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FRIEND FROM A DISTANT GALAXY

We're recording here in October, so there's kind of a Phantom Menace buzz still going on throughout most of North America. And there was a tiny story in the L.A. Times magazine last Sunday, which described how a graphic designer named Dan Perri, back in 1977, came up with a celluloid image that people will remember for a long time. For the original George Lucas film, Star Wars, they wanted to copy the opening title sequence from an old 1939 film, Union Pacific, where the words seemed to go down the railroad tracks.

So to duplicate that, Perri rubber-cemented the white lettering to a piece of 4' x 12' black poster board. They mounted it at an angle, and then the camera slowly panned over the type, which made it look like the words were disappearing into a star field. Of course, here in 2001, it's all done by computers, but somewhere in a Hollywood vault is that old poster board, containing ten of the most famous words in film history.

And those ten words have something to say to you and me here today as we wrap up this two-week adventure of our own on the subject: MORE THAN A GOOD TEACHER. Was this Man named Jesus Christ simply a guru, a wise man? Was He actually born the regular way, from a non-virgin, and when He died on a criminal's cross, did He stay dead like the other two crooks executed that Friday?

Well, here are the ten words that began Star Wars:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .

And if what this unique Man named Jesus said about Himself was true, He has a similar "Star Wars" story to tell. Because the Bible tells us that before Christ was born in Bethlehem, before His brief 33-year life on this earth, He was already in existence in a galaxy far, far away: in heaven.

The disciple John begins his gospel this way:

"In the beginning was the Word [referring to Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God IN THE BEGINNING."

Over in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two, you remember the story where this 12-year-old boy, Jesus, is lost for three days. His parents find Him in the temple, and He quietly reminds them that He has a mission to accomplish. And then these words:

"I must be about My Father's business." In other versions: "I had to be in My Father's house."

Of course, all through His public ministry, Christ said over and over that His Father had sent Him. He and the Father were one. He was returning to the Father. If you really want to study carefully this Christian doctrine of the Incarnation — meaning that Jesus existed before, up in heaven with His Father — read through John chapter eight, which culminates in this bold statement:

"‘I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!'"

Well, friend, we close our series with this question, because here again is a cardinal teaching of the Christian faith which is under attack. Liberal theologians discount entirely the Virgin Birth, and the Resurrection, and all statements by Jesus along the line of "My Father sent Me." In their moral framework, Christianity is based on the good teachings of a good man, nothing more. All such Bible references to "a long time ago and a galaxy far away" and "a former life with My Father" are after-the-fact inventions pasted into the Bible by good copywriters.

Then there are theologies where Jesus, a totally human baby boy, somehow BECAME divine at some point in those 30 years here on earth. And theologians have long grappled with the doctrine proposed by Arius, which is stated in these words:

"The Son of God was not eternal but created by the Father from nothing as an instrument for the creation of the world; and that therefore He was not God by nature, but a changeable [mortal] creature, His dignity as Son of God having been bestowed on Him."

Just about a week ago we received here in the mail a letter that must have run 15 typed, single-spaced pages. And the writer took us to task for believing and teaching the Christian doctrine of the Trinity — meaning that God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three co-equal, eternally existent members of the Godhead. Well, I'm going to say right here on the radio, without equivocation, that we at The Voice of Prophecy DO believe and teach the Trinity. We believe the words of Jesus Himself: that He has always been with the Father, that He always has existed with the Father, and that He always will exist with Him. To use a classic line from one of our Adventist pioneers:

"In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived."

As we've said now for two weeks, so many truths flow from the acceptance of this belief that Jesus Christ is more than a man, that He is in fact God. His Lordship in my life depends on His being God. His ability to answer prayers, His promise to return again. And of course, friend, my very salvation rests upon this Bible assurance that Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sent by God. There was a plan in place before Calvary, before Bethlehem, before Moses and Abraham, before Cain killed Abel, before Eve ate from the tree. And Jesus was in that plan from the beginning.

There's been a word which has cropped up in our discussion: "arrogance." If Jesus was not truly God, truly heaven's emissary from "a galaxy far, far away," then both He and His followers were guilty of some of the most foolish, arrogant, idiotic statements in history. Agreed? It is the most arrogant thing in the world to tell people, "I'm the only Person who can save you" . . . unless you truly ARE the only Person who can save them.

And today we have these many theologians and gurus and New Age experts floating their various opinions. I must confess that some of them have written great best-sellers. I say "great" in the sense that they have done a lot of research, and organized many, many footnotes, and shared a wealth of historical data — an accomplishment far beyond my humble ability. And a listener, especially a scholar, could very understandably write to us, as that one person recently did, and say: "How can you be so sure of yourself? You say Jesus is the only way. You're so sure, you're so positive, that He's still alive today. How do you know all this? There are a lot of other ideas out there; aren't you being kind of arrogant?"

Well, friend, I don't ever want to sound arrogant. And it's always our philosophy here on this program to be humble in our teaching, to allow for others' mistakes and our own. To respect the views of others. But when it comes to the question of Jesus Christ, and whether He is or isn't the Savior of the lost human race, then I'm going to be bold. Let me share a quote from a person who has said it better than I could. This is from Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, as referenced in John Stott's book, The Contemporary Christian:

"If, in fact, it is true," he writes, "that almighty God, creator and sustainer of all that exists in heaven and on earth, has — at a known time and place in human history — so humbled Himself as to become part of our sinful humanity, and to suffer and die a shameful death to take away our sin, and to rise from the dead as the first-fruit of a new creation, if this is a fact, then to affirm it IS NOT ARROGANCE."

If it's that important, he says, if it is truly a life-or-death decision every man and woman must make, then it is not arrogance to shout it from a street corner, or to proclaim it from a pulpit, or to tell your neighbor, or even to buy radio airtime so that you can tell as many neighbors as possible all at once. And here's Newbigin's last line:

"[It] is not arrogance. To remain quiet about it is TREASON to our fellow human beings."

There was a sermon recently that I didn't get to hear firsthand, but David told me about it after he heard it. And I guess we're borrowing from Hollywood's big epics today, because this innovative Christian pastor played a clip from the blockbuster, Titanic, where the lifeboats are drifting in the Atlantic, and the last cries of the drowning victims are slowly fading to a icy death. And no one will go back. The half-filled boats are just yards away, but in case after case, when someone suggests, "Maybe we should try to rescue someone," the others say no. It's too risky. They might swamp and all drown. As the aged Rose would say later, all they could do was wait. Wait for rescue and for an absolution that would never come.

And then the pastor said this: "I am NEVER again going to miss a chance to tell people about Jesus — who is their ONLY escape, their only rescue, their only Lifeboat. Whenever I can, at every single, conceivable opportunity where the Holy Spirit lets me tell someone about Jesus and about the fact that eternal life is available through Him, I'm going to speak up." And the unstated reality is this: if this is arrogance, so be it. It's worth it. Friend, if it saves you for all eternity, then it's worth it. If I say to you, "Here's the lifeboat, please get in," and you say, "I think there's another one coming. I'll wait. I'll consider my options. Maybe this great unsinkable ocean liner won't sink," then I've got to simply beg you — arrogant or not: "No! Please! This IS your Rescue! Jesus, the Son of God, is your only hope! Please, Friday, October 26, 2001, get on board today!"