A man who claims to be God rises from the dead. To our enlightened, scientific, modern minds, it sounds preposterous. But the existence of the universe itself is also preposterous, so somewhere along the way, we have to think outside of what science tells us should happen.
There are times, of course, that I doubt. Having faith does not presuppose the absence of doubt. Was that really an answered prayer or just a coincidence? Are my beliefs just a product of my upbringing? Do I continue to believe simply because I am afraid of the social consequences of unbelief?
Those questions once terrified me, but I have learned to face them head on without fear. God doesn’t need defending, and though the water might be murky when it’s stirred up, Truth always rises to the surface.
I am just one person out of seven billion on this tiny planet, and each of us brings a different perspective to the table. How can we possibly ever find Truth? There will always be another side to every story. We will never collectively agree. We grasp onto the ideas of One, whether that be Buddha or Gandhi or Oprah, but how can we be sure that their ideas are actually more enlightened than our own? Our personal self is the most real thing to us, which explains why so many end up constructing their own private religions.
So is finding Truth even possible?
Some say no, but no one actually lives that way. It’s easy to say Truth doesn’t exist until some great evil is committed against you, and then you know, to the core of your being, that somehow there are Great Standards in the universe, and they’ve been violated.
If Truth does exist, then it has to be outside of ourselves. It can’t come from any man, because no man can ever see outside his own perspective. It has to be a supernatural revelation. Anything else is going to be our own construct, or somebody else’s. There are just no other options.
There are plenty of so-called supernatural revelations out there, so it comes down to which one to trust. For me, the self-proclaimed deity of Jesus, combined with the historical reliability of his death and resurrection, is why I’ve thrown my lot in with the Bible. Everything hinges on those events of two thousand years ago. Everything.
Not every question is answered, of course. Can any worldview answer every question? There still is a level where, despite our innate understanding that we are more than just mortal beings, we will never be able to grasp everything. That’s where faith comes in.
Some also may argue that we don’t know exactly what the Bible does say. I will grant that, on some things. But if we agree that the Bible is a supernatural revelation, if we decide to base our lives on it, then we at least will be heading in the right direction. We may get the interpretation wrong, but the Bible itself is never wrong. There has to be an objective standard.
If we don’t like that, then what other options do we have? We can either pick another revelation, or we can rely on our own limited perspective. There are no other options.
A man who claims to be God rises from the dead. It starts as dry philosophical objectivity, but it doesn’t end there. Because of the Resurrection, love, hope, forgiveness, grace, purpose and beauty burst forth into the world. They became historical realities, not just feel-good concepts.
And thus, Jesus is worthy of our worship. Which is why I celebrate today.
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