I want to keep the explanation of these three pillars as simple as possible.  There are countless scriptures and historical principles I could throw at you, but the belief of those scriptures touches on the third point, and that is something we have yet to cover, so I will write with simplicity and generalization for this segment.

The second pillar of our foundations is, easily, the most important.  It is the pillar that leads to our salvation and a principle that we MUST believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if we choose to call ourselves Christians.  We discussed that pillar #1 is the recognition that Jesus Christ was a real human being. We also discussed that He was exceptional, different, and lived for a purpose. How was He capable of living so perfectly? How was He capable of performing miracles and walking with such guidance? That is explained in pillar #2…we MUST believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. The Son of God who died and rose again for US.

Now, this principle seems basic, but there is an incredible amount of information encompassed in that understanding.  It’s not enough to say, Okay, yes, I believe He was the son of God...and check that off the list. There is much to be understood if you recognize that truth. I will try to summarize:

First and foremost, this encompasses the belief that there is a God. A God so fantastic, it is impossible to explain His magnitude. A Creator of the heavens and the earth.  The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End.  A God that cannot be described in earthly terms, because the human mind is incapable of understanding “Him”. (We only refer to God as “He” and “Him” because that is a simple way of wrapping the human mind around the concept.) God is not human, and is not one thing. God is an entity.

Secondly, this pillar encompasses the belief that, in order for God to “prove” to us, essentially, that He exists, He sent a portion of Himself in the form of a human being–Jesus Christ. A Son. This man of earthly flesh and blood was sent to teach. Sent to spread the Truth. Sent to show grace and mercy and forgiveness. Sent to tell all who would listen that God existed. He was sent to lead by example and to inspire. He was sent to share the Word of God. Sent to enlighten generations, for the remainder of time, that God was True and real and good. And He did so magnificently. He proved himself time and time again. He was also sent to die…which leads us to the next point.

The third belief that this pillar encompasses is that this man died for us. Throughout His life on earth, He made clear that He would eventually be crucified. He would eventually be killed. But He promised, to all who believed and to all who still refused to believe, that He would come back to life.  As the ultimate “proof” to everyone that He was, in fact, the son of God. Jesus Christ promised all that He would rise. And in His death, and His rebirth, we would be forever forgiven of our sins and capable of receiving salvation.  All we had to do was believe in Him. Let me emphasize the most incredible point here…in order for us to FOREVER be forgiven and to be SAVED and spend eternity in heaven, He asks us to BELIEVE in Him and to believe in God. To pursue Him and to live for Him. This man DIED for us, in the most brutal and shameful way possible, so that WE could be saved. In order for even the men who were murdering Him to be saved. I tremble at the thought. What an incredible King.

That leads us to the real zinger! 🙂 The best and most beautiful belief that this pillar encompasses…..HE DID IT! He was murdered. Crucified on the cross. And this man, this earthly man, “STUCK IT TO THE MAN!” haha. He rose! He came back to life, just as He said He would!! There are countless historical proofs of this. Countless documentations of this Truth. The man ROSE! The Son of God rose! He proved it to everyone! Incredible. In Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, it made all that He taught, and all that He shared in His life, completely valid. What is there to argue here? Jesus did it!

So we have now touched on the first and second pillars of our foundation as Christians. #1. The recognition that Jesus Christ was a real man. #2. The recognition that Jesus Christ was the son of God and that He died and rose again. As I said before, all three elements of our foundation are interconnected, so that leads us to pillar #3…the proof. Everybody seems to want the proof.  Now a days, to simply have faith that something happened seems like an impossibility to people. Everyone wants MORE proof. Fortunately, God planned on that. And He left us the greatest proof of all…

(to be continued)