SUNDAY STUDY: A New Creation In Christ
By Jim Showers, Executive Director/President Friends of Israel @ foi.org
I want to share with you an exciting story from one of my colleagues. I know you will join me in praising the Lord for this new name written down in glory!
I met a retired doctor at a local resource center, and we hit it off right away. It turns out he is Jewish and asked me, “Why is there so much hatred and anti-Semitism? Who teaches these people to hate Jews?” I told him I had some thoughts on the subject, and he asked to hear them.
The problem, I said, is the human heart. The prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” The doctor said he could agree with that statement and asked if we could talk further.
“I can’t explain it,” he began, “but I don’t think it’s possible to know God apart from Jesus Christ. I have this strange draw to Him.” About a week later we met in a local coffee shop and spoke for three hours.
I shared with him the gospel from Isaiah 53 and challenged him to read it himself. I gave him a small book that went through that famous chapter verse by verse. He read them and we met a few weeks later.
“Do you really believe the Bible, all those miracles and things?” he asked.
“Yes, I do,” I replied.
“It’s just hard for me to believe such things because I have a scientific background and those things just seem scientifically impossible.”
“They are,” I said. “That’s what makes them miracles. Science and Scripture are not in disagreement; but science explains how things work in the physical, natural world. Since God is outside of His creation, He cannot be explained through the study of physical things. He reveals Himself through nature generally, but through His Word specifically.”
After much discussion, the doctor stated, “Well, I think I’m to the point where I believe in Him. I’ve been searching my whole life, but I think the only answer is Christ.”
I then took him through the Romans Road and said, “Let’s read Romans 10:9.” He read out loud, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“I think I’m ready for that,” he said. So we moved to a quiet part of the coffee shop, and I told him, “If you believe that, then you can pray right now.”
“Well, I’ve never done that before,” he said. “I believe it, but I’ve never said the words out loud before.”
“Would you like me to pray and you can follow?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” So I began, “Dear Father…”
“Wait!” the doctor said alarmingly. “I still have lots of questions. I mean, how do we know how we got the Bible and that it didn’t change over time and things like that?”
“Those are important things to consider, questions there are answers to. But right now, your greatest need is salvation. Do you believe the gospel message we have been reading about in the Bible?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Ok, then let’s settle that first. These other questions can be dealt with later.” He prayed and at that moment, this dear doctor became a new creation in Christ!
Scripture tells us, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God” when someone repents and is saved (Lk. 15:10).