THE

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THE RIGHT APPROACH
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The Right Approach

• God takes the initiative.

The Bible reveals a God who, long before it even
occurs to men and women to turn to him, while
they are still lost in darkness and sunk in sin,
takes the initiative, rises from his throne, lays
aside his glory, and stoops to seek until he
finds them.
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Right The Approach

• God takes the initiative.
• God makes himself known to us.

God has spoken. He has taken the initiative to
make himself known. The Christian concept of
revelation is essentially reasonable. The idea is
that God has unveiled to our minds what would
otherwise have been hidden from them.
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The Right Approach

• God takes the initiative
• God makes himself known to us.
• But it isnt enough!

It isnt just that we are ignorant but also that
we are sinful. This is why it isnt enough for
God simply to reveal himself to us and dispel our
ignorance. He must also take action to save us
from our sins.
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The Right Approach

• God takes the initiative
• God makes himself known to us.
• But it isnt enough!
• How to look for God and find him.

God keeps his promises. He honours all earnest
searching. He rewards all honest seekers. The
undertaking given by Jesus is very clear Seek
and you will find.
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WHO CHRIST IS The Claims of Christ
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.

Who Christ is and what he has done are the rock
upon which the Christian religion is built. If he
was not who he said he was, and if he did not do
what he said he had come to do, then the
foundation is undermined and the whole thing will
collapse.
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.
• Trust the Gospels.

We dont need at this point to go along with the
Christian view and accept the Gospels as the
inspired Word of God. All we need to do is take
them seriously as the undeniably historical
documents that they are.
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.
• Trust the Gospels.
• Admire... and worship.

We are persuaded that Jesus was a historical
person who possessed two distinct and perfect
natures, one divine and one human, and that this
makes him absolutely and for ever unique. In
short, we believe him to be worthy not just of
our admiration but also of our worship.
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.
• Trust the Gospels.
• Admire... and worship.
• Jesus Its all about me.

This self-centredness of the teaching of Jesus
immediately sets him apart from the other great
religious teachers of the world. They point
people away from themselves, saying, That is the
truth, so far as I understand it follow that.
Jesus says, I am the truth follow me.
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.
• Trust the Gospels.
• Admire... and worship.
• Jesus Its all about me.
• Jesus claims to be the Son of God.

He is not just another signpost, but the
destination to which the signposts have led.
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The Claims of Christ

• Begin with Christ.
• Trust the Gospels.
• Admire... and worship.
• Jesus Its all about me.
• Jesus claims to be the Son of God.
• Just a great teacher?

We simply cant go on treating Jesus as a great
teacher if he was completely mistaken in one of
the chief subjects of his teachinghimself.
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WHO CHRIST IS The Character of Christ
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?

Its not simply that he is better than others,
nor even that he is the best human being who has
ever lived, but that he is goodgood with the
absolute goodness of God.
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?
• The man who never did anything wrong?

Everyone else was a lost sheep he had come as
the Good Shepherd to seek and to save
them. Everyone else was sick with the disease of
sin he was the doctor who had come to heal
them. Everyone else was trapped in the darkness
of sin and ignorance he was the light of the
world.
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?
• The man who never did anything wrong?
• What his friends thought about this.

Peter first describes Jesus as a lamb without
blemish or defect and then says that he He
committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his
mouth.
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?
• The man who never did anything wrong?
• What his friends thought about this.
• What his opponents thought about this.

So when Jesus was on trial for his life, his
detractors had to hire false witnesses against
him. But even then they were unable to agree with
one another. In fact, the only charge they could
come up with was not moral but political. Time
after time, his court appearances made it clear
that he was blameless.
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?
• The man who never did anything wrong?
• What his friends thought about this.
• What his opponents thought about this.
• The character of Jesus.

The moral perfection which was quietly claimed by
him, confidently asserted by his friends
and reluctantly acknowledged by his enemies, is
clearly shown in the Gospels.
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The Character of Christ

• The greatest man who has ever lived?
• The man who never did anything wrong?
• What his friends thought about this.
• What his opponents thought about this.
• The character of Jesus.
• Explaining the paradox.

It is this paradox which is so amazing, this
combination of the self-centredness of his
teaching and the unself-centredness of his
behaviour.
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WHO CHRIST IS The Resurrection of Christ
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.

The argument is not that his resurrection
establishes his deity, but that it fits with it.
It is only to be expected that a supernatural
person would come to and leave the earth in a
supernatural way.
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.
• Evidence to examine.

We may not feel able to go as far as Thomas
Arnold who called the resurrection the best
attested fact in history, but certainly many
impartial investigators have judged the evidence
to be extremely good.
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.
• Evidence to examine.
• An empty tomb.

The tomb was empty. The body had gone. There can
be no doubt about this fact. The question is how
to explain it.
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.
• Evidence to examine.
• An empty tomb.
• Undisturbed graveclothes.

What did Peter see which made him believe? The
story suggests that it was not just the absence
of the body, but the presence of the strips of
linen and, in particular, the fact that they were
undisturbed.
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.
• Evidence to examine.
• An empty tomb.
• Undisturbed graveclothes.
• Seeing Jesus.

It is unreasonable to dismiss the appearances of
Jesus as hallucinations being experienced by
people with disturbed minds. The only alternative
left is that they actually happened. The risen
Lord was seen.
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The Resurrection of Christ

• What the resurrection of Jesus proves.
• Evidence to examine.
• An empty tomb.
• Undisturbed graveclothes.
• Seeing Jesus.
• A big change.

It was the resurrection which transformed Peters
fear into courage, and James doubt into
faith. It was the resurrection which changed Saul
the Pharisee into Paul the apostle.
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WHAT WE NEED The Fact and Nature of Sin
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The Fact and Nature of Sin

• Talking about sin.

Sin is an unpopular subject, and Christians are
often criticized for going on about it too
much. But they only do so because they are
realists. Sin is a fact of human experience.
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The Fact and Nature of Sin

• Talking about sin.
• Sin - how far it spreads.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us
has turned to his own way, and All of us have
become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous acts are like filthy rags.
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The Fact and Nature of Sin

• Talking about sin.
• Sin - how far it spreads.
• Sin - what it really is.

It is either an ideal which we fail to reach, or
a law which we break. Anyone who knows the good
he ought to do and doesnt do it, sins, says
James. That is the negative aspect. Everyone who
sins breaks the law in fact, sin is
lawlessness, says John. That is the positive
aspect.
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The Fact and Nature of Sin

• Talking about sin.
• Sin - how far it spreads.
• Sin - what it really is.
• Using the Ten Commandments.

So much takes place beneath the surface of our
lives, in the secret places of our minds, which
other people do not see and which we manage even
to conceal from ourselves. But God sees these
things.
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WHAT WE NEED The Consequences of Sin
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The Consequences of Sin

• Sin and God.

If the curtain which veils the indescribable
majesty of God could be drawn asideeven for a
momentwe too would be unable to bear the sight.
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The Consequences of Sin

• Sin and God.
• Captured into slavery.

It is not so much particular acts or habits which
enslave us, but rather the evil infection from
which these spring. This is what lies behind the
New Testament description of us as slaves.
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The Consequences of Sin

• Sin and God.
• Captured into slavery.
• Sin and other people.

Human sin or self-centredness is the cause of all
our troubles. This is what brings us into
conflict with each other. If only the spirit of
self-assertion could be replaced by the spirit of
self-sacrifice, our conflicts would cease.
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WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE The Death of Christ
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The Death of Christ

• His death - our freedom.

Sin caused a separation between us and God the
cross, the crucifixion of Christ, has brought us
back together. Sin made us enemies the cross has
brought peace. Sin created a gulf between us and
God the cross has bridged it. Sin broke the
relationship the cross has restored it.
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The Death of Christ

• His death - our freedom.
• Why Jesus had to die.

What the Bible teaches concerning the centrality
of the cross has been recognized and celebrated
by the Christian church from the very beginning.
The cross is the symbol of our faith. The
Christian faith is the faith of Christ
crucified. There is no Christianity without the
cross.
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The Death of Christ

• His death - our freedom.
• Why Jesus had to die.
• Light from the Old Testament.

The Old Testament sacrifices are a visible symbol
which points forward to the sacrifice of Christ.
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The Death of Christ

• His death - our freedom.
• Why Jesus had to die.
• Light from the Old Testament.
• Just an inspiring example?

An example can stir our imagination, kindle our
idealism and strengthen our resolve, but it
cannot remove the stains of our past sins, bring
peace to our troubled conscience or restore our
relationship with God.
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The Death of Christ

• His death - our freedom.
• Why Jesus had to die.
• Light from the Old Testament.
• Just an inspiring example?
• Why cant God just forgive us?

We are not to think of Jesus Christ as a third
party wresting salvation for us from a God who is
unwilling to save. No. The initiative lay with
God himself. God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ.
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WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE The Salvation of Christ
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The Salvation of Christ

• Forgiveness plus!

God is as much concerned with our present and
future as with our past. His plan is first to
put right our relationship with him, and then
progressively to set us free from our
self-centredness and bring us into harmony with
other people.
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The Salvation of Christ

• Forgiveness plus!
• How to change human nature.

Is it possible to make a sour person sweet, a
proud person humble, or a selfish person
unselfish? The Bible declares emphatically that
these miracles can take place. It is part of the
wonder of the gospel. Jesus Christ offers to
change not only our standing before God but our
very nature.
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The Salvation of Christ

• Forgiveness plus!
• How to change human nature.
• Transformed by the Holy Spirit.

This is the open secret of how to live as a
Christian. It is not about us struggling in vain
to become more like Jesus, but about allowing
him, by the power of his Spirit, to come and
change us from the inside.
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The Salvation of Christ

• Forgiveness plus!
• How to change human nature.
• Transformed by the Holy Spirit.
• Transformed by the church.

The church is the place where we find the new
quality of relationship which Christ himself
gives to those who belong to him.
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HOW TO RESPOND Counting the Cost
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Counting the Cost

• A costly business.

Jesus never concealed the fact that his religion
included a demand as well as an offer. Indeed,
the demand was as total as the offer was free.
His offer of salvation always brings with it the
requirement that we obey him.
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Counting the Cost

• A costly business.
• Taking orders from above.

Many people think that we can enjoy the benefits
of Christs salvation without accepting the
challenge of his absolute authority. There is no
support for such an unbalanced idea in the New
Testament.
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Counting the Cost

• A costly business.
• Taking orders from above.
• How to be sure of Gods will.

If you are prepared to do Gods will and
listening out for him to reveal what it is, he
will let you know in his own time.
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Counting the Cost

• A costly business.
• Taking orders from above.
• How to be sure of Gods will.
• Committed for life.

It is only as we see the cross that we become
willing to deny ourselves and follow Christ. Our
little crosses are far eclipsed by his. Once we
catch a glimpse of the greatness of his love in
willingly suffering such shame and pain for us
who deserved nothing but judgment, only one
course of action will be open to us.
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HOW TO RESPOND Reaching a Decision
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Reaching a Decision

• Volunteers only!

We cannot remain neutral. Nor can we just drift
into Christianity. Nor can anyone else settle the
matter for us. We must decide for ourselves.
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Reaching a Decision

• Volunteers only!
• Like getting married...

Christ can enter, cleanse and forgive you in a
matter of seconds, but it will take much longer
for your character to be transformed and shaped
to his will.
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Reaching a Decision

• Volunteers only!
• Like getting married...
• Facing up to what it would mean.

There can be no resistance, and no attempt to
negotiate our own terms, but rather an
unconditional surrender to the lordship of Christ.
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HOW TO RESPOND Being a Christian
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.

The Bible clearly distinguishes between the
general relationship which God has with the whole
human race as Creator and the special
relationship as Father which he establishes with
those who are his new creation through Jesus
Christ.
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.
• Calling God Father.

God is indeed our Father in heaven, who knows
our needs before we ask and will not fail to
give good things to his children.
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.
• Calling God Father.
• How we can be sure.

The basis of how we know that we are in
relationship with God is not how we feel, but the
fact that he says we are.
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.
• Calling God Father.
• How we can be sure.
• Christianity in practice.

There are two main areas in which we are meant to
grow as Christians. The first is in
understanding and the second in holiness.
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.
• Calling God Father.
• How we can be sure.
• Christianity in practice.
• Joining a church.

If we are born again into Gods family, not only
has he become our Father but every other believer
in the world, whatever their nation or
denomination, has become our brother or sister in
Christ.
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Being a Christian

• Children of God.
• Calling God Father.
• How we can be sure.
• Christianity in practice.
• Joining a church.
• How to make a difference.

Every Christian should be deeply concerned about
others. And it is part of our Christian calling
to serve them in whatever ways we can.
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