The two sounds I heard early this morning are evidence. Evidence of things unseen. Based on things I knew to be true, I surmised that what I was hearing was a train was rolling down the tracks. The train engineer blew his whistle whenever he got to an intersection. How did I know that? Because that's what train engineers are supposed to do.
I also deduced that the train I heard was five miles away and to the north. How did I know that? Because that's where I knew there were train tracks. There are no other train tracks around here except for those.
I was also able to figure out the train was going from east to west. How? Over time the sound of the train whistle only came from the west. It was loud and then got more quiet. Thus the train was moving away from me.
All these things I have described are evidence that led me to the conclusion that there was a train (train whistle), it was moving down the tracks (I had seen them and knew where they were), And the diminishing sounds told me the train's direction of travel. All these things are true because I was a witness to them.
When my wife wakes up I can tell her that a train was traveling east to west at 6:00 AM. She will probably believe me. Why? Because she has heard the same sound before herself. If she believes me she will be placing her trust in my ears and their ability to hear. She will be relying on her own experience. and she will have faith in what I said is true. Why?
Well, why would I lie? She has come to know me over the course of the last 40 years or so that I don't lie. She trusts me. Therefore she believes me.
What about our faith in Christ? Is there enough evidence that He truly existed? Yes there is. The Bible, of course, is our main body of evidence but the are also extra-biblical writings that corroborate that evidence. The writings of Flavius Josephus for example, who referred to Jesus.
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.
I can tell you that Jesus exists by the change His Holy Spirit has brought into my life but would you believe me? If you don't know me, why would you? Is there evidence in MY life that I have been changed by the teachings of Jesus? Is there evidence in YOUR life that Jesus exists?
We need to BE the evidence in a world that desperately needs the truth - Jesus. Be that evidence today.
"13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate a the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:13-18
The Case For Christ - Lee Strobel
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