“The disciples saw Jesus do
many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But
these are written so that you may continue to believe[a] that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the
power of his name “ (John 20:30-31 NLT).
The headlines scream about new discoveries hinting of new information
about Jesus Christ. The world stage comes alive with new books, new archeological
finds that suggest alternatives to Jesus being the Son of God. Some would reduce Him to a simple prophet, a political
agitator and others want to make Him as an ordinary Jewish man who was married
with a family. The new information is
not really new as the ancient church struggled with these divergent views of
their Lord. Ancient sects such as the Gnostics, Arians and various other groups
tried to separate from the ancient Church over their views of Jesus Christ. Most ideas about who Jesus was have already
been dealt with and any new archeological find must be carefully analyzed over
time in multi-faceted, scholarly circles to ascertain its validity and
value. Something can be quite old but
could have been rejected by the ancient church because it was written by an
unknown author using a false name or contained heretical philosophies.
First of all, as Christians we stand on the Bible which was
canonized in the 4th Century. The Bible
reveals to us the power of God’s Word protected by the Living Holy Spirit (2
Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12). It was written by eyewitnesses that knew Jesus
Christ as the truth and given to us to believe and be saved and to reject
anything that counters that revealed truth (John 14:6-7; 20:29-31; 1 John
2:18-27; Romans 1:16-19; Galatians 1:3-9).
Thus the four Gospels are the only accepted accounts of the life of
Jesus Christ by the early church and by thousands of years of belief and
scholarship.
Secondly, as Christians we stand with
the ancient church and its leaders, knowing that God protected His Church as
His Bride and it lives by the power of His Spirit. The ancient creeds were written to help
believers follow orthodox beliefs from the Apostles, the Scriptures and the
Church. If any writing or text was rejected then, it must be rejected now. Thus
something that contradicts the orthodoxy of the Christian faith may not a new
discovery at all but a discovery of something old that was rejected as untrue
and heretical many years ago.
As Christians, it is our greatest desire
and purpose in life to know more of Christ.
This comes through His Word, seeking His presence and guidance in prayer
by abiding and appealing to the Holy Spirit while living in the fellowship of
His body as the church. We
believe in the Jesus attested to by Apostles and by believing in Him, we might have
the life He promised and delivered to us through His death and resurrection.
“Then Jesus told him, ‘You believe
because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me’”
(John 20:29 NLT).
Suggested Bible Reading … John 20
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