Relationship, Grace, Power

In recent years I have felt compelled to articulate the uniqueness of Christianity. Three words come to my mind: relationship, grace, and power. In what follows we will explore each of these in turn and the evidence in support of the risen Jesus.

                First, Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, “Come, follow me.”  In John 6:28-29 it is written, “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” Christians are not called to follow rules. We are called to follow and have a relationship with Christ and from that an obedient life springs forth. The causation is flipped. I get the sense that most believe that good works earn salvation. As Christians though, we can’t earn salvation. Salvation comes only by the grace of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

                The fifth word in these last verses is paramount. Without grace, there is no relationship. We are separated from God without his grace. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). We were lost, but by grace he sought us. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). He sought us in our sin. When he found us he then took that sin off us and placed in on himself and bore the punishment for sin – death. That’s grace. 

                If he just died though, then that grace would be left void. It would mean nothing. We need power too. He exhibited that power by rising again! “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:6). He triumphed over death. As I recently heard Michael Ramsden of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries say, “He doesn’t make bad people good, he makes dead people alive.” Without faith in him, we are dead spiritually. We praise the Lord because he did not leave us in that state. He redeemed us through his death and resurrection. As Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).

                For the power that triumphs over death to be present in us though, we need a relationship with the one that lavished this grace upon us – Jesus. Now you may be wondering, “Is this real?” A great question to ask because we can’t really have a relationship with someone that isn’t living. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” So, how do we know this is real? We look to the evidence. That’s what Jesus said to do when John the Baptist asked if he is the Messiah that was to be expected. “Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me’” (Matthew 11:4-6). Let’s now examine the evidence.

                In the book Standing in the Fire by Tom Doyle, one of the chapters mentions a Jewish Rabbi from Jerusalem that had a piece of paper handed to him one day. He looked at it, said that it’s clearly about Jesus, and therefore couldn’t take it since it must be from the New Testament. The man that gave him the paper quickly pointed out that it was actually from the Old Testament. To be exact, the verses on the paper came from Isaiah chapter 53. Verse 5 from that chapter says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” This verse was written almost 700 years before Jesus was born and describes exactly what he did. It also was the start of the Jewish Rabbi’s road to ultimately following Jesus.

                We can also look to Jesus’ disciples. When Jesus was unjustly arrested and sentenced to the cross his disciples completely turned their backs on him. As Jesus predicted, Peter disowned him three times. The third time is captured in Matthew 26:74, “Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don't know the man!’” The disciples had completely given up on Jesus. It was over. He was dead. They went into hiding. They certainly weren’t proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior. And yet, just a short time later in the book of Acts, that is precisely what they are doing. What happened in that short time? The Bible says Jesus rose from the dead. I can’t imagine anything short of that causing such a dramatic change. Especially a change so powerful that all, save one, of the disciples would die for their faith in Jesus. People won’t die for something they know isn’t true. 

                  Next let’s turn our attention to contemporary evidence. Evidence that many in the Western world seem to think is lacking. Some of the most compelling evidence right now is in the Middle East. Most would find it surprising to know that Muslims in the Middle East are turning to Jesus. More correctly put, Jesus is seeking them just as he said he would do for the lost in Luke 19:10. What is amazing is how he is seeking a lot of them – through dreams and visions. The accounts are numerous and awesome. This phenomenon is mentioned in multiple books, but chronicled in most detail in the following three books by Tom Doyle: Dreams and Visions, Killing Christians, and the aforementioned Standing in the Fire. In these books the stories of former Muslims turned followers of Jesus, some via dreams and visions and some by other means, are presented. Some were “on-the-fence” Muslims, but many were devout. One was a professor at an Islamic university. Some were even involved in organizations like ISIS. By following Jesus, they completely gave up their jobs, their security, and their families. Not only did their families disown them, they wanted to and sometimes succeeded in killing them. People don’t completely change their beliefs and even start sharing those beliefs in a place of danger where they will face persecution, suffering, and even death if they aren’t 100% sure what they are believing is real. Such a change also seems improbable without the grace and power of a relationship with the living Jesus.    

                Let’s now turn to one more piece of contemporary evidence. While in Kenya about a year ago a pastor told us a story about one of the first times he was preaching in Kenya. While preaching, men with guns showed up and told him to renounce his faith in Jesus or they would shoot him. He didn’t. So, one of them shot him. The bullet went through his Bible but also got him. They wrapped him in a sheet and left him for dead. A missionary from the Netherlands was lost in the area and happened to find him. This missionary brought the pastor to a hospital and he recovered. The pastor didn’t want to live in fear though. So, some time later he went back to where he was shot to preach again. The man that shot the pastor was there again and came up to him. He told the pastor that, on the same day he shot him, someone else shot and killed his entire family, and since then, he had become a follower of Jesus. The people there wanted him arrested when they heard that he had shot the pastor but the pastor forgave him. That man is now a pastor in one of the churches led by the pastor that he shot. This is a truly amazing story that is laced with the grace and power of Jesus. There is so much that we could dive into and study about this story. I want to focus on the forgiveness though. Forgiveness is something that is so contrary to our fallen nature. Look at the world around us. How many are willing to freely forgive? How many would be willing to forgive someone that shot them and left them for dead? How many would be willing to not only forgive them but also offer them a job? Not even the pastor that was shot is capable of such forgiveness on his own. Only the grace and power of Jesus working through this pastor could explain such forgiveness. 

                Now I turn to you and say that, if you don’t truly know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, find out for yourself if he is real and worth following. I challenge you to first pray. It can be a simple prayer to Jesus asking him to reveal himself to you. Then get a Bible and read one of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. To get a sense of how the Lord is working in modern times, I suggest also reading one of the books by Tom Doyle that I mentioned. Furthermore, I highly recommend the many resources on the Christian faith available at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (rzim.org). The RZIM website has many podcasts and articles that not only talk about reasons for the faith but also how Christianity relates and speaks into the current culture. In fact, if you are someone that would like more information on Christianity before taking my challenge to pray and read the Bible, this is an excellent place to start. Finally, I encourage you to seek out followers of Jesus and talk with them. All of this could take as little as a week or two, but I suspect it will make an impact on your life, and that you will experience the grace backed by power that leads to a relationship with Jesus.