The Christian Faith rests on God's witness

Weekly Devotion

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:16-21

The Christian Faith is not built upon cunningly devised fables. It does not rest upon the visions of one or two founders as is the case with some religious offshoots. The Christian Faith is a religion based on historical fact -- witnessed by not only a privileged few, but by 12 apostles, numerous prophets and hundreds and even thousands of eye witnesses.

The Apostle Paul could testify in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."

If people had doubts about the resurrection of Jesus, there were ample numbers who had witnessed Jesus' death and had seen Him alive again after His resurrection. They didn't have to take the word of one or two witnesses. The events surrounding Jesus' life, death and resurrection were witnessed by so many they were undisputed. If you notice in the Gospel accounts, Jesus' enemies didn't dispute the things He had done; they disputed by what power He had done them.

Peter himself was a witness of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. And, as he says in this epistle, he (along with James and John) was there on the mount of transfiguration with Jesus (cf. Matthew 17:1-9) when God the Father spoke from heaven and said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

And Christians have far more proof and documentation upon which to build their faith than just Peter's testimony. As he writes, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

As Christians, we have the testimony of Scriptures, written over a period of about 1,600 years by approximately 33 different authors -- though, in fact, the Bible has only one author, God, who moved men to write and guided them in the words they wrote so that all of Scripture is God's own inspired or God-breathed Word (cf. 2 Timothy 3:14-17; cf. 2 Samuel 23:1-2).

And so, the Christian Faith rests upon solid truth -- upon the witness of so many eyewitnesses who were so convinced of the truth they gave their lives for it, and upon the witness of God Himself who gave us the Scriptures and has preserved them down through the centuries as a witness of the truth that we might be made "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15; cf. Matthew 5:18; 24:14).

Yes, the Scriptures reveal the holy will of God and our utter failure to live up to His law, but the same Scriptures assure us that "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1,2).

Indeed, we would do well to pay heed to the Scriptures "as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." When we read our Bibles, attend church where the Scriptures are faithfully taught and listen carefully to God's inspired Word, the Scriptures are like a light shining in a dark place -- they reveal to us our sinfulness and they reveal to us salvation through faith in Jesus, God's Son and our Savior, the Light of the world (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:6; cf. Psalm 119:130).

God grant that the light of His Word shine in our hearts and reveal to us Christ Jesus and salvation through faith in Him. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture quotations from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Editorial on 03/01/2017