I would characterize the joys of life in two ways. First, there are the simple joys of life. Simple joys are the simple pleasures we can experience throughout our week. No doubt there are certain things that resonate within all of us. These are those things that bring a smile to our face, a bounce to our step and they offer simple happiness to our life. These are those things that bring a certain level of satisfaction in living, they give us temporary comfort on long days and they serve as that necessary reprieve from the grueling pressures that mount about us.
For me, my simple pleasures are quite simple: I am a baseball fan. In fact, it is no secret around here that I am a St. Louis Cardinal fan. I enjoy the sights and the sounds of America’s past time. There is no greater game on planet earth than the game of baseball.
I like to ride motorcycles. There is something about getting on that iron horse and trekking down those back roads that gives me great pleasure. On a given day, one might catch of glimpse of me tooling around town on my bike sporting my boots, my leather vest, or even my doo-rag and as odd as that might sound to some of us, I enjoy being a biker.
I love the beach. If someone were to ask me to pick a vacation destination, without hesitation I would say, “I want to go to the beach” and the more secluded the better. I don’t need glitz and glamour. I don’t want to spend all my resources of time and money on tourist shops and trappings. Rather, give me a beach and a place to cover this bald head and I am happy.
I am a Skyline Chili and brownie kind of guy. My wife often asks me when we are going out for dinner, “where do you want to eat?” My response is usually, “I’m a simple man.” Which means I don’t need to spend a lot of money out at dinner? I am perfectly content with Cincinnati’s greatest comfort food, Skyline Chili. I don’t need a sophisticated desert; it’s hard to improve upon a dollar box of brownies.
These are just a few of my simple pleasures of life. These are not all of them, but I am sure we get the point. There are some simple joys in life that add to the everyday pleasures of life. Perhaps not everyone’s simple joys are not as simple as mine (some are downright complicated as far as hobbies and special interest goes) but we all have them.
However there are other joys in life that are in an entirely different league than those classified as simple joys. There are joys we have discovered that would be better characterized as profound joys. Profound joys are those joys that we commit our lives to. Profound joys are the passions of our life. These passions in our life inflame us. These are those things that create within an incredible excitement and enormous enthusiasm. In some cases we obsess over the passions of our life because they instill in us something far greater than fleeting happiness. Profound joys give our life meaning, they extend us purpose and they speak to the quality of life we enjoy.
There are several things that I am passionate about: I am passionate about my wife and kids. There is a profound joy that I have not just because I am a husband and father, but because I am Jessica’s husband and Jordan, Tanner and Madison’s father. Life is not always easy, and sometimes they drive me crazy (as I do them), but I always look forward to going home because there is real love in our house and it is one of the greatest things I have experienced in life. They are a profound joy to me.
I am passionate about the church. Perhaps some think I say that because the church is my “job” and many are passionate about their career and vocation. However, my passion for the church extends well beyond the opportunity for me to receive a paycheck. I believe in the church. I believe in our purpose, our process and our programs. However, I am most passionate about its people.
However, my greatest passion in life, the greatest gift I have, and the most profound joy I have in this life, hands down is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps, one might expect a preacher to say that, but in great wonder and astonishment one may also fail to understand how that can be.
The Apostle Paul said, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”
As we come to the book of I Corinthians, we can appreciate the gigantic task that the Apostle Paul has before him. He has been laboring to develop and put in order a dysfunctional people. Prior to chapter 15, Paul has tackled the divisions existing between the players of Corinth. Up to this point, Paul has hit their difficulties head on. The diversity of problems and the need of discipline within the people are clearly evident.
However, when he comes to chapter 15, Paul pauses and he takes on (I believe) their greatest problem; Paul challenges their disbelief. Charles Spurgeon once said that the greatest sin of the church is unbelief. (Illus. It is unbelief that robs Christians of their inheritance.) However, I would take that a step further. Think about it, the only sin that God is not able to forgive is unbelief. Unbelief will not only rob us of profound joy in life, unbelief will send a man to Hell.
Therefore, I want to challenge your unbelief. Notice the facts surrounding the Gospel. The facts are plainly stated. Paul first takes us to the cross. There can be no doubt, Jesus died upon the cross. This is not just a story in the bible. This is an indisputable fact of history substantiated in other historical writings besides the bible. But know this, the bible is a credible and reliable source for history.
We can have confidence in the Bible. We can have confidence in its origin. Although God used men to pen His Word, the Bible is not a book merely written by men. In fact, God used more than 40 men, on 2 continents, in 3 languages in 12 different countries over a period of 1600 years to write the Bible. Some writers like Moses and Paul received the finest education of their day, while other writers raised sheep, were fisherman and one was a tax collector (the low of the low). Yet the Bible contains a collection of letters, sermons, poems, history, stories and prophecy from different men in diverse and distant locations, yet the Bible has only 1 theme and a single purpose. It reads as if 1 author wrote it; which ultimately is what happened when the Holy Spirit inspired holy men of old. (See II Peter 1)
We can have confidence in the Bible’s proclamation. One of the most unique things about the Bible is its prophecy. Did you know that no other religious book or writing in the world has specific predictive prophecies like we find in the Bible. For example:
Isa 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
Psa 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet
Psa 22:1 1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me
Psa 22:7 – 8 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
Psa 69:21 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink
Isa 53:7 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Psa 22:18 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
Of whom are these verses speaking? Of course, the answer is clear, Jesus Christ. Everyone of these verses were written in the Old Testament, but let me remind us that the Old Testament was completed 400 years before Christ was on Earth. Mere coincidence? What about the other 2000 prophecies in Scripture? These prophecies are so specific that they leave no room for excuse. No one would ever prophesy these things especially about how One would die, raise from the dead and ascend to Heaven. How absurd would it be for anyone to predict that, yet according to the New Testament, it happened in the Life of Christ.
We can have confidence in the Bible’s preservation. Most don’t know of the fact that the Bible is the most accurately transmitted book from the ancient world. No other ancient book has as many, as early or more accurately copied manuscripts than the Bible. Most works from antiquity survive only a handful of manuscripts. There are only 7 from Plato, 10 for Caesar’s Gallic Wars, and 20 for Tacitus. Yet there are thousands of Old Testament manuscripts and thousands of New Testament manuscripts. Most books in comparison have only 7 to 10 manuscripts. The most secular writing is Homer’s Iliad at 643. That means that the Bible is simply the best textually supported book from the ancient world.
Since there are so many manuscripts, we can look back and evaluate the accuracy of the Bible. In a nutshell, after 1000 years of copying, there were no changes to meaning and almost no changes in wording. Those words that had change were not substantive changes and would not lead anyone to a differing conclusion. What this all means is this, we can have confidence in the Bible and in the Bible the facts are plainly stated; Jesus died, Jesus died for our sins, Jesus was buried and Jesus arose from the grave 3 days later.
These facts were plainly seen by friends, family, followers and even the early Church’s greatest foe, Saul the persecutor. These are the facts surrounding the gospel, but I want us to take note about the fruit surrounding the believer. Two things happen when you believe. First, our salvation is secured. We are from the penalty of sin (death), the power of sin (bondage) and ultimately from the presence of sin (Heaven). Second, our stand is established. We are rooted and given a security which stabilizes us in an unstable world. Therefore as the Gospel is preached the Gospel must be professed. In other words, jump in with all your heart for faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.
Filed under: Transformation, Uncategorized
