Living Proof

We live in a world of skeptics it seems. People seem to be pessimistic, on guard, suspicious of others motives. It seems to be the darker side of our human tendencies I suppose. We're all prone to it from time to time...some more than others. Perhaps its the media age where we learn so easily of all the scandals of religious leaders, politicians, corporate CEO's, celebrities, pro athletes etc... Perhaps it's also a by product of living in a "marketing age" where you gotta "read the fine print"...there's "always a catch"...you got to "buy 2 to get one free"...you get the idea. It seems it's never for real, so we're conditioned to be suspect of the "deals" that are too good to be true. I've been burned...I'm sure you have to. The same skeptical tendencies come into our hearts as we explore things spiritual or religious...is it for real? It's too good to be true? It's another scam? There must be a hidden agenda? It's got to be about money, ego, or some kind of power trip...at least we tend to think that way sometimes...so we don't trust easily. Many see philosopher's, and religious teachers this way. Whether its Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammad, Joesph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard, or Jesus...we tend to be suspect of whats the "real story" behind the facade. Now I'm not one to simply say, there all nuts or evil people trying to deceive us...and only Jesus is right. That would be very presumptuous of me. The bible encourages us to "believe the best of every person", so I choose to believe these philosophers and religious teachers all were seeking truth...genuine truth...as best they could. They all were attempting to discover God's truth and explain it to mankind as best their search would allow. Now, though sincere in their search, they may have only discovered a portion of the truth, being limited, as all human beings are. It is interesting though to see how they all have found room to include Jesus into their philosophical and religious equations. To some He is a wise philosopher, to others a prophet, perhaps another might say He attained christ-consciousness or was simply a humble teacher of what was good and right. But the real proof lay in the events of the first Easter morning. That morning, Jesus proved He was God...not just another guy talking about God. That's what separates Jesus from the rest. He conquered the one thing no philosopher or religious teacher has ever conquered...death! All the great leaders of the past have indeed died, in spite of the noble search for truth. But Jesus said "He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life"...and proved it. Living Proof, He rose from the dead. Hundreds saw Him after He rose. Men & women who hid in fear suddenly became bold and very. very public about seeing Jesus alive again. In fact they changed the world with that message...a message of hope...victory over sin & death was available to everyone through Jesus! Many of them died cruel martyrs deaths as they spread that message. History tells us not "one" ever denied Jesus was alive again. No one ever said they "made it up", even when facing torture & impending death. The significance of the resurrection of Jesus at the very least should prompt any of us to examine who Jesus said He was, and what He taught...regardless of your spiritual view...its worth a serious look. This once in history occurrence completes the miracle events of Good Friday...Jesus sacrifice on the cross (that we spoke of in our last blog entry "Things Are Not Always As They Seem"). The sacrificial death of Jesus, paying the price for you and me, removed the penalty of sin for all who trust Jesus in that sacrifice. That penalty the bible says is "the wages of sin is death"...and Jesus took care of that and proved it! He not only died for all our sins...He rose from the dead to prove He even had the power over death itself! That penalty of sin was of no effect now...in the hands of the giver of life...Jesus! Living Proof He was God and that we could trust Him with our eternal life. How cool is that! "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life though Jesus Christ", the bible tells us (Romans 6:23). To think God loves us that much! Our hope at ECHO is that we can be a group of Jesus followers who will share this Good News with everyone within our spheres of relationship, in authentic and loving ways, so that all may know how much God loves and cares for them! Join us in this adventure and watch what God does through us and in us!

be God's!
Brian O
Lead Pastor dude, ECHO