Response For DQ1 and 2

1)L.H       Fundamentals: Why the Resurrection Changes Everything.

Dear Friends,

If the resurrection is true, then it really changes everything. Everything! Here’s what I mean. If Jesus really was raised from the dead:

It vindicates that Jesus is who he said he is!

This means that he was not just a wandering teacher who could perform miracles by some inexplicable power; rather, he is God the Son who is demonstrating and introducing the power of God’s Kingdom. It also means he is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, the promised Davidic King now alive forever to reign forever.

It gives firm basis to believe that God will do what he has promised through Jesus!

If Jesus really was resurrected, then we can trust that God’s promise is faithful and sins have been dealt with. This means that God’s wrath against your and my sins has been atoned for and your and my punishment has been taken by Jesus. If Jesus was still in the grave one’s sins would still be their death sentence; but because he has risen, forgiveness is offered in Jesus to all who would turn to him to ask for it and place their life in his hands.

It breaks the power of death!

Jesus’ resurrection breaks the power of death! That is, that great power and curse of the fall which cannot be escaped, that last enemy and great equalizer which consumes rich and poor alike, that source of nagging fear and dread for all has been defeated!

It demonstrates that God cares about his world!

The resurrection demonstrates that God cares about the world he created. The fact that God the Son became man, he entered time and space to live and suffer amongst humanity indicates that the created world is important to God. However, beyond that, the fact that God the Son died and was raised with a physical body tells us that the material world will be involved in God’s redemptive activities to put all to rights. God does not just care about human souls – he cares about the whole of a person and the world he created for them to flourish in!

Finally, it indicates that we will have new bodies and there’s a new world coming!

God’s redemption is not just about God saving souls and taking them to heaven. The resurrection of Jesus in a new resurrection body points to the fact that all who are in Christ will themselves be resurrected. This is the great hope and defeat of death: that though we die in Christ we will truly live again with Christ! (We’ll talk about this more in DQ 2.)

How does this list strike you? Do any of these points surprise you?

 

2) Re: Topic 5 DQ 1

The resurrection is important to the Christian worldview because without the resurrection everything else in the Christian faith would be false; the Christian faith and worldview is built around the resurrection. The Bible proclaims in Ephesians 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God,” (New International Version) and that gift of God was Jesus’s death and resurrection. Other religions preach that you must do good works, and those good works are the key to your salvation, but in Christianity it precisely states that good works alone will not get you salvation. Therefore, the resurrection is important to the Christian worldview because without the resurrection of Christ from the dead there would be no Christian salvation.

3) T.G      Re: Topic 5 DQ 1

As mentioned in Chapter 6, the resurrection is so important to the Christian worldview because it is their hope for a new heaven and new Earth. The Christian worldview believe that when Jesus returns, he will bring his people final salvation and God will raise all those who belong to Jesus from the dead. They believe God will create a new world with no pain, suffering, sin, or death. They will live in a new Garden of Eden where they will no longer experience any brokenness, but instead will be beautiful and glorious in God’s presence and will share in the joy of God himself. These beliefs and vision are what gives Christians faith for a better world. Without this vision, there would be no Christian faith.

4)  

K.C   Re: Topic 5 DQ 1

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is vital to the Christian worldview because it proves a point. There are many different reasons that this is important. It is first that if Jesus did rise from the dead, all that he said was true. It proves that he was entirely God and fully human. Jesus died, showing he was human and rose again, proving that he was entirely God. If he never rose, all he did would have meant that he wasn't also wholly God. It seems as though if he did not die and rise that the Christian faith would be hard to follow, and some may argue, non-existent. It also means that his sacrifice was sufficient, and therefore all of our sins can be forgiven. Jesus dying and being born again also means that God sent him to show us that we matter. There are many different reasons that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important, and these are just a few. The resurrection is one of the main points in the Christian worldview and should be taught as such.

DQ2

1) L.H              Heaven on Earth?

Hi everyone,

If you asked the typical Christian you know what the concept of salvation means to them, you will probably get a response that includes something about going to heaven. This is what we often hear about in sermons and what we often sing about in our songs. Now, heaven is certainly a biblical concept (e.g. John 14:3) and something that far exceeds our current experience here on earth (e.g. Philippians 1:19-26), but it doesn’t seem to be widely realized in the church that the final vision of salvation in the New Testament is not of a heavenly existence with God, but of an earthly existence with God. That is, at the end of the final book of the New Testament, Revelation 21-22, John’s vision is of heaven coming down to the New Earth so that redeemed humanity is once again fully in relationship with God, just as Adam and Eve were in Eden before the Fall.

What might the hope of physical life in new bodies on the New Earth change about how you have viewed eternal life? Do you find the thought of salvation on the New Earth to be more or less exciting than the thought of heaven? Why?

2)E.S       Re: Topic 5 DQ 2

In the Christian worldview, eternal life is gained through the believe and following of our Lord and Savior. Jesus says in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28, English Standard Version) And again in 1 John 5:11 it states, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11, ESV)

The afterlife of a Christian world view varies much from the other worldviews immensely. In atheism there is no afterlife. There is nothing. In Hinduism, they believe that when you die, your spirit is made into some other form or life. This is reincarnation. The afterlife, or new life in this case, depends on how good or bad a person was, or what they did in the previous life.

3)K.C Re: Topic 5 DQ 2

According to the Christian worldview, to gain eternal life, the simple answer is through faith. But being faithful in the Christain religion and follow and accept Jesus Christ in your life and believe and accept it and listen to the word of God. Jesus states that: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." (John 10:27–28) Understanding that letting God into your life and having an experience full of faith in Him will lead you to eternal life.

The Christian concept of the afterlife differs from other worldviews in that Christians believe in heaven and hell, so they will live a life trying to achieve heaven and avoid hell. Whereas in different worldviews such as atheism, where when you die, that is it, no heaven, no hell, you just rot in the ground and there are no thoughts when you die. Atheists will not live life afraid that their evil actions will send them to hell, or that their right actions will send them to heaven.

4} JM     Topic 5 DQ 2

Hello Professor and Class,

According to Christianity, eternal life is gained by believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died and rose again to pay the price for mankind’s sin. Salvation is not based on a person’s works, the good things that he or she does, rather it is based on what Jesus “has already done” for each individual (CWV-101, 2020). When a man asked Paul and Silas what he had to “do to be saved,” Paul and Silas responded simply by saying, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31 NIV). This belief is not simply a mental acknowledgement of the truth about who Jesus is and what He has done. Instead, “saving faith also includes notions of personal trust in God” (Greever, 2020). People must “declare with [their mouths], “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in [their hearts] that God has raised Him from the dead” in order to be saved (Romans 10:9).

Christianity differs from other religions in that access to eternity with God is not something that can be achieved by good works, instead it is a gift. As Paul says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23). In Buddhism, people must behave rightly in order to attain to nirvana (Buddhism religion, 2012). In Islam, people must serve Allah, but eternal life is only assured if one dies “as a martyr” (How can a Muslim be assured of paradise, n.d.). Christianity says, “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

References

Buddhism religion: Basic beliefs and practices. (2012). In The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (6th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/religion/eastern/buddhism/buddhism/basic-beliefs-and-practices

CWV-101 Topic 5 Overview. (2020). CWV-101: Christian Worldview. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.

Greever, J. (2020). The wisdom and the power of God. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.)., The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life (3rd ed.). Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon University.

How can a Muslim be assured of paradise? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.compellingtruth.org/assured-paradise.html