TITLE: Christianity: Saviour on a Mission
FORMAT: Paperback
CHAPTERS: 61
PAGES: 236
WORD COUNT: 56 127
PUBLISHER: Amazon: PJ Stassen Author Page
SAVIOUR ON A MISSION
© Copyright 2021 P.J. Stassen
All Rights Reserved
PJ Stassen
Centurion
SOUTH AFRICA
PART ONE: THE DESIGNING SAVIOUR
1. The
Mysterious Universe
2. Fascinating
Facts About the Universe
3. Heaven
Must Be Beautiful
4. Photographic
Evidence That the Bible Is True
5. No
Law Without a Lawgiver
6. The
Awesome and Fearful Mystery of God
7. Surprised
by Majesty!
8. No
Loadshedding Blackouts in Heaven
9. How
Cosmologists Are Affirming the Hand of the Intelligent Designer in the Cosmos
10.
Theoretical Physics and the Multidimensional Universe
11.
In the Beginning
PART TWO: THE CREATOR SAVIOUR
12.
How Christians Know That Adam and Eve Were the First Two Humans Ever
13.
How Christians Know That Noah’s Flood Really Happened
14.
Flood Legends of the World
15.
Giants in the Bible
16.
How Biblical Archaeology Attests to the Historicity of the Bible
17.
How Many Adams in History?
18.
Ten Empirical Proofs That God Is Real
19.
How Old Is the Cosmos?
20.
New Testament Affirmation of the Genesis Creation Account
21.
The Wonder of ZOE vs. BIOS Life
22.
Mankind’s Romance with the Triangle
23.
Quantum Leap Creationism
24.
The Law of Creatorship
25. Facts About
Scientists You Ought to Know
26. Creative Evolution: You Must Be Joking!
PART THREE: CHRISTOLOGY: THE SAVIOUR’S SCEPTRE OF
AUTHORITY
27.
The Law of the Conservation of Mass
28.
How Omnipotent Is God the Almighty Really?
29.
The Glory of God
30.
The Golden Voice and Sceptre of Authority
31.
Infinity
32.
The Case for the Trinity
33.
The Divinity of Jesus Christ
34.
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ Traced Back to Adam
35.
Alpha & Omega
36.
Beauty for Ashes
37.
Because Jesus Christ Said So
38.
The ‘I AMs’ of Jesus Christ
39.
Build Your House on the Rock of Ages
40.
The Life and Mission of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ
41.
Climbing Mount Golgotha
42.
Did Jesus Christ Know Science?
43.
Face to Face with the Author of Life
44.
How His Contemporaries Attested to the Incorruptible Character of Jesus Christ
45.
How Jesus Christ Is Being Vindicated in the News Today
46.
Jesus Christ: His Prophecies as They Played Out Then and Now
47.
Jesus Christ: Messiah or Just a Great Teacher?
48.
Jesus Christ: Rock of Ages
49.
Jesus Christ: Son of Man
50.
Jesus Christ: The Light of the World
51.
Jesus Christ: The Stone That the Builders Rejected
52.
Names & Titles of Jesus Christ
53.
Nine Things That Saddened Jesus Christ’s Heart
54.
Why Diamonds Are So Valuable
55.
The Lion Shall Roar Out of Zion!
56.
The LORD Is My Shepherd
57.
The Miracle of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ: The Paschal Lamb of God
58.
The Most Illustrious Robe in the Cosmos
59.
The Name of Jesus Christ Is a Strong Tower
60.
The Pearl of Great Price
61. The Great White
Throne Judgment: Who Presides?
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
Invitation
Recommended Sources
Author Profile
Acknowledgements
Grateful for/to:
1. Bible translations interchangeably consulted:
King James Version (KJV/KJV+) & Modern King James Version (MKJV) unless otherwise indicated e.g., Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) & Hebraic Roots Bible (HRB). The reader may find that, occasionally, I have inserted capitals (in brackets) into Scripture references for the purpose of clarity.
2. E-Sword.net: The Sword of the Lord with an Electronic Edge (Free Bible Study for the PC). Online 2021.
3. All the sources, scholars, historical figures and authors I have been allowed to mention, quote or use as examples in the course of writing.
4. Cecilia Stassen, for her ongoing assistance, encouragement and invaluable help.
Foreword
An informative book, I believe, should be
like a sumptuous dinner … lavish, interesting, easily digestible and to be
remembered for years afterwards, and with this book I have aimed to accomplish
exactly that, for what could be more interesting and memorable than the
persona, life and ministry of a man who has changed the history of the world to
the matchless extent that Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) had done?
Unlike many postmodernists, who have so
superficially dismissed the historical Jesus (for all intents and purposes) as
nothing more than a deluded first-century religious fanatic and rabble rouser
of a charlatan who was arrested by the authorities, not as political zealot or
aspiring messiah, but as a common, albeit charismatic public nuisance who
disingenuously passed off cheap street magicians’ illusions as Biblical quality
miracles, i.e., postmodernists who today, like
pagan sorcerers and derelict, toothless oriental mystics, dare to
determine the measure of a man and his words by (of all things!) the
application of coloured beads.
I, instead, insist that only a
carpenter-rabbi of His divine origin, moral stature and matchless wisdom could
have transformed this 1970s runaway freight-train and weirds-mobile of a
cynical, suburban hedonist and amoral agnostic into a person so enamoured with
this Messiah that I, in the sunset season of my life, have aspired to write not
only one book about His sacred cause and merciful gospel, but at least
three!
Today, when I read the popular atheists of our times, or debate a seasoned agnostic about the existence of God, I can only heartily agree with the wise theologians who, upon hearing people say that the character of the first-century Jesus of history was so remarkable that He must have been ‘forged’ (and should be considered a ‘fake’) instead have so aptly retorted (among others) as follows (my paraphrasing):
“The man Jesus of Nazareth was so
unique, gifted, remarkable and special that only a real Jesus Christ
could have forged a Jesus Christ; furthermore, if the Bible really were only a
collection of fairy tales, then why is it either banned or severely persecuted
in at least 52 countries?”
PJ
Stassen
Centurion,
South Africa.
December 2021.
Introduction
I wrote this book, not as a theologian
(which I am not), but as a sinner saved by grace and a social commentator
concerned with the cause and future of Christianity in the world.
To create some semblance of formal
structure, I have sorted the 61 articles (‘chapters’) into two parts which I
hope will facilitate comfortable and inspirational reading:
Part 1. Intelligent
Design: Supporting
the worldview of the Intelligent Design of the ‘Cosmos’ (not the
‘Chaos’) by an Intelligent Designer.
Part 2. Creationism: Supporting
the worldview of Biblical Creationism exactly as the Bible teaches.
Part 3. Christology: Discussing the persona, ministry, teachings, moral gravitas, character and divine stature of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
The story of the Bible and God’s designs for man; the Commandments of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can, for all intents and purposes, miraculously integrated to be summarised by a single Scripture reference:
“For as by one man's
disobedience [THE FIRST ADAM] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One
[THE LAST ADAM, JESUS CHRIST] shall many be made righteous.”
[Romans5:19MKJV].
“There are only two kinds of people, i.e., those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done!’ and those to whom God must say, “Okay then … have it your way!”
The lot and final destiny of every (fully informed
& evangelised) person that ever lived will, in other words, be decided on
this, i.e., a choice between Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, Jesus and
Barabbas, Christ and Satan.
With those who object that anyone could exercise
such a critical choice still wrongly from pure ignorance, or from cultural and/or
religious biases, I can only in sympathy say that I fully concur, and although
I insist that there is no other name but the Name of Jesus Christ by which we
are saved, we probably should leave such metaphysical judgments (i.e., in
respect of the ‘inadequately informed and poorly evangelised’) for God to
decide and deal with.
There is a huge difference between being a ‘sinner’ and being ‘ungodly’/’wicked’. All the ‘ungodly’ and ‘wicked’ are sinners, but not all ‘sinners’ are necessarily ‘ungodly or ‘wicked’ … they are simply lost and must be found. God has said:
“And He [GOD] said, I will make all My
goodness pass before you [MOSES], and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah
before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy.”
[Exodus33:10MKJV].
Majestic, Awe-inspiring & Frightening
1. Proposition #1. The Cosmos is vast. At an estimated 93 billion light-years across (i.e., the ‘observable’ Cosmos) the Cosmos is the largest and most imposing piece of ‘real estate’ ever.
2. Proposition #2. The Cosmos is dark and foreboding. Scientists reportedly know only about 5% of what is going on in the Cosmos; the rest (95%) comprises ‘undetectable by astronomical instruments dark matter + dark energy.’ The Creator may obviously thus be obscured from the view and scientific observations of atheists in the 95% they still cannot explain.
3. Proposition #3. The Cosmos is dangerous & scary. Fearsome and overwhelming natural forces make the Cosmos a dangerous place for mortal man to be in, i.e., fascinatingly majestic and beautiful on the one hand yet terrifying on the other.
4. Proposition #4. The Cosmos
is mysterious & complex. At the time of his demise, Stephen
Hawking’s goal of a ‘Theory of Everything’ has remained a
pipe-dream unfulfilled. Outside of Biblical revelation (Old & New
Testaments) no man can really know why there is a Cosmos (and how
exactly it must be explained) at all.
Phenomena like e.g., acoustics (the ‘audible range’), universal gravitation, the strong & weak nuclear forces, electromagnetic forces, electricity, quantum physics, astrophysics, cosmology, hydrological forces, meteorology & natural disasters etc. are a source of constant research.
5. Proposition #5. The Cosmos is orderly. The word ‘cosmos’ denotes the exact opposite of the word ‘chaos’.
5.1 COSMOS: ‘an orderly harmonious systematic
universe’ ‘order’, ‘harmony’
5.2 CHAOS: ‘a state of utter confusion’ / ‘the
blackout caused chaos throughout the city’ / ‘a
confused mass or mixture’
P.S. Why do atheists and atheist-evolutionists who do not believe in God (Intelligent Designer) nevertheless insist on using the term, ‘the Cosmos’, instead of ‘the Chaos’?
6. Proposition #6. God (i.e., the “I AM!” of Moses and Mt. Sinai) ordained and conceived the idea of the Cosmos. Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) was the Projects Engineer and Master Builder through whom God (the Father) has created the Cosmos, who is sitting at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high and upholding all things (in the Cosmos) by the Word of His power. The Bible says:
“In the beginning [TIME] God created the heavens [SPACE]
and the earth [MATTER].”
[Genesis1:1MKJV].
(i) TIME first otherwise when would He
put the heavens [SPACE] and the earth [MATTER]?
(ii) The heavens [SPACE] secondly otherwise where would
He put the earth [MATTER]?
“I have made
the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the
heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”
[Isaiah45:12MKJV].
“God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in
time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us
by His Son [JESUS CHRIST] whom He [GOD THE FATHER] has appointed heir of all
things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the shining splendours of
His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by
the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He [JESUS CHRIST]
sat down on the right of the Majesty on high.”
[Hebrews1:1-3MKJV].
P.S.
Capitals inserted for clarity.
7. Proposition #7. Only the
Bible has the answers. Outside of the Bible and Biblical revelation no
atheist / atheist-evolutionist has ever succeeded in coherently, satisfactorily
and convincingly answering the critical questions below:
7.1 Where
does the Cosmos come from? (“From a singularity that exploded!”
would not be an intelligent answer).
7.2 Where
do we come from? (“From a unicellular organism that emerged from a
primordial soup of chemicals millions of years ago” would not be
intelligent answer).
7.3 Why
is the Cosmos here? (“Because of the Big Bang!” would not be
an intelligent answer).
7.4 Why
are here? (“Because of natural selection, beneficial mutations,
adaptation, speciation, Lamarckism, punctuated equilibrium and the random
accident of dumb & brainless Evolution!” would not be an intelligent
answer).
7.5 What
is our purpose? (“Species survival!” would not be an intelligent
answer).
7.6 Where
are we going? (“With a 100% mortality rate for every generation for
every nation we are going to die and be recycled into the ecology as fresh new
compost for future generations to use and enjoy!” would not be an
intelligent answer).
7.7. Is
there life after death? (“We believe in death-after-death, not life-after-death;
there is no God, no Hereafter, no Heaven, no Hell and the Bible lied!” would
not be an intelligent answer).
7.8 Is there hope for Planet Earth? (“Earth will eventually be engulfed and burnt to a cinder when the Sun changes into a ‘red giant’ thousands of years into the future! … there is no hope for Planet Earth!” would not be an intelligent answer).
P.S. So not even going to Mars will be
safe in the end.
7.9 How
can we atone for our sin or find peace of mind in our hearts this age?
(“There is no such thing as good or evil (or sin); only thinking makes it so
… I do not suffer from a guilt complex and owe nobody no excuse or apology for
my life and conduct!” would not be an intelligent answer).
7.10 How
can mankind know the difference between right and wrong? (“Deciding
between ‘right and wrong’ is decided in terms of ‘situational ethics’ founded
on ‘moral relativism’ and the ‘reason of man’; atheists can be good and happy
without God, the Bible lied and for professional guidance on the matter apply
today for a membership card at your nearest ‘atheists association’ or ‘secular
humanist society’!” would not be an intelligent answer).
References
1. Lewis,
C.S. (1952) Mere Christianity. Geoffrey Bles; Macmillan (U.K.).
2.
Wikipedia. Dark Energy. Online 2021.
3.
Wikipedia. Dark Matter. Online 2021.
Chapter 2. Fascinating Facts About the Universe
Facing the Limitations of Science
1. The Universe was created ‘Ex
Nihilo’ by GOD. ‘Ex Nihilo’ is defined as, ‘Out of nothing’ (Merriam-Webster). The
Universe we know and live in was conceived, intelligently designed and created
out of nothing by the God (‘Elohim’, the ‘I Am’ or ‘YHWH’ etc.) of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob & Moses etc.). Jesus Christ was/is the Projects
Engineer in charge of the Creation, Maintenance &
Management of the Cosmos.
“God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
[Hebrews1:1-4KJV].
“Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto
him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
[John8:56-58KJV].
“I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is,
and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty ... Saying, I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest,
write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto
Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto
Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea ... And he said unto me,
It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely ... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end, the first and the last.”
[Revelation1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13KJV].
“In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth.”
[Genesis1:1KJV]
P.S. ‘Beginning’ (creation of TIME); ‘Heaven’ (creation of SPACE); ‘Earth’ (creation of MATTER).
“As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”
2. Time, Space & Matter. It would appear as if GOD has made Time, Space & Matter in the correct sequence e.g.
“In the beginning [TIME] God created the heavens [SPACE] and the earth [MATTER.].”
3. Project Engineering & Cost. The ‘astronomical’ (pardon the pun) cost attached to the design & creation of the Universe must have been thoroughly considered by the Creator before its creation. Jesus Christ Himself has taught:
“For which of you, intending to build a
tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have
sufficient to finish it?”
[Luke14:28KJV].
P.S. It thus stands to reason that God must have had the intellectual stature and capacity (‘money’/’entrepreneurial capital’) for the project (imagine the ‘cost’).
4. Our Universe is not
Infinite. The Universe has been measured by God with its limits known
to its Creator, and thus cannot be infinite. The ‘heavens’ (Space) are bounded,
and the earth has been measured.
“Thick clouds are a covering
to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.”
[Job22:14KJV].
“He stood, and measured
the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting
mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are
everlasting.”
[Habakkuk3:6KJV].
“Who hath measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the
span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?”
[Isaiah40:12KJV].
“Known unto God are all his
works from the beginning of the world.”
[Acts15:18KJV].
5. The Beginning & End of all things. Only God knows the beginning and end of all things and thus cannot be known by any man, no matter how learned, educated, gifted, talented, bright or intelligent.
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath
set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that
God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
[Ecclesiastes3:11KJV].
6. The Galaxies & Stars. God
knows how many stars there are, and He calls them by their names.
“He telleth the number
of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.”
[Psalm147:4KJV].
“Lift up your eyes on high,
and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their
host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness
of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”
[Isaiah40:26KJV].
7. GOD is Infinite. GOD inhabits Eternity and His understanding is Infinite. He is the Alpha & Omega and has no beginning and no end [Psalm145:5; Isaiah-57:15; Jeremiah23:24; Revelation1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13].
8. Eternal things. The Bible teaches that Eternal things usually are invisible to the naked eye.
“For the invisible things of
him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse.”
[Romans1:20KJV].
“While we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are
eternal ... For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.”
[2Corinthians4:18; 5:1KJV].
“Now unto the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for
ever and ever. Amen.”
[1Timothy1:17KJV].
“By faith he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is
invisible.”
[Hebrews11:27KJV].
9. The Limitations of
Science. In mentioning just a few:
9.1 The
Oceans. Scientists know less than 20% of what is
going on in our oceans with more than 80% of our oceans remaining
unmapped, unobserved & unexplored (U.S. National Ocean Service).
9.2 The
Cosmos. Mankind (the scientist) knows only about 5% of
what is going on in the observable Cosmos; the rest (95%) is
undetectable by scientific instruments ‘dark matter (27%) + dark energy
(68%)’ (Nasa Science).
9.3 Sound
Spectrum (Acoustics). Humans have a range of hearing between 20Hz
and 20 kHz (20 000Hz) and cannot hear Ultrasound (above 20kHz) or Infra-sound
(below20Hz). (Wikipedia).
9.4 Electromagnetic
Spectrum. Humans can only see 0.0035% of the light
(between Infrared & Ultraviolet) in the Electromagnetic
Spectrum. (Live Science).
9.5 Questions
Science cannot answer outside of the Revelation of Scripture.
9.5.1 Why is
there something instead of nothing? (e.g., Why are there galaxies, stars,
solar systems, planets, moons, the animal kingdom, the plant kingdom, humankind
etc. instead of nothing ... i.e., whose idea was it?).
9.5.2 Where does the Universe come from? (Saying that the ‘Big Bang’
caused the Universe is not an answer ... they must be able to say where the
Universe including the Big Bang came from).
9.5.3 Where do we come from? (No Scientology & Dianetics
science-fiction please).
9.5.4 Why are we here? (Explain our presence on planet earth but no
Erich von Daniken ‘UFO’ cult type fiction please).
9.5.5 Where are we going? (Not “We’re emigrating to Mars!” pipedreams
please).
9.5.6 Is there hope for planet Earth? (Not ’80 000 years’ from now
please. People want to know about next week, next month, next year or even
100-500 years from now ... not ‘millions of years’ from now).
“Now gird up
your loins like a man; for I will ask of you, and you teach Me. Where
were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have
understanding! Who has set its measurements, for you know? Or who has
stretched the line on it? On what are its bases sunk, or who cast its
cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?”
[Job38:3-7MKJV].
References
1. Live Science. Electromagnetic Spectrum. Online
2021.
2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus. Ex
Nihilo. Online 2021.
3. U.S. National Ocean Service. The Oceans. Online
2021.
4. Wikipedia. Sound Spectrum: Acoustics. Online 2021.
Author Profile
P. J. Stassen, born in 1947 in Randgate, South Africa, holds a B.A. degree in Industrial Psychology & Sociology (Industrial) from the University of South Africa. A former businessman who, after mandatory military conscription, spent the first 12 years of his life in 1966 in the field of retail (Textiles & General Dealer) in a family business begun by his father in 1964, thereafter worked at various other jobs eventually arriving in the fulfilling position of a corporate trainer with Kumba Resources (formerly Iscor Iron Ore Mine) in the Bushveldt region of South Africa during the years 1986 and 1997. At the time of his retirement in 2013 he was engaged in Occupational Health & Safety Training in the corporate environment on a contract basis for a Johannesburg company.
P.J. Stassen and his wife are both retired and live in Centurion, South Africa after having also served in their capacities as gospel musicians (pianist & organist respectively) in churches in some of South Africa’s nine provinces, e.g., in places like Vanderbijlpark, Bloemfontein, Thabazimbi, Sinoville and Centurion.
PUBLISHING DETAILS
TITLE: Christianity: Saviour on a Mission
FORMAT: Paperback
CHAPTERS: 61
PAGES: 236
WORD COUNT: 56 127
PUBLISHER: Amazon: PJ Stassen Author Page
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