THE CASE FOR CHRIST--The Investigation of a Lifetime

Today, we began what best-selling author Lee Strobel calls "the investigation of a lifetime." While Mr. Strobel approached this investigation from the perspective of an aethiest which he was at the time he began to investigate the evidence that he thought would repudiate the claims of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, most of us will be approaching this study from the perspective of believers who sometimes have doubts or who often hear arguments from society which question the evidence for Jesus being who He says that He is. As Brian Gray pointed out in class this morning, it is not a bad thing for those of us who believe to confront these questions which often present themselves either in the form of our own personal doubts or in challenges from those around us. Indeed, it is a good thing for us to confront and embrace these questions and arrive at the conclusion which, for us as believers, will simply reinforce our commitment and our understanding of who He is.

We heard from several people on the street as they responded to the question, "Who is Jesus?" Here is the response from the last woman who responded: "I don't believe we will ever know if Jesus was really what everyone says he was. I think it's a lot of folklore. I think it's a lot of historical misrepresentation. It's a lot of wishful thinking. But I don't think we know. I don't think we'll ever know. And I don't think there's any way to prove what has been claimed about Jesus for all these years."

Wow! This woman described Jesus as folklore, historical misrepresentation, and wishful thinking. Unfortunately, her views are not uncommon in today's society. Marshall J. Gauvin in his book, DID JESUS CHRIST REALLY LIVE, suggested that Christ is nothing more than a corporate logo, not unlike Ronald McDonald, Mickey Mouse, or Joe Camel, "the purpose of which is to get you to swallow a whole raft of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors by an act of simple faith, short-circuiting the dangerous process of thinking the issues out to your own conclusions."

The objective of our study during the next six weeks will be to help us to address our own questions of doubt, our own insecurities, and our own biases or prejudices regarding the true identity of Jesus Christ. In addition, we hope to learn, like a skillful attorney, to point to the irrefutable evidence in order to build a case for the truth.

Mr. Strobel pointed out in today's introduction the significance of this particular investigation. The implications are eternal in nature. I hope you will join us as we consider "the case for Christ."

VISITORS: We were pleased to have Greg and Wendy Gunter join us in Sunday School this morning. The Gunters are long-time members of Central Baptist.