Things Of God..........

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Why should Christians proclaim Christ as the only true Savior sent by the Father? Many other religious leaders claim this status. They claim a personal commissioning from God. Among them are Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and Sun Myung Moon. Why should we not believe in them? Why should we believe in Christ? Peter addresses this and offers several reasons.

1) Christ’s impeccable character (v. 16). Peter said that the word He received from Christ was not a “cunningly devised fable.” Jesus Christ was not a scheming, cunning deceiver. He is recognized as the Supreme moral authority in human history. It is he who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). To disagree with that is to disagree with the world’s ultimate moral authority. Who feels comfortable with that?

2) Christ’s public witnesses (v. 16-18). Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and Moon each claim a divine commissioning. Muhammad claimed a commissioning in a cave, Smith at night in his bedroom, and Moon on a Korean hillside. Jesus, too, claims to be sent from the Father. Of course, when He was baptized before “all Jerusalem and Judea” the Father said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:1-14). On the Mount of Transfiguration, with Peter, James, and John present, He heard the same (Mt. 17:1-10). After His resurrection, He appeared ten times to as few as one and to as many as 500 (1 Cor. 15:1-11). When the Father commissioned Jesus He did not commission Him in a private cave, private bedroom, or lonely hillside. He did it publicly in the presence of many witnesses.

3) Christ’s detailed prophecy (v.19-21). The Bible engages in detailed, specific, measurable prophecy. W.A. Criswell said that the Bible erects a severe test for prophets and prophecy. If a prophet is true, his prophecies will happen. If a prophet is false, his prophecies will fail (Deut. 18:21-22; Is. 41:21-23; 46:9-11). No other sacred text engages in this kind of prophecy. When God fulfills a prophecy, people can know it. A lot of biblical prophecy addresses Christ. Scripture prophecies many things over which Christ had no control such as His family, the place of His birth, the manner of His death, those who accompanied Him in death, the abuse He would suffer in His trials and death, the gambling for His clothing, and where He would be buried. The probability of a person existing in history around whom circumstances would converge to fulfill sixteen of these prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 45th power. When Jesus came the first time, He fulfilled more than 300 prophecies.

Why We Should Follow Jesus Christ