—And Will Determine When the Clock Runs Out!
On April 8th Christians will celebrate the historic event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Five billion people will not care or, in many cases, even know. Many of the two billion who mark Easter 2012 will question that the physical resurrection happened. It happened. There is far more solid historic evidence that the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened than that Julius Caesar ever lived. (even though his book “De Bello Gallico” and Other Commentaries is in print today.) No single event in history reaches the magnitude of that Friday and Sunday when every person who believes or will believe was saved from death and delivered into eternal life. This is the greatest thing that has or could happen on this earth.
But Jesus coming changed the entire world in many other ways. Dr. Steve Goold, the senior teaching Pastor at New Hope Church in Minnesota, covered several a few months ago. They are profound and exciting. We’ll examine them in several posts over the next four weeks. Here is Dr. Goold with the first:
Let me begin with this one. Because of Jesus—in a world with Jesus—time is measured universally the same. Without Christ’s birth, this would not be the year 2011 in the third millennium in the year of our Lord. The entire World today counts time—measures time—B.C. (before Christ) or A.D. (Anno Domini meaning in the year of our Lord). And for everybody on earth we are coming to the close of the year 2011 in the year of our Lord. That’s true for believers; that’s true for non-believers. That’s true for everyone. In the year 2011 (and that which remains of it) the most vocal atheists, the greatest tyranists and mass murderers, the greatest international terrorists and all others who lived their lives in defiance of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the date of their passing into eternity this year was noted as 2011 in the year of our Lord. The same is true for all who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. From the most renowned and publicly recognized, such as John Stott, to the multitude of lesser recognized—even beloved ones within this church family who knew Jesus Christ as their Savior and passed away this past year, to our beloved former pastor, Lester Nelson, who died just on December 5th at age 96 went into the arms of his Lord Jesus, for all who passed in the saving faith in Christ in the year 2011, it was in the year of our Lord.
If you wrote a check this year, if you made a transaction electronically, if you used a debit card or a credit card, it had on it 2011 somewhere. Do you know who started all that? Jesus. Jesus set the clock and Jesus will determine when the clock runs out.
THE SERIES:
WE ARE ABOUT TO CELEBRATE AN HISTORIC EVENT THAT CHANGED ALL THE WORLD—PART I: JESUS SET THE CLOCK
The Patriot's Trumpet 