THE CASE FOR CHRIST--Analyzing Jesus

We were pleased to have Trey and Shelly Schultz join us in Sunday School this morning. Please join us in praying that the Lord will guide them to the Sunday School class that He has for them.

Here are the other prayer requests that Tracey published from this morning's class: Swope- Please pray for Zane's childhood friend. He has been in poor health the past few years and is on a heart transplant list and now is going through a divorce- The Haley family.

Higginbotham- Please pray for Gina's grandfather. He has diabetes and has had to have several toes amputated and is facing losing more. Also pray for her mom who is caring for him. Her mom and grandfather have had a very tense relationship over the years.

Miles- Please remember Messiah's Ranch. It is a local christian camp, and the lake which was their main attraction has dried up.

Scasta- Please pray for Craig's mom, Phyllis, as she undergoes outpatient surgery Tuesday.

Gutierrez- Please pray for them as they travel this week to El Paso and then on to Cloudcroft, NM.

Please remember Pastor Chris. He is at the Southern Baptist Convention this week and has a meeting on Monday that is expected to be very tense as it involves some churches having to give up receiving money that they had gotten used to having.

Please pray that God will stop the oil flow in the Gulf and for all those affected.


TODAY'S LESSON:

This morning, we looked at the material from Chapters 9 and 10 from the book, The Case for Christ. These chapters address what Lee Strobel calls the profile evidence and the fingerprint evidence. Mr. Strobel continues to use the metaphor of a court case and strengthens the analogy by referring to the common police investigator strategy of drawing a profile of a suspect in order to verify the suspect's identification. In the DVD presentation, we saw examples of police artists sketching a profile both free-hand and with the use of a computer in order to establish a picture of the alleged suspect. Mr. Strobel points out that The Old Testament creates a profile for the characteristics of God which are fulfilled in The New Testament as Jesus is described. For example, as we discussed in class, some of the attributes of God include His omniscience, He is all-knowing, His omnipotence, He is all-powerful, His omnipresence, He is present everywhere, and His immutability, He never changes, the same yesterday, today, and forever. We see this profile matched in the biographies of Jesus found in The New Testament.

As Dr. Craig Evans, one of the scholars we saw interviewed on the DVD stated, "Jesus' contemporaries--that is, people who liked Him, people who were indifferent, and people who opposed Him--all acknowledged that Jesus did extraordinary things." Such acknowledgements can be found in John 2:23, John 10:24-25, and Matthew 12:24. However, as we discussed in class, many of us had never considered the forgiveness of sins to be the most impressive miracle performed by Jesus. Yet, according to New Testament scholar Mark Strauss, the most astonishing miracle performed by Jesus was exactly that, the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins can only be accomplished by God. Therefore, even though Jesus performed other miracles to validate his authority to forgive sins, the forgiveness of sins is the ultimate validation of Jesus as God.

We further examined the fingerprint evidence established by the prophecies of The Old Testament as they identified the only person in all of eternity who could fit the fingerprint of The Messiah. We learned in the DVD presentation this morning that there are 48 ancient prophecies regarding The Messiah. Jesus fulfilled them all! The mathematical odds of one person fulfilling all of these prophecies in his lifetime bring further evidence to the case that there is only one individual in all of eternity who could fit this divine fingerprint. The following chart provides examples of some of the prophecies, the Old Testament reference, and the approximate years they were written before Jesus.

FULFILLED PROPHECY O.T. REFERENCE YRS. BEFORE JESUS

Born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14 700
Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 700
Mocked, scorned, whipped, killed by Psalm 22 300--1,000
the piercing of his hands and feet,
bones out of joint, garments divided
by the casting of lots
Time of birth predicted Daniel 9: 24-26 600
Come from the seed of a woman Genesis 3:15 1,400
Descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,David Genesis 12:3, 17:19 700-1,400
Numbers 24:17
Isaiah 9:7
Heal the deaf and the blind Isaiah 29:18 700
Would teach with parables Psalm 78:2 300-1,000
Would be betrayed for 30 pieces silver Zechariah 11:12 500
Bones would remain unbroken Psalm 34:20 300-1,000
Would be resurrected on the 3rd day Psalm 16:10 300-1,000
Hosea 6:2
* For more information on prophecies fulfilled, see the book, The Case for Christ.

The overwhelming preponderance of evidence from the profile and prophecies created in The Old Testament points to only one person--The Risen Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Amen!

Please join us next week as we begin to consider the medical evidence, the evidence of the missing body, and the evidence of appearances. The case continues to build--The Case for Christ. Have a great week! Don't hesitate to call me if I can help you in any way or if I can pray for you or with you. 979-229-6606