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Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)and other versions are sometimes

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GladTidingso f t h e K i n g d o m o f G o d

133rd Year 1594A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) andavailable throughout the world.

Acknowledgements

Photographs:

Cover: Under Loughrigg, Cumbria, UK Ken Anderton

Pg 3: Tim Green, Wikimedia

Commons; pg. 6: NASA;

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Bridging the Gap ......................3

Confident Faith .........................5

The High Priest Who Died for Us.........................................8

Taking What is Not Yours ....10

The ‘Uninventable’ Jesus ......14

Faithfulness..............................16

Three Absolute Truths ..........18

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible as God'sinspired message to mankind; to call attention to the Divineoffer of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; and to warnmen and women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judgeand ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

ContentsContents

133rd Year 3

Now to the King eternal, immortal,invisible, to God Who alone is wise, behonour and glory forever and ever.…Who alone has immortality, dwellingin unapproachable light, Whom noman has seen or can see, to Whom behonour and everlasting power (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16).

We read in Titus 1:2 that God cannotlie; and in James 1:13 that He cannotbe tempted. He is unchanging (James1:17; Malachi 3:6).We know all too well that we are

mortal, earthbound and prone to allsorts of temptation and personal fail-ings, however hard we try. Of course,some try harder than others to livegood, moral lives, but we all fail tosome extent.We can see this gap very clearly in

Genesis chapter 3. Adam and Eve dis-obeyed God and this is what ‘sin’ is.Sin separates mankind from God, andis the cause of death (James 1:15).Adam and Eve were expelled from theGarden of Eden and prevented fromreturning. Ever since, men and women have

continued to disobey God, whether inbig things or small, and the gapremains.

There is a small town in England calledTadcaster, through which runs the riverWharfe. The river is not huge, but wideenough to need a road bridge to crossit. In fact, the bridge is believed to havebeen there for some 300 years, andthe earliest bridge at this spot wasprobably built around 1200 AD. Noneof this is particularly remarkable in thispart of the world, but it has given riseto an important local news story. On 29th December 2015, the bridge

was partially destroyed in a storm,such that it could not be used. It wasmore than 12 months before therepairs were completed and the bridgebecame usable once more. Thiscaused lots of local protest, as traffichad to make a very long detour to getfrom one side of town to the other. Local townsfolk, interviewed for

news programmes, talked about thecommunity being divided in half.People found life very difficult, forexample if they lived on one side andworked on the other; or if they hadfamily on the opposite side; or regular-ly needed to cross the river in thecourse of their daily activities.Where people are divided, be it by a

river, train track or ravine, bridges playa vital role in connecting them. Thisapplies in a figurative way to the hugegap between God and mankind.

The Great Gap

It can be said that God is everythingthat humans are not. He is the Creatorof the universe, the source of life,immortal and invisible. He lives inheaven, and is described as inhabitingthe light to which no human canapproach.

Bridging the GapBridging the Gap

4 Glad Tidings

Yet it took a life of obedient, dedica-ted service and the death of thisperfect man to bring this about. Thinkabout the great love that God has forHis creation, and that Jesus has for hisfellow men and women. The ‘bridge’was provided at great cost to themboth, and is something for which wecan be very grateful.

Using the ‘Bridge’

Like any bridge, this provision is onlyeffective to us if we make use of it. Weread that Christ suffered “that hemight bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).It is through belief in his work, andbaptism as evidence of that belief,that we can be brought near to God.We need to do this if we want Jesus toact as our connection to God.The rewards are wonderful. We can

have an active relationship with God,providing perspective and confidencein life today. Even more, it makes thefuture bright, with the prospect of adirect relationship with God, as fore-told about His future kingdom:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is withmen, and He will dwell with them, andthey shall be His people. God Himselfwill be with them and be their God(Revelation 21:3).

Editor

The ‘Bridge’

Bridging the gap requires someoneextremely special, a unique individual.Somebody who can have direct con-nection to God and enter His presence,whilst relating to and being accessibleto men and women. The Lord JesusChrist is this person.Jesus was born to a human mother,

Mary, and shared our nature. He wasmortal just like us, and was temptedin just the way we are tempted. As hegrew up, he suffered the difficulties oflife, and despite his obedience to God,he died a horrible death, dying for us.

For we do not have a High Priest whocannot sympathize with our weaknes-ses, but [Jesus] was in all pointstempted as we are, yet without sin(Hebrews 4:15).

The key point: in all of this he didNOT sin or disobey God. In fact, he leda sinless life, always obedient to hisFather’s will. Because of this, Godraised him from the dead and madehim immortal. Not only that, but Jesuswent to heaven afterwards and is theretoday, literally in the presence of God.

For Christ has not entered the holyplaces made with hands, which arecopies of the true, but into heavenitself, now to appear in the presence ofGod for us (Hebrews 9:24).

Jesus was Son of God and Son ofMan; able to sin yet sinless; bornmortal but made immortal; lived onearth but now in heaven. We can seewhy he is the unique person who canbridge the apparently unbridgeablegap between God and mankind. He isdescribed as a priest or mediator, theone who can reconcile the two parties.

133rd Year 5

We all have faith. Not everybody recog-nises this, but it’s true. We can’t existwithout faith.When you go out in the morning, you

have faith that the bus will turn up, orthe car will start. You have faith thatthe shops will be open. If you had nofaith, you wouldn’t bother getting outof bed.Of course, your faith is based on

facts – it’s not blind faith. Supposeyou want to go into town. You could sitdown by the side of a random roadand wait for the right bus to comealong – that would be blind faith.You’d probably be waiting for a longtime. Or you could look at thetimetable to check where and whenthe bus goes, then wait at the bus stopat the right time – that’s faith basedon facts. And that way you’d be muchmore likely to get to town.The point is, as you stand and wait

at the bus stop you don’t know forcertain that the bus will turn up, butyou have faith that it will, based onyour knowledge of the facts.

The Christian life is also a life offaith. This is not blind faith, but confi-dent faith based on knowledge andexperience.

Christian Faith

A friend once said to me, “I wish I hadyour faith!” This was a very sad thing tosay – it implied that my faith wassomehow out of reach for him. That’snot true. I think what he really meantwas, “I’d like to have your faith but I’mnot prepared to give it a go.”Faith in God is not difficult to

achieve. The apostle Paul puts it suc-cinctly:

Faith comes by hearing, and hearingby the word of God (Romans 10:17).

That’s all there is to it! Read theBible with an open mind and a teach-able attitude. God’s word will then doits job and it will instil faith. It may nothappen overnight, but it will happen.Here are three ways in which it can dothis:

1 – Fulfilled Prophecy

“You are My witnesses”, says the LORD,“and My servant whom I have chosen.That you may know and believe Me,and understand that I am He. Beforeme there was no God formed, nor shallthere be after Me” (Isaiah 43:10).

In this chapter God is talking to thepeople of Israel. He is saying, if you

Confident Faith Confident Faith

6 Glad Tidings

want evidence of My existence justlook at yourselves! Whatever you think of the Jews, you

cannot deny that they are a remark-able people with a remarkable history.The Bible is largely concerned with thestory of the Jews, from its beginningwith Abraham 4,000 years ago, rightthrough to a time that’s still future tous. It tells us about the blessings thatwere promised to them; their failings,faithlessness and folly; God’s patienceand love for them; their disasters andtriumphs. We can marvel at the nume-rous prophecies that God gaveconcerning them, many of which havebeen fulfilled in staggering detail,while others are being fulfilled at themoment and some still remain to befulfilled.

As you read these prophecies andsee their fulfilment, it will require anenormous feat of cynicism to deny thatyou can see God Himself at work. Theprophecies concerning the nation ofIsrael are just some of the amazingprophecies in the Bible which havebeen fulfilled, and are still being ful-filled.

2 – Superhuman Wisdom

God gave the Jewish nation a law,which we know as the Law of Moses.

It’s contained in the books of Exodusthrough to Deuteronomy. To modernreaders, much of the Law of Mosesmight seem curious at first sight.However, it is increasingly recognisedas being far ahead of its time, forexample in terms of medical practice,public health and economic legisla-tion. Moses told Israel:

I have taught you statutes and judg-ments, just as the LORD my Godcommanded me, that you should actaccording to them... Be careful toobserve them; for this is your wisdomand your understanding in the sight ofthe peoples who will hear all thesestatutes, and say, ‘Surely this greatnation is a wise and understandingpeople’ (Deuteronomy 4:5–6).

The Law of Moses is just oneexample of how the Bible containsknowledge about the world and how itworks, that was well ahead of its time.

3 – Written That You Might Believe

The Gospel of John has a lot to sayabout belief – which is another wordfor faith. John focuses on eight parti-cular miracles of Jesus, which he calls‘signs’. These signs are each accom-panied by teaching, and usually Johntakes pains to point out how the signmade people believe in Jesus. Thentowards the end of the Gospel headdresses the reader:

These are written that you may believethat Jesus is the Christ, the Son ofGod, and that believing you may havelife in his name (John 20:31).

The miracles Jesus performed werecompelling aids to faith, for those whowitnessed them. And here we are,

133rd Year 7

God, believed Him, and did extraordi-nary things. The attitude of faith issummed up by Paul:

We do not look at the things which areseen, but at the things which are notseen. For the things which are seenare temporary, but the things whichare not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians4:18).

Christians live by faith. They followJesus’ instruction, “Seek first theKingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). Thethings they believe and the things theydo might make little sense to peoplewho don’t share that faith – but it’salways been that way!

Waiting for the Bus

The Christian’s faith is not blind faith;it’s based on reason and gives greatcause for excitement. The Bible pro-vides ample reason for faith.Imagine you’re walking down the

street and you see a group of peoplewaiting at a bus stop. You can’t see abus, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’tcoming. It means they’ve looked at thetimetable and they know what they’rewaiting for. They are acting in faith.Imagine that this particular group of

people is very happy and excited.Wouldn’t you stop to see what they areso excited about?

Chris Parkin

2,000 years later, able to read for our-selves the things that Jesus did andtaught, and make up our own minds.Elsewhere in this issue of Glad Tidingsyou can read about the reliability of theGospel records.

Being Certain of Things YouCan’t See

Hebrews chapter 11 is often called the‘faith chapter’, because it is all aboutfaith – what it is, why it is essential,and how to get it. The chapter starts byexplaining this about faith:

Now faith is the substance of thingshoped for, the evidence of things notseen (Hebrews 11:1).

What exactly does that mean?Another translation puts it: “Now faithmeans putting our full confidence inthe things we hope for, it means beingcertain of things we cannot see.”

The chapter goes on to list greatmen and women of the Bible who livedby faith. Noah believed God when Hesaid He was going to flood the earth,and so he built a massive boat on dryland (no doubt to the derision of hisneighbours), and was saved when theFlood washed them away. Abrahamleft his comfortable life in the civilizedcity of Ur, in order to become a nomadin the dangerous outback of Canaan,because God made him promises offuture blessings and he believed them.Moses turned his back on the life of aprince in Egypt, and instead led theslave-people of Israel to the PromisedLand.What marked out these special

people was that they looked beyondthe everyday, the things that preoccu-pied everyone else. They listened to

editor@gladtidingsmagazine.org

Do get in touch with your questions

or comments

8 Glad Tidings

In the first two instalments, we consi-dered the nature and status of JesusChrist, as well as how he is portrayedacross the Old and New Testaments. Inthis section, we consider the principlesaround his death as a sacrifice, andhis role as High Priest.

A Representative Sacrifice

Jesus’ death was representative,meaning that he did not die instead ofus, as though acting as a substitute forsinners. Sinners, and that includes allof us, still die. The only hope of lifeafter death is by resurrection whenChrist returns to earth.The idea of taking an innocent

person's life so that the guilty can gofree would be a difficult moralconcept. Indeed, for the idea of substi-tution to be correct, Jesus should haveremained dead for the price to be paid.His death alone would have sufficedfor the salvation of mankind. His resur-rection wouldn’t have been necessary;nor would it have been morally valid.But he did not remain dead; he wasraised to life. What’s more, the Bibleteaches that his resurrection is asimportant for our salvation as is hisdeath.Because Jesus Christ died for us, as

our representative, the Bible stressesthe extreme importance of his resur-rection for our salvation and for God’splan to come to fruition. Peter taughtthis as he and the other followers ofJesus began their mission, shortlyafter his resurrection and ascension toheaven:

[Jesus] whom God raised up, havingloosed the pains of death, because itwas not possible that he should beheld by it (Acts 2:24).

Later, Peter wrote:

Blessed be the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ, who according toHis abundant mercy has begotten usagain to a living hope through the res-urrection of Jesus Christ from the dead(1 Peter 1:3).

Another writer, Paul, also empha-sised this important truth:

Jesus our Lord... was delivered upbecause of our offenses, and wasraised because of our justification(Romans 4:24–25).

If, when we were enemies, we werereconciled to God through the death ofHis Son, much more, having been rec-onciled, we shall be saved by his life(Romans 5:10). That is, by hisresurrected life.

If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile;you are still in your sins! Then alsothose who have fallen asleep in Christhave perished. If in this life only wehave hope in Christ, we are of all menthe most pitiable. But now Christ isrisen from the dead, and has becomethe firstfruits of those who have fallenasleep (1 Corinthians 15:17–20).

If Jesus died as a substitute for us,the Bible would have had no need to

The Jesus of the Bible - 3The Jesus of the Bible - 3

The High Priest WhoThe High Priest WhoDied for UsDied for Us

133rd Year 9

stress the crucial importance of hisresurrection. Yet we read clearly that ifChrist had not been raised from thedead, even those who believed andtrusted in him would have perishedwithout hope. His being raised from the dead is as

essential for our salvation as was hisdeath. Christ’s resurrection gives usthe hope of being raised from the deadat his second coming, following thepattern of his resurrection.

Our High Priest

The background to our Lord JesusChrist’s high priesthood goes rightback to Genesis and a king namedMelchizedek, who was also a priestand who Abraham met t Jerusalem.

Then Melchizedek king of Salembrought out bread and wine; he wasthe priest of God Most High. And heblessed him and said: “Blessed beAbram of God Most High, Possessor ofheaven and earth; And blessed be GodMost High, Who has delivered yourenemies into your hand” (Genesis14:18–20).

This event is referred to in Psalm110, which is quoted in the New Testa-ment when explaining that Jesus is theMessiah. Indeed, Jesus himself refersto the Psalm in Matthew 22:44.

Hebrews chapters 5, 6 and 7describe Jesus’ role as our HighPriest in some detail, using the wordsof the same Psalm:

You are a priest forever according tothe order of Melchizedek (Hebrews5:6).

As a priest, he is our mediator atGod’s right hand in heaven. We haveaccess in our prayers to God throughhim. This means that we do not needany other priest or mediator. Thisunequivocal statement was written inthe context of prayer and interces-sion:

For there is one God and one media-tor between God and men, the manChrist Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

Through the work of Jesus as ourHigh Priest, believers can approachGod and be heard in prayer:

Therefore, brethren, having boldnessto enter the Holiest by the blood ofJesus, by a new and living way whichhe consecrated for us, through theveil, that is, his flesh, and having aHigh Priest over the house of God, letus draw near with a true heart in fullassurance of faith, having our heartssprinkled from an evil conscienceand our bodies washed with purewater. Let us hold fast the confessionof our hope without wavering, for Hewho promised is faithful (Hebrews10:19–23).

This is a remarkable provision,made by God and carried out byJesus. It is open to all of us if we willaccept it.

Mark Sawyer

10 Glad Tidings

The Seventh Commandment:You Shall Not Commit Adultery

What exactly is adultery? It meanshaving sexual relations with someonewho is married to someone else. Inancient times this also included a manor woman who was engaged to bemarried, because that promise was asbinding as the actual marriage. That iswhy Joseph – who was then onlyengaged to Mary – decided he shoulddivorce her when he discovered shewas expecting a baby he knew was nothis. Once he understood that the babywas a miracle and would be the son ofGod, of course he changed his mind.Adultery was always a very serious

offence. 4,000 years ago, Abrahamcame to the country of the Philistinesand pretended Sarah was his sister,not his wife. She was taken into thepalace of the king of the Philistines,but God intervened so that nothingbad happened:

God came to Abimelech in a dream bynight, and said to him, “Indeed you area dead man because of the womanwhom you have taken, for she is aman's wife” (Genesis 20:3).

Notice here that the punishment foradultery was death. This was also thepunishment under the Law of Moses:

The man who commits adultery withanother man’s wife, he who commitsadultery with his neighbour’s wife, theadulterer and the adulteress, shallsurely be put to death (Leviticus20:10).

God considers adultery as veryserious. In the beginning, He intro-duced marriage as a union between aman and a woman that was so close

that they would become ‘one flesh’.The sexual act is an expression of thatunity. To involve a third party breaksthat precious bond. In Bible times (andoften today) marriage began with asolemn vow between the man and thewoman that they would remaintogether for life. To break this promiseis very serious in God’s eyes. Healways keeps His promises, and Heexpects us to keep ours.

Modern Morality

What does Jesus say about adultery?As we have seen before, he argues

The Ten Commandments in the 21The Ten Commandments in the 21stst Century - 6Century - 6

Taking What is Not YoursTaking What is Not Yours

133rd Year 11

that we should go beyond the provi-sions of the Law of Moses.

You have heard that it was said tothose of old, ‘You shall not commitadultery.’ But I say to you that whoeverlooks at a woman to lust for her hasalready committed adultery with her inhis heart (Matthew 5:27–8).

In Jesus’ view, to look at someoneelse’s spouse with a desire to commitadultery is just as bad as the actualdeed. We have to stop the unlawfuldesire in the first place. The ApostlePaul is equally strict on this subject.He says that people who regularlycommit adultery will not enter theKingdom of God (see 1 Corinthians6:9–10).We live in a world where adultery

takes place all too often – they call it‘having an affair’. We see it in themedia, in films, in novels and in plays,and in the lives of many ordinarypeople. But it is wrong. God hates it,and serial adulterers will be bannedfrom His Kingdom.The society of the First Century was

no different, especially in big ports likeCorinth where there were many sailorsand prostitutes. Paul says some of theCorinthian Christians had been likethat before they became Christians.But their old sins had been washedaway in the water of baptism, and nowthey must lead a pure and holy life (1Corinthians 6:11). The same appliestoday. If we are baptised, then all ourold sins are forgiven, and from then onwe must keep ourselves free fromimmorality.What will happen if we commit adul-

tery after we are baptised? Does thatmean we are banned from theKingdom? The answer is that the othersins in Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians 6:11

will also ban us from the Kingdom ifthey represent our way of life. Drunk-ards, thieves and extortionists are nobetter and no worse than adulterers.God is merciful, so if we do sin in thisway, but repent and ask forgiveness(and do not continue in that sin!) Hewill forgive us because of the sacrificeof Jesus.

The Eighth Commandment:You Shall Not Steal

To steal is to take away something thatbelongs to someone else and to use itas yours. It may be money, as when aburglar breaks into your apartmentand empties your purse. It may be pos-sessions, as when you are stopped inthe street and someone demands yourmobile phone.

It can also be something else, suchas time. If your employer pays you towork ten hours a day but when he isout of the office and you take a two–hour lunch break so that you canwatch football, that is stealing. You can steal from a person, or you

can steal from an organisation. If youmake a false statement when you arefilling in the form for the Government’stax collector so that you pay less taxthan you should, that is stealing. If youjump over the barrier at the railwaystation and get on the train without a

12 Glad Tidings

ticket, you are stealing from the railwaycompany. God hates stealing in any form. He

insists that we respect the rights ofownership of other people. He is soinsistent on this point that the Law ofMoses says if you find someone else’sproperty that they have obviously lost,you have a duty by law to keep it safeand to return it at the earliest opportu-nity (see Deuteronomy 22:1–3). Evenif it was your enemy’s property, youmust give it back to him:

If you meet your enemy's ox or hisdonkey going astray, you shall surelybring it back to him again (Exodus23:4).

It is interesting to see how the Law ofMoses punished a thief. In our society,a thief is usually fined or sent toprison. But in the Law, the principlewas one of compensation.

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, andslaughters it or sells it, he shall restorefive oxen for an ox and four sheep fora sheep. If the thief is found breakingin, and he is struck so that he dies,there shall be no guilt for his blood-shed. If the sun has risen on him,there shall be guilt for his bloodshed.He should make full restitution; if hehas nothing, then he shall be sold forhis theft. If the theft is certainly found

alive in his hand, whether it is an ox ordonkey or sheep, he shall restoredouble (Exodus 22:1–4).

If someone stole a sheep and thatsheep was still on the thief’s premiseshe repaid two sheep. But if he hadkilled it or sold it to someone else, hehad to repay four sheep. This was agood deterrent to stop people stealingsheep. However, there was another possi-

bility under the Law of Moses. Ifsomeone stole something from theirneighbour, afterwards they mightrepent and wish they had not taken it.In this case, the thief could go to thepriest and confess the sin. Notice, it was a sin, because the

thief had broken the Eighth Command-ment. God, who sees everything, knewall about the theft, and God wasoffended about it. But of course, theneighbour was also upset, having lostthe possession. So the thief had to putthings right with the neighbour first.

Then it shall be, because he hassinned and is guilty, that he shallrestore what he has stolen, or thething which he has extorted, or whatwas delivered to him for safekeeping,or the lost thing which he found, or allthat about which he has sworn falsely.He shall restore its full value, addone–fifth more to it, and give it towhomever it belongs, on the day of histrespass offering (Leviticus 6:4–5).

Then the thief could go to the Taber-nacle and bring the priest an offeringfor his sin, to put things right with God:

And he shall bring his trespass offer-ing to the LORD, a ram without blemishfrom the flock, with your valuation, asa trespass offering, to the priest. So

133rd Year 13

the priest shall make atonement forhim before the LORD, and he shall beforgiven for any one of these thingsthat he may have done in which hetrespasses (v6–7).

Notice the difference between thiscase and the one above. If the thiefwas caught with the stolen animal inhis possession and had no intention toreturn it, he had to pay the owner atleast twice or four times the value ofthe animal. If he repented and apolo-gised of his own accord, he only had torepay one fifth extra. Thus, the Law ofMoses encouraged people to repentand put things right with each otherand with God. The Law of Moses shows us that we

cannot hide anything from God. Hesees all that we do, and He judges us.When we take an extra hour off work,He knows about it. When we steal apencil from the stationery cupboard,He sees and remembers.

Christians and Stealing

What does the New Testament have tosay about stealing? Once more, theApostle Paul has some advice for us.In Ephesians 4:22–24 he says whenwe are baptised we become new menand women. It is like going into a shopand being given a new coat. We takeoff our old coat and put it in the bin,and we put on the new coat. The old coat we take off is the

‘Adam, or sinful, coat’. Adam wasmade in the likeness of God, but incharacter he failed to be like God. Hewas a sinner. We must put on the‘Jesus coat’, for Jesus was like God incharacter as well as appearance – wesee this in verse 24. Stealing belongs to the sinful way of

life. Stealing is wrong. It hurts other

people. It takes away something thatwas theirs, and now they cannot enjoyit any more. They may not know who itwas that stole their possession, butthey are left angry and miserable, andyou have been the cause of that badfeeling. In contrast, says the Apostle,when we put on the new man, the onemodelled on Jesus, we have to changefrom hurting people to helping them.

Imagine a skilled pickpocket whohas heard about Jesus. Before, henever needed to go out to work,because he lived by stealing. Now thisman has become a Christian. It is notenough for him to say ‘I have stoppedstealing from people’. Now, says theapostle, that former thief must go outto work and earn money to give topeople in need – see verse 28. Hedoes not just stop taking away frompeople, he has to give to them.We live in a world where many

people have no moral standards. Theysteal and cheat and commit fraudwithout hesitation. If we want to be fol-lowers of Jesus we must observescrupulously the rules of property. Wemust return lost things we find. Wemust give to people, not take awayfrom them.

David M. Pearce

14 Glad Tidings

The Gospels depict Jesus in a wayunlike any other historical figure orcharacter of the day, either Jewish orfrom Roman-Greek society. He hassome of the characteristics of a Jewishteacher, but there are major problemswith seeing him in this way. There isnothing about him to suggest he is aGreek hero.The Apostle Paul noted this:

For Jews request a sign, and Greeksseek after wisdom; but we preachChrist crucified, to the Jews a stum-bling block and to the Greeksfoolishness (1 Corinthians 1:22–23).

The point here is that if the paganGreeks were inventing someone to bethe Son of God, he would not havebeen crucified. Instead he would havebeen a hero in the Greek mould. Simi-larly, if the figure of a Messiah were tohave been invented by a Jew, then thatMessiah would not have been cruci-fied.

The Jewish Expectation

The Jewish idea of Messiah came fromthe Old Testament. Passages likePsalm 2 give a picture of the kind ofperson the Messiah would be:

The LORD has said to me, “You are MySon, today I have begotten you. Ask ofMe, and I will give you the nations foryour inheritance, and the ends of theearth for your possession. You shallbreak them with a rod of iron; you shalldash them to pieces like a potter'svessel.” (Psalm 2:7–9).

In the first and early second cen-turies there were a number of peoplewho claimed to be the Messiah andraised rebel armies to defeat theRomans. All of them failed and theirfollowers were scattered. However,their existence indicates what Jewsexpected in a Messiah. Had the Gospels been made up by a

messianic Jew, they would havereflected these military ambitions. Cer-tainly, the descriptions of the Jewishauthorities (Scribes, Pharisees andSadducees) would have been quite dif-ferent.

No Greek Hero

The alternative possibility is that theGospels were invented by a Gentile (anon–Jew). However, we also knowwhat the Greeks expected from a Sonof God. In the second century, Lucian

The Reliability of the Gospels - 10The Reliability of the Gospels - 10

The ‘Uninventable’ JesusThe ‘Uninventable’ Jesus

133rd Year 15

of Samosata wrote a satire on Chris-tianity, and an attack on Christianitywas written by Celsus. In the early thirdcentury Philostratus wrote a bookwhich attempted to show that Apollo-nius of Tyana was a more acceptablehero than Jesus Christ. These attackson Christianity show what kind of herothe Greeks were expecting and wouldfind palatable.The Greek documents indicate a

hero who differed from Jesus in anumber of ways. The Greek messiahwould have had the body of a Greekgod. He would have defeated hisenemies in battle, caused and stoppedplagues, destroyed monsters andappeared in great splendour and glory.As Celsus explains in intricate detail,the hero would have met kings andworked with cities. He would not havebeen born to a carpenter’s wife, in anobscure area on the fringe of theRoman Empire. His miracles wouldhave been magnificent works of hugetheatrical effect rather than healingsick people or feeding the hungry. Hewould have been a philosopher–herolike Apollonius or a demigod like Her-cules. Clearly Jesus of Nazareth, who

walked among the poor, healed thesick and proclaimed the Kingdom ofGod to come would not match theexpectations of those looking for apagan hero or a Greek demigod.

Inspiring Followers

It is almost impossible to imagine howa figure like Jesus could have inspireda community of followers who, after hisdeath, spread across the world carry-ing his message. That is unless theclaims of Jesus and the testimony ofeye-witnesses are true and he genui-nely rose from the dead.

Many Jews followed messianicfigures like Theudas (see Acts 5:36) orthe Egyptian leader (Acts 21:38). Theyrose up and went into the desert, orthey mustered armies to fight theRomans, but they were defeated. Themessianic figure died and the surviv-ing followers dispersed. The followersthen had two choices. Either theyfound another messianic pretender tofollow or they gave up completely. Theydid not continue to follow their leaderafter he had died.Jesus Christ is different. Jesus never

raised an army, and had no intentionto take power by force. At the time ofhis crucifixion his last remaining disci-ples “forsook him and fled” (Mark14:50). During the time between thecrucifixion and the resurrection, Jesus’disciples hid away. There was no inten-tion to go out and spread the messageof Jesus despite his death. It was only after the resurrection that

the followers of Jesus began to organ-ise themselves, and only fifty dayslater, after Pentecost, that they beganto proclaim the Gospel publicly. Therewas something quite different aboutJesus which meant that his disciplesfollowed a different course of actionfrom those followers of other teachersand leaders.Essentially the Jesus of the Bible

could not and would not be invented.Nobody in the ancient world wouldhave devised anyone like the Jesus weread about in the Gospels. He simplydoesn’t fit the ideas of the world of histime. The evidence shows that Jesuswas real, and because he rose fromthe dead he still is real. It is up to us toconsider this carefully and to investi-gate the claims of Jesus Christ.

John Thorpe

16 Glad Tidings

When God had first chosen theJewish nation, they were desperateand without help. They had nothing,but God had offered them so verymuch. Although they were filthy, Hewas prepared to make them beautifulfor Himself (Ezekiel 16:3–14). Faithful-ness is critically important to God, andthe language of flagrant prostitutionshows His utter hatred of their subse-quent waywardness.

The Faithful Bride

In contrast, the Old Testament bookcalled “The Song of Solomon” or “Songof Songs” uses the most endearingromantic language to describe a faith-ful couple, dedicated to each other. The young girl yearns for her

husband-to-be, and she preparesherself and her house for his arrival.All the time she is looking and listeningfor him, ignoring any taunts or mockingfrom the sceptics. This is a parable of the loving spiri-

tual relationship between Jesus Christand his faithful followers, both maleand female.In the New Testament Jesus is

several times portrayed as a bride-groom (e.g. Matthew 9:15; 25:1–13).The bride represents all true believersfrom creation to the return of Jesus.Jesus has gone away to heaven, butthe Bible is full of promises that he willreturn to establish his kingdom onearth. This union of Jesus with immor-talised believers – raised from thedead if they have died before hisreturn (1 Corinthians 15:50–53) – isdescribed in terms of a wedding(Matthew 22:1–14).

There is a story in the Jewish writings,the Talmud, about an engaged couple.The man had to go away, but wrote loveletters to his fiancée, promising toreturn. In his absence, friends of the beauti-

ful young girl mocked her, taunting herthat her man would never return.Nonetheless, despite many tempta-tions, she kept reading the promises inhis love letters and remained faithfulright up to the day when he finally didreturn to her. This Talmudic story equates the girl

to the Jewish nation in captivity. Theyhad God’s Promises, His Law and HisProphets, which gave them comfortthat God would not forsake them.

Israel’s Disobedience

However, the nation of Israel wouldnever have gone into captivity if theyhad remained faithful to God. They hadpromised that they would follow God’scommandments. Yet despite Godpleading with them, they became cor-rupted by the idolatry of the nationsnear to them (see Jeremiah 7:23–26).The language of their prophetsdescribing this rebellious behaviour isexplicit and distasteful, comparingthem to prostitutes.

…on every high hill and under everygreen tree you lay down, playing theharlot (Jeremiah 2:20 & 3:1,6).

You trusted in your own beauty,played the harlot because of yourfame, and poured out your harlotry oneveryone passing by who would have it(Ezekiel 16:15).

FaithfulnessFaithfulness

133rd Year 17

The love of Jesus has never beenand can never be surpassed (John15:13) – he died for true believers:

Christ also loved the church and gavehimself for her, that he might sanctifyand cleanse her with the washing ofwater by the word, that he mightpresent her to himself a gloriouschurch, not having spot or wrinkle orany such thing, but that she should beholy and without blemish (Ephesians5:25–27).

Every single human being is blem-ished by sin, and we can never by ourown efforts attain perfection, even lesseternal life. But Jesus is able topresent each faithful believer as ‘fault-less’. His Father, the Lord God, isprepared to accept them as unblem-ished, because of Jesus’ sacrifice. All Jesus asks is that believers

remain dedicated, accepting andtrying to obey what he said, whilewaiting, watching and longing for hisreturn. Failure to do this leads to cor-ruption of the Gospel, and prostituteimagery is again used in Revelation 17to depict the false systems of belief.We need to appreciate that we all havethe same wayward inclinations asIsrael did – wanting to mix God’s wayswith human ideas. Consequently,Christian believers have no grounds toconsider themselves superior to Israel(Romans 11:19–24). There is no roomfor complacency.

Our Response Now

In this life, some people are blessedwith the love and devotion of a spouse.They know the intense yearning whenwaiting for the return of their lovedone. This can be all-consuming, andthey would never dream of looking atanyone else or jeopardising their rela-tionship. Such unions do not last forever – they belong to our mortal life(Matthew 22:30).But the love of Jesus is eternal, he

died for his ‘friends’ – those who try todo what he asked of them (John15:14). Our devotion, loyalty andlonging for him should be greater thanin any human relationship. How can weeven consider jeopardising this price-less and eternal spiritual relationship? Like the girl in the Talmudic story we

need to read the Bible promises,believe them completely and – lovinghim for all he has done – prepare forJesus’ return. Absolutely nothing inthis life matters as much as this does,and the joy of that great day of theLord will surpass anything we canexperience or even imagine now. Thecritical question is: are we behavingspiritually like a prostitute or like thefaithful young girl?

Anna Hart

To access previous editions of ‘GladTidings’ please visit our website:www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

18 Glad Tidings

“What is Truth?” Pontius Pilatedemanded of Jesus Christ. Who knowshow the course of history may haveevolved, had Pilate learned then ofGod’s purpose with the earth and withman. The pivotal role that Jesus wouldplay to further God’s purpose, his cru-cifixion and resurrection, wasimminent. The merciless Roman gover-nor would not learn the three greattruths of Bible narrative: God’sabsolute sovereignty, His purpose withthe earth, and His purpose withmankind.

Absolute Sovereignty

The first truth, God’s sovereignty, is dif-ficult to grasp. Many people try tomake God conform to what they per-ceive Him to be, attributing their ownstandards of fairness. But God doesnot conform to any personal image wemay hold. On the contrary, God saysthrough Paul:

But indeed, O man, who are you toreply against God? Will the thingformed say to him who formed it, “Whyhave you made me like this?” (Romans9:20).

This is God, Creator of light and dark-ness. Speaking through the prophetIsaiah, God describes the huge differ-ences of thought and action betweenhumankind and Himself:

“My thoughts are not your thoughts,nor are your ways My ways,” says theLORD. “For as the heavens are higherthan the earth, so are My ways higherthan your ways, and My thoughts thanyour thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

Purpose with the Earth

God’s purpose with the earth isdetailed in the Bible narrative fromGenesis to Revelation. He created theearth to last for ever, never to bedestroyed by fire, flood, or nuclearbomb. After the Flood, every livingbeing was destroyed, except for Noahand those on the ark. The earth didremain, however, with the promise ofGod by the rainbow sign that He wouldnever again destroy all flesh.

While the earth remains, seedtimeand harvest, cold and heat, winter andsummer, and day and night shall notcease (Genesis 8:22).

In Numbers 14:21, God declaredthat all the earth would be filled withthe glory of the Lord. God created theearth, He established it; He did notcreate it in vain but formed it to beinhabited (Isaiah 45:18). From a human point of view, earth’s

life is finite, and the world can end witha whimper or become a burned outcinder in space. But God has promisedsomething better.Mankind cannot solve the world’s

problems. It is God who will rescue Hiscreation. He has promised to make

Three Absolute TruthsThree Absolute Truths

133rd Year 19

everything new in a kingdom wherethere is peace in human society and inthe natural world, and the earth is fullof the knowledge of God (see Isaiah11:1–9). With the dawning of theKingdom age, we read that weaponswill be converted to farming tools, andwar will cease for ever. A few linesdescribe this new world order:

For behold, I create new heavens anda new earth; and the former shall notbe remembered or come to mind. Butbe glad and rejoice forever in what Icreate… The voice of weeping shall nolonger be heard in her, nor the voice ofcrying… And My elect shall long enjoythe work of their hands… For they shallbe the descendants of the blessed ofthe LORD… before they call, I willanswer; and while they are still speak-ing, I will hear… They shall not hurt nordestroy in all My holy mountain (Isaiah65:17–25).

Purpose with Mankind

The third truth, God’s purpose withmen and women, shares good newswith bad. The Good News, preached byChrist and his disciples, was of theestablishment of the Kingdom of Godon the earth. Christ’s parables declarethe essence of the kingdom where itscitizens manifest attributes like faith,joy, love, forgiveness and mercy.The bad news for some is that this

kingdom will not be open to everyone,but limited to those who accept God’soffer and have faith in Him. These citi-zens will be those who display thecharacteristics Jesus described ashungering and thirsting for righteous-ness; being merciful, meek, pure inheart, peacemakers, and havingendured persecution for their faith’ssake (Matthew 5:3–12).

It is these followers of Christ whohave tried their best (and he does notask for more!) who will be madeperfect and immortal in the Kingdomof God.

What should we do then? Live justfor the moment? Just hope for the bestand that everything will be all right? More than forty generations after

that fateful scene between Jesus andPilate before the Praetorium, wewitness today the sad outcome of aworld with humans in charge. God’s word will prevail, however, and

soon Christ will return to set up thepromised Kingdom of God. No oneknows when this will happen, but signsare evident, most visibly in the estab-lishment of the Jewish state and thebreakdown of morals in our society.Let’s listen to God’s truth preached

by Christ and his disciples as we find itin our Bibles. Then let’s respond withfaith, baptism and trying our best tofollow Jesus. For he said:

Do not fear, little flock, for it is yourFather's good pleasure to give you thekingdom (Luke 12:32).

Leroy Canoles Jr.

From: thepreachersays.com(by permission)

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