe there never was a Saul turned Paul and there never was a radical conversion. Just a well crafted story by the proponents of Jesus Christ to give their Messiah credibility. That may be if what supposedly happened to Paul was never again replicated. On the contrary history shows it to be a very common event. The remarkable thing that happened to Paul has been repeated in every century since Paul and continues to recur today. Many people, and I am one of them, with no prior inclination towards God, experience a radical transformation because they encounter this Jesus Christ and become "controlled by his love" because they also have concluded that one died for all and was raised again. It's not simply that we agree with some facts or are more gullible than most. Something happens to a person that is best described as dying and being raised again in Christ. These people are given a new nature, born again.
Verifiable Fact
It is a verifiable fact that there was a time in my life when I was not inclined towards God. I did not believe in or love The Lord Jesus or care what he thought of me. It is also a verifiable fact that I now love him and care what he thinks about me. I live to please him. My whole outlook, my preferences and desires have been transformed. The things I once considered valuable no longer have value. Other things that I would not have considered valuable now hold immense value. I am born again. It is also a verifiable fact that this transformation happened to me. It was done to me. I did not chose it, I simply responded to an invitation and I was changed forever.
So, I have the incredible account of twelve eye witnesses who swore on their lives that their story was true and died defending their account. I have the story of one man who, in an attempt to destroy these eye witnesses and their movement, became their most ardent advocate because he himself had encountered the risen Jesus. I have millions of people throughout history who have had a similarly life-changing experience because they believed this story. And I have my own experience. It looks to me like the original story is true, that the eyewitnesses did not lie. The thing is, these twelve men and Paul believed the Old testament, the portion of the bible that existed before Jesus. They referenced it extensively to explain God's plan for mankind, who Jesus was, why he came to earth, what he came to do and what God expects from man as a response. Their teachings and accounts have been recorded and have become the rest of the bible, The New testament. One is thus left with only two choices. Either the whole thing is an elaborate hoax built on legends, with no obvious benefit to its perpetrators, or it's all true. There's no in between. There is no picking the parts we like or think are more probable, no modifying the stories to fit our preferences. You may take it all as it is presented or leave it all. I feel compelled to take it all.
I believe the bible really is what it claims to be because I have experienced what it describes. I am an eye witness that Jesus Christ lives. Just like his original disciples I have days when I wonder if it's all real. But in over two decades since that first encounter, I have found, over and over again, that the recorded words are reliable because they prove true in my life. This is the rock on which to build eternal things.
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