I’ve been reading an interesting book called “God is Not One,” by the renowned religious scholar and writer Stephen Prothero. He is not a Christian. In fact, I think he’s agnostic. He thoroughly dismantles the false notion that all religions are beautiful and true. He argues that people don’t say all economic systems (Capitalism and Socialism) are beautiful and true. People don’t say all political parties (Democrat and Republican) are beautiful and true. But by some miracle of the imagination, people say Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity (and every other religion) are essentially the same. It’s fashionable to imagine that all religions share the same essential viewpoints, core ethics, and mantras, that people of all faiths are unwitting brothers and sisters, of one in the same universal “faith.”
But just saying all religions are “one-in-the-same” doesn’t make it so, and as Prothero argues, it’s done nothing to advance peace. No, we live in a world that is ferociously religious. It’s vital that we understand the unique problem each religion identifies, what solutions they propose, what pathway they prescribe, and who they hold up as exemplars for all the world to aspire.
If you have a Christian Bible, it’s divided into two major sections. The Old Testament contains the writings of ancient Judaism. Some of the writings of the Old Testament include the Law and Moses (Pentateuch)… chronicles of Israel’s history, and kings, and kingdoms… books of wisdom… and the prophets. But the Christian Bible, additionally includes a New Testament. Christians believe that all the mysteries concealed, kept hidden for thousands of generations in the Old Testament, have been fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
The first four books of Christian New Testament are called Gospels. You’ll find the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each gospel reflects someone’s effort to introduce Jesus. Of particular interest for us this fall, is the Gospel of Luke. Luke was a doctor and historian who traveled with the Apostle Paul on missionary journeys, throughout the Roman Empire. He wrote Luke to help the Gentile (non-Jewish) world know Jesus! The gospel of Luke is actually volume 1. It records everything Jesus did before being taken up to heaven. The book of Acts is actually volume 2 of Luke’s writing. It records everything Jesus did through his Church after being taken up to heaven!
Let me walk you through Luke’s introduction. Luke 1:1-2 begins… “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.…” So, in your Bible there is also the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, John. The gospels are compilations of eyewitness accounts of people contemporary to Jesus. The stories were passed around through oral tradition. So, as you read Matthew, Mark, and John the stories don’t always appear in the same order. Some stories that appear in one gospel may be excluded in another gospel.
But Luke is a good ole historian, and he tells us why he is writing Luke and Acts. Luke 1:3-4, “So it also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.”
Luke is writing to the most honorable “Theophilus.” Now stay with me here. The Greek word for God is “Theo”; The Greek word of Love is “Philus.” Luke is writing to a “Lover of God”. More than likely, the “honorable” Theophilus underwrote Luke’s work—much like Lakeside underwrote Wilhoit’s work translating the gospel for the Toma people.
But notice the reason Luke writes. He wants this “lover of God” to “know the certainty of the things” about which he’s been instructed. You see, it’s one thing to profess your love for God. By a show of hand… how many of you would say you love God? So many Christians have love and zeal for God but not much else!
So, it’s another thing to (like Theophilus) apply yourself to instruction. By a show of hands… How many of you have read the Bible cover to cover? How many of you have really studied the Bible, maybe you have a Study Bible? How many of you have attended Sunday School, Church Camp, or Small Groups, or taken Bible courses? How many of you have read Bible commentaries, dictionaries, done words studies, studied the grammar, historical context of Bible passages, the various author’s intentions, etc. etc. It’s a beautiful thing to add knowledge to your love.
But notice Luke’s goal… it’s that Theophilus “may know the certainty of the things” he’s been learning. There are gaggles of scholars in our Bible Colleges and Seminaries and also our Churches whose heads are packed full of knowledge. Luke wants Theophilus to move beyond knowledge to “certainty.” There is a danger that Jesus becomes nothing more than an interesting idea we entertain…that Jesus isn’t inviting us to really know him, and trust him, and believe in him, and stake everything, life and death, our soul, our salvation, our very eternity on His very identity, on his very life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. It’s one thing to know the content of Christianity, it’s quite another to take up your cross follow Jesus. *Without growing “certainty”, there isn’t any growing “commitment.”
A great many academics teach that “Certainty is a Myth.” They would say certainty is an unattainable ideal, an elusive butterfly, that certainty is at best an aspirational goal. Instead of “certainty” many prefer the word “conviction.” You can have conviction but not certainty! What’s the difference? Whereas “certainty” implies there can be a substantive, rational, intellectual basis to faith, “conviction” implies that faith is mostly an act of emotion, or an act of the will.
It seems to me that a great weakness of modern Christianity is there is far more “conviction” than “certainty.” More than emotional and volitional conviction we need lovers of God of intellectual and rational certainty… people who love God with all their heart, mind, body, soul, spirit—every faculty engaged. A people who know What they Believe, and Why they Believe.
How deeply are you willing to apply yourself to faith in Christ? Are you growing in love for Jesus? Are you growing in understanding? Are you growing in conviction? Are you growing in certainty? Are you growing in commitment?
There are some who have certainty because of 1st hand experiences. The Apostles were “with” Jesus. In 1 John 1:1-2 John writes, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—”
But for the rest of us, our certainty doesn’t rest in our experiences alone. In 1 John 1:3-4 John writes, “what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” Luke belongs to this second category. Like us, like Theophilus, Luke’s certainty rests on the experiences of others, on their testimonies! Luke carefully investigated. He sought to layout a full, orderly, sequential account. Luke is an excellent place for us to grow in our own certainty. It’s a worthy endeavor.
Now as this series gets underway, we want you to read Luke 1 this week. In Luke’s mind, something that bolsters the credibility of Christianity—is that Jesus is the fulfillment of many things. Again, Luke 1:1-2, “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.…” It’s not like Jesus just dropped out of the sky one day. God’s people had been waiting and preparing for Christ to appear for thousands of generations. Thus, the Old Testament matters as much as the New Testament.
Luke refers to eyewitness, to servants of the word who have handed truth down to us. In Luke 1-2, Luke begins lining up a long list of “witnesses.”
• Actual historical events bear witness to the truth of Christ.
• Generations after generation of believers, explicitly waited for Christ.
• Generations of men (servants of the word), moved by God, inspired of the Spirit, wrote down the exact circumstances and purpose for which Christ was to come. In 1 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1 Peter amplifies this by reminding his readers that Christianity isn’t some “cleverly invented story.”
• In Luke’s gospel, the curtain of heaven is drawn back, and the great angel Gabriel, and the Angelic Host bear testimony to Jesus coming birth, arrival.
• Miraculous circumstances surround Jesus’ birth, amplifying its significance.
• Luke highlights how John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, lived in complete sobriety, never touching wine or beer. He too, like the prophets of old, was moved by the Spirit to testify about Jesus.
• Even the Spirit Himself testifies about John the Baptist and Jesus.
• Luke sites the impact of John and Jesus’ ministry as a witness. How often do you see a populist movement built on repentance spread like wildfire?
• There were displays of “power” only attributable to God himself.
• We’ll especially see this in the genealogy of Jesus later on—but Luke draws a direct line between Jesus’ descendancy and linkage to Adam … that of the great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. That of King David.
• Luke sees all of Moses, and all the Law, the Priesthood, the Sacrifices—as being typologies all bearing testimony to the person and work of Jesus. Behold Jesus is the Lamb of God who once and forever takes away the sin of the world.
• Luke sees Jesus as fulfillment of the Law, the Kings, and Prophets. How are we to see Jesus? We are to see Jesus through the eyes of Isaiah.
• Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel [God with us!]”
• Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.”
• Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.”
• Isaiah 11:1-6, “Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears, 4 but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips. 5 Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist. 6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them.”
Theophilus… I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.”