Fire your questions, or request of a philosophical or theological topic you would like me to write on.
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Fire your questions, or request of a philosophical or theological topic you would like me to write on.
With All I Am 
The demo of the gospel concerns the dividing line between Jesus’ INCARNATE MINISTRY, which was necessarily full of altruistic claims about himself and “figures of speech” about the Father, a.k.a., the humble “attitude Christ Jesus had”; and his even greater “LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT MINISTRY”, which is defined in his unique death on the cross, a.k.a. “the tree of life”, making full circle back to Paradise!
The setting and fulfillment of the BENCHMARK is found only in the 4th gospel and left open for personal confirmation. (John 16; 19: 30-37, resp).
You almost said it yourself. The revelation of Jesus Christ, a.k.a., God’s “life-giving Spirit”, @ the kind of death Jesus suffered, transcending his Incarnation, is the demo of the gospel.
We are actually a little behind the Samaritan woman who only had a foretaste of the demo.
Oops. Sorry for the typos in my previous post. Anyway, I think I could serve the Lord more effectively by demonstrating the Gospel. I notice that Jesus did this constantly. He preached and healed and people listened to Him. He told the woman at the well that she had already had a number of husbands, and the man she was currently living with was not her husband. In other words, he gave her a word of knowledge and she responded by telling others about Jesus. Blessings!
I’ve been thinking about what it means to “demonstrate” the Gospel. Jesus said that His followers would do greater thinks that He. The Book of Acts is filled with examples of demonstrating the Gospel. The sick were healed, the dead were raised, people prophecied and gave words of knowledge. They still do. I am learning that more the I seek God the more He reveals Himself to me.
Quoting your words “By Jesus rising from the dead”; I would like to state that since Jesus did not die on the Cross in the first place and he was delivered from the Cross in near-dead position; so there is no case of resurrection of Jesus from the dead; hence, there is no reality in the Christian belief of atonement.
Thanks
I submit that there is complete misunderstanding concerning Christ’s death on the cross because of confusion in differentiating between the TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT.
In the first, the Scriptures consistently testify about Jesus Christ’s perpetual demo, a.k.a., life-transforming “vision” of his divine identity and absolute authority, which “not even death will ever be able to overcome” (Matt. 16:18), about which Moses and Elijah witnessed in person at the Transfiguration (Ibid. 17: 1-13; Luke 9: 28-36), which were proved beyond doubt on the ground (Matt. 27: 50-56) and widely acknowledged on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
In the second, the so-called “near-dead position” is a speculative variant of the miracle of the apostate prophet, a.k.a., Jonah. (Matt. 12: 38-42)
@ Ephrem Hagos
@ Prayson Daniel
The “near-dead position” in real terms is not speculative and fulfills the prophecy of Jesus of what was to happen to him and how the message of one true God was to be spread in future among the Israelites by Jesus.
Jonah was not dead in the belly of the fish and came out of it alive and spread the message entrusted to him by the one true God; similarly Jesus was not to die; neither on the Cross nor in the tomb he was put by his friends after the event of Crucifixion. Like Jonah went to his people after the incident of the “in the belly of the fish” and spread the message to his people; so was Jesus to go to the lost ten tribes of the Israelites who were residing in the region that fall in the present Afghanistan. KPK province of Pakistan, Kashmir; and history confirms that Jesus did go to India.
This way the prophecy of Sign of Jonah was fulfilled.
@ Paarsurrey
I cannot overemphasize Christ’s death on the cross, a.k.a., “the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead”, as the LITMUS TEST of his divine identity and absolute authority, viz.: God’s “life-giving Spirit” whom “not even death will ever be able to overcome” as his defining moment and the one-stop solution for all the ills of the world.
As it is written, “Now God’s home is with mankind! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.” (Rev. 21:3)
Therefore, we can do much better than basking in the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Sign of Jonah, which was exclusively given to apostate people of all times! (Matt. 12:38-42)
Hello, I have a question concerning theology, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. If Jesus’ death was a sacrifice, does the fact that He rose from the dead take away from that sacrifice? What’s the meaning of it? I’ve heard one atheist compare it to giving someone a dollar and then taking it back. Please answer; I feel as though I’m losing faith. Thank you. God bless.
Hej Matthew.
It is fine to doubt and lose faith. I were in your position when I were 15-22. The best part of this period is that we start searching to know why we believe what we believe.
I wrote a lot of atonement of Christ in my blog, if you would like to find them, I have a search box all the way at the bottom.
A simple answer is no. By Jesus rising from the dead, it showed that God affirmed His atonement, and that what Jesus claim to be is true is true. I think your atheist friend failed to understand the notion of atonement as described in both old and new testament. When Jesus died a cruel death(not just physical death, but away from God’s presence of His grace and love, to God’s presence of justices and wrath), He took away the just punishment to which those who He came to save rightly deserve. Resurrection does not cancel the payment but affirms it. You could reply to your atheist friend by asking if she understands what atonement is and how it works in Jesus of Nazareth.
Matthew, the only way to keep what you believe is to know what you believe and why you believe. Take online classes on critical think(introduction to logic), buy a book or two on philosophical foundations of Christianity and systematic theology. Doubt is a gift that enable you to dig deep. I would be glad to help you help yourself. Just let me know what you need.
Yours,
Prayson
Although consistently and thoroughly defined in the Scriptures, the meaning of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross is lost forever in Christian theology and tradition.
Christ’s death on the cross, a.k.a., Spirit-active, perfect and transfigurative, is the most fitting vehicle for God’s self-revelation as he really is, i.e., “source of life” of the self-sufficient type and “life-giving Spirit” as initiated at Creation (Gen. 2: 7-9) and repeated for the pioneers of immortality, e.g., Moses in the self-sufficient fire with no need to consume the bush including a promise of an encore for all posterity (Ex. 3: 1-15).
Without the paradigm shift, as defined in the Gospel, Christ’s death on the cross is reduced to idolatry and double standards. (Deut. 12: 29-32)
Sustainable faith, according to the Scriptures, is personally authored and autographed by Jesus Christ only when “People look at him whom they pierced” in order to see “the blood and the water” signifying eternal life and Christ’s work of baptism with the Holy Spirit, respectively.
More simply, Jesus is “the Father” of many in his uniquely meritorious qualification, a.k.a., “the faithful witness: the first-born from the dead”, viz.: Spirit-active, perfect, and diacritical with multiplier effects.
His death is personally verifiable producing endless miracles!
(John 19: 30-37)
FOOF FOR THOUGHT
There seems to be an eerie connection between, on the one hand, God’s self-revelation to Moses, as SELF-SUFFICIENT FIRE with no need to consume the bush, including a promise of a curtain call for “all future generations” (Ex. 3: 1-15); and, on the other hand, Christ’s death on the cross, as “SOURCE OF LIFE” with “a loud cry”, fulfilled in the tearing of the curtain in the Temple, and the reported “raising of Jesus to life” synchronized with “many of God’s people who had died” (Matt. 27: 50-53).
Is the connection verifiable or not today? All comments are welcome.