True History is Important

 Who we are and where we come from is important. 

There is a history and we have a purpose. 

The lies that people tell about history when they don’t know the truth or don’t want that truth is religion. 

The Bible records history, both good and bad. 

There is a science to finding out the past. You look at the evidence. If someone wiped out all of the historical records, then we would have the evidence of design that needs a Designer. 

Evidence of design is what made me look at all of the origin beliefs and find whether any line up with the rest evidence. One did. The Bible.

Conservative vs. Liberal

Promotes equal justice.	Promotes social justice.
Competition is good.	Competition is unfair.
Supports lower taxes.	Supports progressive taxation with high taxes for the rich.
Less government is better. Wants only necessary regulation of business, economy, and individual lives, resulting in more freedom.	More government is better. Many regulations are necessary to achieve a more fair & just society which is government’s primary role, resulting in less freedom.
Limited federal government with more power given to state and local governments.	Powerful centralized federal government with limited state and local control.
People and property rights are more important than environment. Supports conservation and development and use of our natural resources along with the development of green technology by private enterprise and when it is economically feasible and self-sustaining. Opposes cap and trade due to its high cost and negative impact on our businesses and way of life.	Environment more important than people and property rights. Supports rationing and limiting access to natural resources. Focuses on green technology subsidized by the government. Supports cap and trade.
Wealth is good. All have an opportunity to be wealthy. Creates a better life for all through entrepreneurship.	Wealth is bad and unfair. Promotes class warfare.
Equal opportunity without discrimination. Same access for all. Recognizes people make different choices with what they have. Doesn’t seek equal outcomes.	Equal results through such things as quotas and equal pay for unequal work. Have to level the playing field in order to have equal opportunity. Seeks equal outcomes.
Judicial restraint with strict interpretation of laws according to the Constitution and original intent.	Judicial activism: enacting social policy changes via court rulings. Constitution is seen as outdated and in need of change.
Free market economy. Free market creates jobs.	Government regulation of economy. Government creates jobs.
Business is good: creates jobs & improves lives. Give freedom for them to do what they do best. Let free market supply and demand adjust practices. Let employers and employees negotiate benefits.	Business is evil: out to exploit employees, environment, and consumers. Needs to be regulated to protect consumers, employees, and the environment. Government regulates employee benefits.
Traditional morality, including traditional family and values. Absolute standards of right and wrong. Absolute truth. Sees standing against wrong as a moral duty.	Tolerance of all lifestyles & beliefs except those that hold beliefs they consider to be politically incorrect like pro-life Christians. No absolute standards of right and wrong. Moral relativism.
Right to free speech must be supported even if it offends.	Right to free speech is limited to speech that does not offend. (Political correctness)
Peace through strength via a strong military.	Peace through appeasement, cooperation, and understanding others' views. Dislikes showing and exercising strength.
Supports a missile defense system.	Opposes a missile defense system.
American sovereignty comes before globalism.	Globalism comes before American sovereignty.
Sees America as good: the best hope for the world. Believes in American exceptionalism.	Sees America as flawed: racist, homophobic, imperialistic, sexist, ageist and no better than other countries.
Western cultures are superior to others without rights, freedom, and respect for life.	All cultures are equal. Can’t pass judgment on any even if they don’t value freedom, rights, and life.
God is a necessary part of a good society. Religion makes people good.	State is secular (without God). Seeks to eliminate all references of God.
Rights emphasized: Freedom, Parental, Property, Religious, Guns, Life.	Rights emphasized: Civil, Privacy, Secularism, and Reproductive.

So, Why Jesus?

Many people question Christianity, as well they should.  It’s good to be an informed believer.  I welcome questions from skeptics, especially since I was one.

So, could anyone with enough will power, determination and some special effects have pulled off the claim to the title of Messiah?  Let’s look at that.

There were thousands of prophecies that the Messiah needed to fulfill.   Many of the prophecies no one could control.

  

One is that the Messiah needed to be a descendent of King David.   

Jesus would have had a claim to the throne in 2 ways.   His step father Joseph was a descendant through the main line that had the direct heir lineage.   Also, His Mother Mary was descended via a different line.  This was important because the direct line of heirs was told by God that they would never rule again.   Joseph was descended from Jechonias, Jesus could not rightly claim the throne (see Jeremiah 22:30) had he been Joseph’s natural son, but through His mothers line there was no such problem.  Jesus, would have been King had the rule continued.

Here are eight examples of prophecies that were out of human control (by Jesus):

1.  Place of Birth (Mic 5:2), 

2.  Time of Birth (Dan 9:25; Gen 49:10),

3.  Manner of Birth (Isa 7:14),

4.  Betrayal (Ps 41:9; 55:13), 

5.  Manner of Death (Ps 22:16),

6.  The reactions of people (mocking, spitting, etc),

7.  Piercing (Zech 12:10),

8.  Burial (Isa 53:9)

Peter Stoner explains how the science of probability rules out coincidence in his book "Science Speaks." The chance of someone else meeting just these 8 requirements is 10^17.  Stoner gave this illustration:

If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107).

To add to the problem of manipulation, there are 456 characteristics that the Messiah had to have.  It not only impossible to fake, it shows us God is in control. 

My friends, you may not want to believe in or understand why God has made the decisions that He has, but He is real and He has provided us the bail for our offenses to Him.   He loves us.

Now let’s thank Him.