PARALLEL UNIVERSES

Parallel Universes

Let’s take a look at Christmas - from an unusual perspective.

     The other day a commentator on television was talking about ‘parallel universes’ – how scientists of today are speculating that our universe is not the only one, but that billions of others also exist.  Public television and other channels like Discovery have had long programs where ‘science-guys’ have expounded “look what we have found”.  In fact, if you Google ‘parallel universes’ you get over a million hits.  Ever since ‘string theory’ came along, it seems that the idea of real parallel universes has gained credibility in the scientific community, and serious study is underway.  The picture they use to help us understand what they are talking about is a bubble pipe.  You blow bubbles in the air.  The bubbles float about.  Some are small, some are large.  Sometimes they join and merge to form funny shaped bubbles or even twin spheres, etc.  Universes are said to float about in what is called ‘hyperspace’, rather like soap bubbles. 

     Once in a while they touch each other, it is claimed.  The magazine Scientific American had a long article on how our universe may have once collided with another one, and an interconnecting portal was formed and a massive exchange of matter and energy took place.  Interconnecting portals?  You would think from the wide-eyed enthusiasm of the TV scientists that they are convinced that they have discovered something new.

     But the idea of parallel universes is not a new one.  Those familiar with science fiction and fantasy literature, as well as TV like ‘Star Trek’, have seen this idea used time and again to generate many kinds of stories.  Remember C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’?  The children crawl into a big wardrobe and discover a portal to a parallel universe, a place called Narnia, where strange creatures live and where the children embark on amazing adventures.

    Now the claim is being made that this is not science fiction any longer, but a valid model of reality.  A valid model?  An actual new idea?  I got to thinking.  It’s not a new idea at all.  It’s actually a very old idea.  And yes, it is a valid model.  It dawned on me that the Bible has been talking about parallel universes for three thousand years, and although the terminology is different, the concept is the same.

     Back to Christmas.  What on earth does the idea of parallel universes or alternate realities have to do with Christmas?  Quite a bit, actually.  Christmas can be said to be a celebration of the interaction between alternate realities.  That may sound like a bit of a stretch, but consider this.  Alternate realities appear in the accounts of the birth, life, and ascension of Jesus. You see this concept in several Bible passages.  Let’s look at a few.  The angel Gabriel appeared to a man named Zechariah and then later to a young teenage girl named Mary.  He’s talking to Zechariah, but Zechariah seems to doubt him.   So in Luke 1:19, Gabriel says, almost as if to authenticate himself: “I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God.  I have been sent to speak to you.” 

     ‘Sent’? From where?  Outer space?  Did he land nearby in a flying saucer?  Hardly.  The Biblical text suggests that Gabriel had traveled through a portal, a passage or doorway from the ‘throne of God’ to our Earth.  And when he had delivered his messages he returned back through that portal to take his place again in the presence of God, to be ready for his next assignment.

     In another passage angels appeared to the shepherds, in a brilliant show of glory and sound, something like I-MAX to the 4^th power.  Where did they come from?  Outer space?  No.  They also had come through a portal from the heavenly realms to our Earth, specifically to a sheep pasture in Israel, near the little town of Bethlehem.   They delivered their message, sang their songs, and then returned into heaven.  We even have an old Christmas carol that describes this – Angels from the Realms of Glory.  “Realm of Glory” is another term for an alternate reality, a parallel universe, if you will.

     And then, the Son of God came himself.  ‘And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’  He had entered into our reality as a babe, through an act of the Holy Spirit.  And Jesus stayed with us for 33 years or so.  After his death and resurrection, he appeared and disappeared at will, as if he could step in and out of alternate realities.  Eventually Jesus ascended into heaven as recorded in the first chapter of the book of Acts.  Where did he go?  Up in the sky, past the clouds, into space, past the moon, past the planets, into the void between the stars?  No, Jesus moved through a portal, a doorway into another realm or reality, and he’s now, temporarily, ‘at the right hand of the Father’, as per the Biblical phrase. 

     There are many other accounts in the Bible about alternate realities, especially in the books of Daniel and Revelation.  Even Paul the apostle had a brief excursion into an alternate reality.  Also, Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also.”  That “place” is very likely not in this universe, but is in an alternate reality, i.e., a place parallel, if you will, to our reality.  Someday God will make a new heaven and a new Earth, including a ‘new Jerusalem’.  What universe will those places be in?  We don’t really know, but it’s going to be exciting to find out.

     What do all these visitations from other realms reveal about God?  It means this: God is very aware of us and cares about us.  He has not left us stranded in our place in the cosmos.  He has come to us, both by his own appearance and by sending his angels.  Without his interventions we would have no hope for salvation and our eternal destiny would be anyone’s guess.  We would literally be ‘lost in space’.  But in the last few decades, through books and television, scientists who are also Christians have communicated to the Christian community how God took great care in making our universe and our little planet.  God endowed our particular world with the amazing property of being ‘just right’ for the existence and survival of life – like us, and like all the animals and plants around us. 

     The universe itself appears to be ‘calibrated’, as if a cosmic engineer was sitting at a long row of dials, adjusting each one to a precise value to permit the existence and flourishing of the life we see around us.  Apparently, God places great value on human life, and interacts directly with us to bring about our redemption and a completion of his grand cosmic plan.  And after creating us, he didn’t just abandon us and go off somewhere like the Deists claim, but he actually became one of us and selectively interacts with us on an ongoing basis.

     What is the golden nugget in this discussion?  What can we take away and embrace?  Simply this; the realization that the transcendent multidimensional creator of the universes has crafted a space/time continuum where carbon-based life (that's you and me, the animals, the plants, etc.) can flourish.  And that this creator God cares about you, me and every human being.  Proof?  His willingness to interact with us, where we live - this proves his love, his provision, and his promise.  He came himself in the form of a babe, born in lowly estate on that holiest of nights.  The hopes and fears of all the years were met in little Bethlehem.  And after he departed our world he sent his Spirit to abide with us.  And sometimes he sends his angels to stand in the fiery furnace with us, to guard us, and help defend us against those evil and malevolent principalities and powers mentioned in Paul the apostle’s letter to the Ephesians.  And when we die, it is said that the Lord sends his angels to escort us through a ‘portal’ into his presence.  God is in total control of the doorways and portals between the alternate realities.

     So in conclusion, if you decide to watch any TV programs on parallel universes, you are free to yawn and take a ‘been there, done that’ sort of attitude.  Why?  Because you’ve been reading your Bible.  So you know something about the alternate realities that the scientific community is only now discovering.  And the destination of every one of us is in one of God’s many alternate realities – a very good place if you are a Christian.  By his awesome power and love, on full display during the Christmas season (and again at Easter), the believer’s future can be a bright one indeed.

      And we need to get our little minds around the awesome concept that the very Lord of the Universes invites little us to come boldly before him with our prayers of repentance, worship, praise, adoration, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and supplications.  And our little prayers go through ‘thought-space’, straight to the heart of God, through the portals and across the boundaries of alternate realities.  Amazing.

THE TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS

The Ten Most Beautiful Things

We’ve all heard the expression: “All things Bright and Beautiful”.  Let’s take a look at some of the most beautiful things in the world.  A study that is very appropriate as we approach the Christmas season.

If you’ve ever watched some of the late night TV shows you have heard them present various lists; the 10 most…whatever.  The 10 things you should never say to your boss (“If you don’t give me a raise, I’ll quit.”).  The 10 things a man should never give his wife for Christmas (a vacuum cleaner, an electric drill).  The 10 things one should never say to a traffic officer (“I’m sorry, officer.  I lost track of my speed because I was talking on the cellphone”).  The ten best dressed women in the world.  The 10 worst dressed men in the world.  And so forth.

But what if we made a list of the 10 most beautiful things in the world?

And how will it relate to Christmas?  Let’s find out.

Here then, is my list of the 10 most beautiful things in the world - my opinion of course.  Anyone who reads this might make a different list, with other entries and in a different order. You could say that ‘love’ is the most beautiful thing, or ‘loyalty’, perhaps.  Or possibility some fine piece of music, like ‘Handel’s Messiah’, or ‘Beethoven’s Ninth’,   But here is my list, things that can be – or have been – seen with the human eye.

Beautiful thing Number 10: Sunsets and Sunrises. 
Who hasn't seen a spectacular sunset or sunrise and called it absolutely beautiful?  Who hasn't seen the sky explode in bursts of magenta, orange, red, and yellow, with clouds taking on fantastic shapes, the whole scene constantly changing?  I remember one particular sunset while riding in the Amtrak “Empire Builder” train across Minnesota.  The sky was a deep red, the sun a big ball of crimson fire, and everyone in the dining car couldn't keep their eyes off of it.  The colors and the patterns in the sky were overpoweringly compelling and made everyone there blurt out Oooohs’ and Aaaahs'.  I remember other gorgeous sunsets and sunrises in the Arizona desert, and others in my home town, Sacramento, CA.  Awesome beauty.

Beautiful thing Number 9: Baby animals. 
Who hasn't seen pictures of puppies and kittens and was compelled to say ‘How beautiful they are’?  Those of us who have held a little puppy or kitty in our hands and looked them directly in the face could not help being moved by their innocence and natural comeliness.  Beauty up close, with a squirming little body and eyes and faces that could melt the hardest of hearts.  Other animals too, especially baby bears and even a baby elephant.  And how precious is a little calf or colt, as it tries to take its first wobbly steps.

Beautiful thing Number 8: Winter scenes. 
Those of us who have lived in the northern states can relate to this.  That first snowfall on a quiet night, covering the landscape in a coat of pure white.  That snow covered country lane in the light of a full moon, with fences and trees and a lighted cottage with smoke coming from a chimney.  Like a Kincade painting, but real.  The world after an ice storm, when all the houses, trees, power lines and everything else is covered in a sheet of sparkling glass-like ice, especially in the light of a full moon or morning sunlight.  Of course we all know that the beauty of an ice storm can be a deceitful beauty, as they bring with them hardship and dangerous conditions – but not without some isolated moments of spectacular beauty. 

Beautiful thing Number 7: Mountain grandeur. 
If you have ever stood in Yosemite Valley or Zion National Park or in a grove of giant Sequoias you couldn’t help but be awed by the grandness and cathedral beauty of these places.  Certain spots in the Rockies (Grand Tetons, for example) or certain spots in the Swiss Alps, or places in New Zealand, perhaps.  Once in late spring my wife and I visited Glacier National Park in northern Montana.  I stood on the shore of Saint Mary’s Lake and just feasted my eyes on the snow-covered mountain range before me.  I just did not want to leave.  It was truly beautiful. 

Beautiful thing Number 6: Certain works of art. 
All of us have seen paintings, sculptures, or heard pieces of music that forced us to say: “That was truly beautiful.”  Examples: Handel’s Messiah.  The Moonlight Sonata.  Christmas music, especially the old classics like “Oh, Holy Night”.  Paintings by Renoir or DaVinci or nature photography by folk like Ansel Adams.  Once in a museum in Virginia I found myself standing still before a stone sculpture called “The Veiled Lady”.  It was beyond my comprehension how anyone could take a piece of marble, and carve a woman’s face, covered by a veil, in such a way that you could ‘see through’ the veil and observe the woman’s face behind it.  It truly was a beautiful thing to behold.  I stared for at least twenty minutes, until my brother finally found me.  Then he stared for another twenty minutes, sharing my sense of wonderment.  Also, some of you may remember in 1976, during the BI-centennial, seeing on TV the parade of tall ships as they entered in full sail into New York Harbor, passing the statue of Liberty.  What a magnificent and beautiful sight. 

Beautiful thing Number 5: A newborn baby.
 This is mostly for all the mothers.   Was there ever a more beautiful thing to behold than when the nurse or doctor brought your first baby to you and you held it for the first time?  What could take the place of that moment?  When you held it and felt the life in its little body, saw it’s little face, watched it move its hands and arms, heard it cry - and you realized that this child had come from you, flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone.  And eventually the father, the brothers and sisters, the friends, even the doctors and nurses shared your sense of wonder and awe.  And everyone wanted to hold it.  Even the somewhat confused father, who didn’t quite know where and how to hold his hands, or what to do next, even he wanted to hold it.  Such was the compelling beauty of this new little life.  Jesus himself picked up children and blessed them.  “The kingdom of God is made up of such as these,” he said.

(3of the remaining 4 are beautiful scenes from the Bible.)

Beautiful thing Number 4:  Christmas eve - when the angels appeared to shepherds in the field.      

8And there were in the country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were very afraid.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16And they went to Bethlehem with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

We simply cannot imagine what is truly meant by the phrase “the glory of the Lord”.  It must have been light and color and sound and motion that even I-MAX could barely approach.  Those who saw it must have stood frozen in place, with more than a little awe and even a little fright. That scene in the field must have been one of indescribable beauty, with angelic heavenly light bathing the countryside, with the voices of countless angels either singing or speaking in unison.  No doubt the shepherd’s lives were changed forever as this scene made an indelible impression that they carried with them all their days.

Beautiful thing Number 3: The transfiguration, an event in the life of Jesus

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.  Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw the Lord’s glory and the two men standing with him.  Then, a cloud appeared and enveloped them.  A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." When the voice had finished speaking, Jesus was alone.

Jesus’ raiment became as bright as a flash of lightning (the word used in the King James Bible is ‘glistering’, an archaic German word, meaning to glitter brightly.  Not a word we use too often today.)  Peter, John and James must have been left truly overpowered by what they had just witnessed, a dazzling display of light, color, and sound.  Like the shepherds, they had seen perhaps just a taste of the aforementioned ‘glory of the Lord’, as Jesus lifted the veil for just a few moments and showed them who he truly was.  When Jesus returns “in power and great glory”, when “every eye shall see him”, then this event might move up to number one on the list of beautiful things.  Perhaps that day is soon approaching.  But whenever, all of us who are true believers will see it when it happens.

Beautiful thing Number 2: Earth-rise

In December of 1968 the NASA astronauts made a voyage to the moon, to circumnavigate it.  This was in preparation for the next voyage when they would actually land on its surface.  They were practicing their orbiting maneuvers, their trajectories, their ship control systems, and their communications with Houston, etc.  They had to get all that right before attempting an actual lunar landing.  On their way from the Earth to the moon they did not pay much attention to the Earth itself.  They knew it was back there behind them, but they were focused on the task at hand.  After some number of days they reached the moon and began their first trajectory around it.  It was the first time human eyes had ever beheld the backside of the moon.  Robot craft had already photographed the backside, but this was the first time that humans had actually seen it.  But what the astronauts did not anticipate was what was waiting for them when they completed the circuit around the moon.  As they came closer and closer to the end of their first transit, they began to see the Earth ‘rising’, so to speak, in front of them.  They were stunned.  So they temporarily deviated from their flight plan to take photographs of what was to them an absolutely awesome sight.  There was our Earth, our home world, on display in front of them.  240,000 miles away.  A shining blue and white ornament suspended in the velvety blackness of space.  The profoundness of the moment was not lost on them.  The late nature photographer Galen Rowel (whose museum is in Bishop, CA) said that these photographs were “the most important environmental pictures ever taken”.

Quotes from two astronauts:  “The sheer beauty of it just brought tears to my eyes.”  And, “If people could see Earth from up here, see it without those borders, see it without any differences in race or religion, they would have a completely different perspective.  Because when you see it from that angle, you cannot think of your home or your country. All you can see is one Earth….”

This picture, and others like it, gave the human race a perspective on their world they never had before.  There was ‘spaceship Earth’, where the human race has lived since the creation, the pretty little blue ball in the vastness of the cosmos that we have always called our home.  The place where all of our ancestors have been born, have lived, and have died.  The place we have fought over and contended over, wars, wars, and more wars.  The fragile place we just might ruin if we are not careful.  The place that God has given us stewardship over.

Where did this pretty world come from?

Isaiah 42:5 says: God the LORD, it is he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Finally, what then is Beautiful Thing number 1? 

Here is where all of us must use our imaginations a little bit.  Two thousand years ago, in a stable, in the presence of animals, friends, relatives, and shepherds, a baby was born during the night.  The mother was a teenage virgin named Mary, who was giving birth to a baby boy who had been conceived in her by the Spirit of God.  Nearby was a fine and decent man named Joseph, who was told by God himself not to abandon Mary and not to ‘set her aside’, because she was having a child ‘out of wedlock’. 

     Suppose you had been there with a camera, and your intention was to take just the right picture of this event.  You would hope for a ‘golden moment’, when Mary was holding the baby, who she had named Jesus, in such a way as to show off his face and his little arms.  Joseph would be nearby, doting over the child and his mother.  At just the right moment, when their postures were perfect, and the light was just right, all three individuals looked in your direction.  Flash!  You take the picture.  Perhaps you caught a few sheep, or a goat or two, or even a donkey or an ox, in the picture’s background.  Certainly a manger with some straw formed an added element.  When this picture was developed, you were stunned by its beauty, by the illuminated expressions on the faces, and the profoundness of the moment. 

     Here was the purest and truest nativity scene imaginable.  Here was the Son of God become flesh, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Light and our Gateway to God – being cared for by his mother and those attending her.  Truly the most beautiful scene that any human being ever beheld.  

     Across the centuries, people have tried to recapture this divine moment.   Nativity scenes are recreated in many ways, sometimes using living people and living animals.  Very often this scene is recreated by sculptures of wood, stone, iron, and even wax.  We see this scene in paintings, stained glass, assemblies of dolls and puppets, even in sea shells and Christmas tree ornaments.  But some very blessed people, that night, saw the real nativity scene.  Oh, that people had cameras back then.  But the Lord in his wisdom did not allow it.  When Jesus returns in “power and great glory”, will a new number one beautiful thing be seen?  Maybe not.  This writer’s opinion is that the nativity will always be number one.  Nothing will ever surpass the beauty of that night.  The nativity of Jesus the Christ stands unchallenged as number one. 

What is the  golden nugget in this discussion?  What can we take away and hold on to?  This: Here was the actual Creator of Spaceship Earth, come to abide and dwell with us, and to eventually die and rise again on our behalf.  Love beyond our understanding.  He is the God of all sunsets, of puppy dogs and kitty cats, of summers and winters and beautiful snowfalls, of mountain grandeur.  And in his honor we use the abilities he has given us to create works of beautiful art and music and ships that sail on the wind.  

THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT

The Most Important Event in the History of the World.

Consider some of the following events.  All were pivotal and served to change society for all time.  ‘Defining moments’, as it were.

a)   Domestication of animals – for food and service.

b)   Invention of the wheel – for machines and transportation

c)   Development of agriculture – allowing the creation of communities

d)   Development of sea-worthy ships – allowing oceans to be crossed, new lands to   be discovered

e)  Writing and language – for communication

f)   Weaponry, such as the bow, the spear, and later the gun and gunpowder – for hunting, defense, and warfare

g)  Signing of the Magna Carta – clarification of  human rights

h)  Invention of the printing press – enhanced communication

i)   Invention of modern day electronics such as television, radio, and computers – enhanced communication

j)   Appearance of the world’s political and religious philosophies – to try and give a logical foundation for governmental systems

k)   The steam and internal combustion engines – to free us from only having horses and/or walking for travel

l)   Airplanes – to allow people to travel great distances

m)  Advancements in medical science – to maintain our health and increase our life span

n)  Space travel.  The ability to see the entire Earth as a beautiful blue ball suspended in infinite black space – an amazing perspective.

This list could go on and on and on.  But there’s one event that, if it happened, has the power to challenge the thoughts and hearts of countless people, who must then decide whether to accept the implications of it – or not.  On the other hand, if this certain event did not happen, the implications for the human race are profound indeed.  Let’s take a look at this event – the most important event (or non-event) in the history of the world.

What is it?  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

This event, if it happened as described in the New Testament of the Bible, authenticates the life, ministry, teachings, and promises of Jesus Christ.  In fact, he staked his entire credibility on it.  Here’s how.  The religious leaders of his day had heard of him, his alleged miracles, his large following, and they came to see him.  The exchange went something like this (a very loose paraphrase): “We have heard about you, Jesus.  How you work miracles and amaze the people.  We have heard that you actually raised someone from the dead, and that you fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish.  We would like to see you do some of these signs and wonders for us, here, now – so we can see for ourselves if you really are who everyone claims you are.  Maybe, then, we will even believe in you ourselves and become your followers.”  (You can almost hear the tongue-in-cheek, the mocking tone, in this last statement.)  Jesus answered them, but without even looking at them, as he probably looked wistfully off into the distance, “A wicked generation asks for signs and wonders.  They will receive one – and only one.  The sign of the prophet Jonah.  As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea creature, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth.”

In other places Jesus says that he must go to Jerusalem, there to be killed, but on the third day will rise again.  Jesus staked his entire credibility, his entire ministry, on this prediction. 

But now, let’s look at the implications of the truth or falsity of his resurrection from the dead. 

Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.  And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”  If his resurrection if true, then this statement is true, and we can take great comfort in this if we are a believer and follower of Jesus.  However, if he did not rise from the dead then here’s what we can do with this statement: “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.  And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

In another place Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  True – if he rose from the dead, as the Bible claims he did.  If not, then the statement changes to: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now, most people have either heard of the Bible verse John 3:16 (or have seen the “John 3:16” placards at football games).  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life”  True – if the resurrection is true.  But if the resurrection is not true, then the verse become; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life”   Even worse, the verse could be rewritten as “For God, who has very little love for the world, gave no begotten son.  Whoever believes in this man named Jesus has no assurance of ‘not perishing’ and most likely will never have ‘everlasting life’.”

One more example should suffice to make the point.  Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places.  If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also.”  A wonderful promise indeed - but only true if Jesus actually rose from the dead.  If not, we have: In my Father’s house are many mansions (rooms).  If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also.”  No promise of heaven for the believer, only uncertainty and ambiguity about what happens after death.

In fact, if the resurrection isn’t true then one could go through the Bible with a scissors or a marking pen, and eliminate about 50% of it (some skeptics and unbelievers have actually done this.)  The Bible, especially the New Testament, is only valid and authentic if Jesus actually rose from the dead.  If not, it becomes a powerless, and rather pathetic document.  A litany of wonderful promises about redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life reduced to just a lot of make-believe, with no more power than sentiments one might find on a greeting card.  Also called into question is the very nature of God.  If God actually exists, then the death of the most beautiful man in human history, who believed that his own resurrection would authenticate himself to the world, was ignored with indifference and distance.  So much for our little lives and our little hopes.  The apostle Paul was keenly aware of this, and he discussed this in his letter to the church at Corinth, Greece.  (First Corinthians, Chapter 15).  He point-blank says that if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins and we believers are of all men most pathetic.  But, here’s the GOOD news, the gold nugget we can claim from this discussion.  Jesus actually did rise from the dead – on the third day after his death by crucifixion.  There are many books that discuss the proofs of Jesus’ resurrection, as well as the various arguments against it.  Two good ones are: The Case for Easter, and The Case for the Resurrection, both by former atheist Lee Strobel, which can be purchased on Amazon.com, as well as most Christian bookstores.  The teachings and claims of Jesus can be shown to be true, and therefore all the wonderful things he said about salvation, redemption, eternal life, forgiveness, and so forth are VALID.  Paul points out that Jesus was seen alive, even handled and touched, by over 600 varied witnesses over a period of 40 days, and that the first-century church believed it wholeheartedly, and built their doctrine on it.  All one need do is read the first few chapters of the book of ACTS, as it becomes crystal clear that the early church accepted the truth of  Jesus’ resurrection.  There was no doubt in their minds, because many of them had actually seen him.

So then, why is this event the most important in human history?  More important than those on the above list?  Because it has everything to do with the eternal destiny of every human being - what happens to us after we die.  After all, the death rate is still one-per-person.  All those other events in human history have mostly to do with this life, and what happens here on Earth, for better or worse. 

Now, finally, here’s the BAD news.  Because the resurrection of Jesus validated his teachings and ministry, to ignore him, or to deny his available redemption, is to place one’s very soul in peril.  What ‘peril’?  This: final and permanent separation from the love of God.  A state of existence know in the Bible as ‘hell’, whatever that actually means.  I don’t want to find out – and I don’t want any reader of this blog post to find out.  Today is the day to call out to God for his redemption, and he will answer, and your life will take a new and beautiful turn.