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In John 20:24-29, All Jesus’ disciples saw Lord Jesus’ spirit amongst them, after his body died on the cross. They tell Thomas, a disciple who wasn’t among them when they saw his spirit, in verse 25, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas tells them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
As verse 26-27 says, “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” In verse 27 Jesus makes another appearance, this time with Thomas being with the other disciples. Jesus convinces Thomas it is he, by having Thomas put his finger into Jesus’ hand among other things.
Thomas had to see Jesus’ spirit in order to believe it is him. Jesus, giving a mild rebuke to Thomas but at the same time making a proclamation, says in Verse 29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The idea of believing without seeing is the essence of faith, is it not? To be sure, Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, THE CONVICTION OF THINGS NOT SEEN.’
I have not seen God, nor did I see Lord Jesus, but I have faith they exist. I don’t have to see them to know they exist. How do I know? Because passages such as John 20:24-29 says so. I believe those verses because 2 Timothy 3:16 says they come from God since they are in the Scriptures. That, and the fact that millions of people believing in them can’t be wrong, leads me to believe they exist. And, do I not want to be blessed by God through Lord Jesus?
If Thomas existed today, with millions believing in God through Jesus, instead of when only the disciples saw the spirit of Lord Jesus, would he be convinced that Lord Jesus and God exist? After all, he didn’t make his name by being a ‘Doubting Thomas’ for nothing!
But there are many others today who do not believe God and Lord Jesus exist, simply because none of their five senses have detected them. They don’t believe that God and Jesus in spirit form ever existed. I asked one such person, “If God never existed, then who created the universe?” He didn’t have an answer, other to say “Well, the universe is just here.
If they don’t believe in God and Lord Jesus, we may be pressed to convince them that the sky and earth’s mountains and islands can be rolled up into a scroll as it implies in Revelation 6:14. And, they are apparently not swayed no matter how many people believe in God through Jesus.
Can such people change? It depends on what the person accepts as proof. For some of those, it may take what they might perceive to be a miracle, to convince them. We would be hard-put to convince them through logic, since for them the logic of the situation is that all the things that God supposedly created were always here---that is, God didn’t create them. If they were told that God did create all things, they may then ask, ‘Well who created God?’ and to that, there is no answer so they may say, ‘Well if you don’t know who created God, then how can you believe the idea of creating anything?’
You might tell them, well, we were created in God’s image, we create things like bricks and buildings, so if we created things, then God created the things we said He created...and since God is a creating kind of being, He created the Scriptures that tell us about Him and the people who believe in Him through Jesus.
So, if we and God create things, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that God created the universe, and if He did, as we know He did, it’s not to far along to believe the other things that were said about Him.
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the conviction of things not seen. How do we convince those who’ve never ‘seen’ God and Lord Jesus? Or at least those who THINK they never saw how they operate in our hearts?
As verse 26-27 says, “Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” In verse 27 Jesus makes another appearance, this time with Thomas being with the other disciples. Jesus convinces Thomas it is he, by having Thomas put his finger into Jesus’ hand among other things.
Thomas had to see Jesus’ spirit in order to believe it is him. Jesus, giving a mild rebuke to Thomas but at the same time making a proclamation, says in Verse 29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The idea of believing without seeing is the essence of faith, is it not? To be sure, Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, THE CONVICTION OF THINGS NOT SEEN.’
I have not seen God, nor did I see Lord Jesus, but I have faith they exist. I don’t have to see them to know they exist. How do I know? Because passages such as John 20:24-29 says so. I believe those verses because 2 Timothy 3:16 says they come from God since they are in the Scriptures. That, and the fact that millions of people believing in them can’t be wrong, leads me to believe they exist. And, do I not want to be blessed by God through Lord Jesus?
If Thomas existed today, with millions believing in God through Jesus, instead of when only the disciples saw the spirit of Lord Jesus, would he be convinced that Lord Jesus and God exist? After all, he didn’t make his name by being a ‘Doubting Thomas’ for nothing!
But there are many others today who do not believe God and Lord Jesus exist, simply because none of their five senses have detected them. They don’t believe that God and Jesus in spirit form ever existed. I asked one such person, “If God never existed, then who created the universe?” He didn’t have an answer, other to say “Well, the universe is just here.
If they don’t believe in God and Lord Jesus, we may be pressed to convince them that the sky and earth’s mountains and islands can be rolled up into a scroll as it implies in Revelation 6:14. And, they are apparently not swayed no matter how many people believe in God through Jesus.
Can such people change? It depends on what the person accepts as proof. For some of those, it may take what they might perceive to be a miracle, to convince them. We would be hard-put to convince them through logic, since for them the logic of the situation is that all the things that God supposedly created were always here---that is, God didn’t create them. If they were told that God did create all things, they may then ask, ‘Well who created God?’ and to that, there is no answer so they may say, ‘Well if you don’t know who created God, then how can you believe the idea of creating anything?’
You might tell them, well, we were created in God’s image, we create things like bricks and buildings, so if we created things, then God created the things we said He created...and since God is a creating kind of being, He created the Scriptures that tell us about Him and the people who believe in Him through Jesus.
So, if we and God create things, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that God created the universe, and if He did, as we know He did, it’s not to far along to believe the other things that were said about Him.
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the conviction of things not seen. How do we convince those who’ve never ‘seen’ God and Lord Jesus? Or at least those who THINK they never saw how they operate in our hearts?
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