Jump Start # 1820

Acts 26:8 “Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?”

Our verse today comes from the grand speech that the apostle Paul delivered before an enormous crowd that included the Roman governor Festus, the Judean king, Agrippa, commanders and many prominent movers and shakers of the times as well as leading Jewish authorities. Paul is allowed to tell his story. He has been in jail for more than two years. He has appealed to the highest court in the Roman system, Caesar himself. Festus doesn’t know what to tell Caesar. The Jews have accused Paul of many things but it all seems like trivial Jewish problems. Why can’t they settle this themselves?

At stake in all of this is Paul’s claim that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the risen Savior. “For this reason some Jews sized me in the temple and tried to put me to death” (21) Paul reports. At the end of Paul’s defense, Festus will declare that Paul is out of his mind. Paul makes this personal and talks directly to King Agrippa, reminding him of things that he knows.

Great passage. Many great lessons found tucked throughout this section. Our verse today, “Why is it considered incredible among you…” reminds us of four key aspects of Christianity that folks find incredible today.

First, that God made us. That is considered incredible. Everyone knows we evolved, is the most common thought on universities and in the media. It is more incredible to believe that we were planned, designed and part of something special rather than all of this just happened by time and chance and a little luck? No sense. No reason. No purpose. Nothing beyond us? And that is not considered “incredible?” The proof? Not to be found. The logic? There is none. We are all on our own and this is as good as it gets. When we are done here, we simply cease to exist anymore. That’s the conclusive hopelessness of evolution.

Second, that God could communicate with His creation. As incredible as the first one is, this seems even more incredible. Why is it hard to think that God would and could communicate with us. Those that have bought into the hypothesis of evolution, also have more reason to believe that alien life can communicate with us than God. Life on Mars seems to be the hot topic of scientists these days. They have more belief that Mars has a massive flood than planet earth did. Why wouldn’t God communicate with His creation? And how best to communicate than through words. Words can be copied. Words can be translated. Words can be memorized. Words can pass through generations. God’s word is what the Bible is. It is more credible to an unbelieving world that the Bible is a collection of myths, legends and stories that someone, no one knows who, put together, edited and formed what we now call the Bible. Incredible? Yet how do you explain the power of the Bible? How do you explain the accuracy of the Bible? How do you explain the things the Bible talks about before it was commonly known? Why hasn’t someone duplicated a similar product like the Bible? So incredible?

Third, that God so loves us that He sent His Son to save us from our sins. That seems incredible to a skeptical world. Why would God do that? Why would God allow His Son to die for us? It is incredible for folks to understand that God would love them that much. No one has loved us that much. No one would do what God has done for us. In a cruel first century world, these words seem impossible. God sent Jesus because He loved us. God sent Jesus to save us. God sent Jesus to pay the penalty so we could go to Heaven. Justice. Wrath. Love. Mercy. Forgiveness. Principles and concepts that a selfish, self centered and unbelieving world could not understand.

Fourth, that God made us to live beyond death. God made us to live eternally with Him in Heaven. As Paul said to Agrippa, “why is it incredible if God does raise the dead?” Don’t believe in life after death? Don’t think God has that kind of power? Don’t want to think that God is so amazing and powerful that we are accountable to Him? Up from the grave He arose, is more than a neat hymn sung in church services, it is the anthem and the heart of God’s message. Jesus came, died and arose again. To the Jewish audience that Paul was preaching to, that thought meant that Jesus was right. It meant that Jesus was the Messiah. It meant that the kingdom was spiritual and not physical. It meant that salvation was found in Jesus Christ.

Incredible. These four principles are the foundation of Christianity. It may seem incredible that strangers would care for others. It may seem incredible that Christians want to help you turn your life around and they do this wanting nothing in return. It may seem incredible that Christian want to help you get stronger in the Lord. It may seem incredible to you that Christians love you. It may seem incredible to you that you can be forgiven. It may seem incredible that a spouse would give a second chance to a mate that was unfaithful. It may seem incredible that someone would forgive a person that tried to ruin their name. Incredible? But it happens all the time among Christians.

It is an amazing journey, but a true one. And to all these words, King Agrippa would say, “Almost thou persaudest me to be a Christian.” Almost. The words of defeat, almost. Almost, means you didn’t. Almost is close, but not close enough.

Ours is an amazing message that is true. Ours is an amazing journey that is true. We walk among those who think that all of this is nonsense and incredible. We know better. We know the truth. We know God.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Roger