Do You Have a Security System?

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed - Luke 1:1-4


   Luke uses very strong language as he begins to describe the reasons for writing this document. He uses compelling terms like; most surely believed, eyewitnesses, and the certainty. Many have taken it upon themselves to write down what they had heard or experienced and that is good, but I also, Luke says, decided that I would set these things down in order and make an actual, accurate and documented account of the Life of Christ. I have had a very close relationship with those who were eyewitnesses of the Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Son of God. 
   Most surely believed – not just believed, not simply agreed with, or accepted but, most surely believed. The things that I am writing about, Luke says, are so sure and so certain that they can be fully and completely relied upon. Since the early days of Christianity many individuals have based their lives and their futures on the truth of Jesus and what He came to do. Numerous people have done this long before we came on the scene. Christianity, for us, has been time-tested but for Luke and others it was all still relatively new. However, they did not doubt but they, to use Luke’s term, most surely believed. These early believers and leaders were the pioneers and foundation-laying preachers of this new faith in Jesus as the Christ. That first generation of Christians had an amazing impact on their world through the preaching of the Gospel.  A great many of them literally gave their lives to ensure that we today would have a written record of the life and teaching of Jesus. 
   Eyewitness – a witness is one thing, but an eyewitness is another. A witness may bring forth some evidence, possibly circumstantial, but an eyewitness brings evidence which is very hard to refute. A witness might have heard a sound or felt something, or came upon the scene shortly after the incident, but an eyewitness is someone who saw and heard and was right there when the event took place. God, in his wisdom, knew that we would need irrefutable evidence of the life, death and resurrection of Christ, so he made sure that there were plenty of eyewitnesses. He did and said everything out in the open so that it could be documented. When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, the world simply scoffs at the concept, but those who were eyewitnesses absolutely dedicated their lives to the proclamation of it. The resurrection was the central theme of their preaching as recorded in the Book of Acts. After the reports of Jesus’ resurrection began to be heard, a lie was intentionally circulated insinuating that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus from the grave and hid it. The most amazing thing about that is, if it were true, then those who were accused of stealing the body of Jesus actually gave up their lives in service to God, and they were tortured and most of them died horrible deaths all for an apparent hoax. No! These men were eyewitnesses. They saw His death, and then they saw Him alive and also ate with Him and spoke with Him after His resurrection.
   The certainty of those things – not the hope so, wish so, maybe so, wouldn’t it be great if it were true; No! The certainty; the absolute, unshakeable truth upon which you can base your entire life and eternity. You can most surely believe these things. There are those who would try to tell us that you cannot be certain about anything, that there are no absolutes. This is a philosophy known as relativism; the belief that truth is relative and subjective to each person’s situation and viewpoint. There is some interesting irony regarding this philosophy because it teaches that there are no absolutes therefore you cannot be certain about anything. However, those who espouse this ideology are, apparently, certain about the fact that there are no certainties. As believers, we know that there most definitely are absolutes and there is an undeniable certainty in the Word of God. Certainty means security, because if the truth of Jesus is certain then it is also secure. Security is available but, only in Christ. The world is constantly searching for security; financial security, relational security, occupational security, physical security, but security in this life is elusive and maybe even impossible and unattainable. Someone has said that there is no real security in this life, there is only opportunity. I believe that to be true. Outside of Christ there is no security. We only have security in Him, by continuing to trust in His faithfulness and His power and His love. Christianity is not a philosophy or even a set of beliefs, it is the truth! The truth is not debatable, it is only to be believed and surrendered to. We can study, learn and analyze the Bible but in the end it must be believed. The Bible is a closed book to the unbeliever. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him, and neither can he know them because they are spiritually understood. The Bible opens up to the man who opens up his heart to truth; it bends to the man who bends his knee to God. The Bible is not a closely organized, humanly contrived man-written document; it is a God-given revelation. It is an unveiling of God by God. It is God’s disclosure of Himself and His ways to mankind. The purpose of Luke’s writing was that Theophilus, and others who would subsequently read, might know the certainty of those things in which he had been instructed. God wants us to be certain. We can have a sense of certainty in the truth of the Bible. The Bible is no myth, it is absolutely reliable. When we think of faith we usually do not think in terms of certainty, but God wants us to be certain of what we believe. The only way for us to be certain is to have a solid foundation of truth from the Word of God. Certainty is produced by God in the heart of man through revelation and understanding of the Scriptures; this and this alone produces certainty. The Word of God is so powerful and as we continue to read, study and practice the teachings of the Bible, we grow increasingly more certain, and our carefully nurtured faith does not diminish over time but actually gets stronger.