When Jesus rose from the dead, it was hard for his friends to believe it. When Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty, she at first thought someone had moved the body (John 20:13). When some women heard the angelic message about the risen Lord and told the apostles, "they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Luke 24:11). Even when Jesus stood right in front of them, they still had a hard time believing he was alive (Luke 24:37; Matthew 28:17). It seemed impossible.

But what was really impossible was that Jesus stay dead. Why? Because of what God said. God said in Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah would die and then live again. Jesus could stay in the tomb only if God was lying--and it is impossible for God to lie.

Some people blame the Jews for Jesus' death. Others blame Pilate and the soldiers. But according to the Apostles' Creed, Jesus "suffered for us under Pontius Pilate." For us! Our sins are what killed him.

No, it was not the Jews who crucified,

This man Jesus is quite a preacher. Rumor says that he even does miracles. But wait a minute! What makes him so special? Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? The hometown folks have known him since he was in diapers. They've seen him play and heard him cry. They've seen him with sweat on his forehead and dirt under his fingernails. Isn't he just an ordinary guy from an ordinary family? Isn't he the son of that carpenter? Isn't his mother Mary? (Come to think of it, didn't she get pregnant before marriage?) Aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Don't his sisters still live right in town? No doubt about it: this man is as human as anyone; he's nobody special.

The townspeople are right that Jesus is as human as anyone. But they are wrong to think he is nobody special. They look so hard at Jesus as a fellow human that they don't see him as God. Let's not repeat that mistake. But let's not make the opposite mistake, either. Let's not look so hard at Jesus as God that we don't see him as human.

A biblical psalm says, "Praise the Lord ... who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases" (Psalm 103:2-3). Only God can forgive all sins and heal all diseases. So when Jesus told a paralyzed man, "Friend, your sins are forgiven," he was saying what only God can say. When his authority to forgive sins was challenged, Jesus proved his divine authority by doing what only God can do: he healed the incurable disease of paralysis.

Another psalm says, "O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? ... You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them" (Psalm 89:8-9). Only God can still stormy seas. So when Jesus rebuked a storm and told the wild waves, "Quiet! Be still!" he was saying what only God can say. As the storm hushed and the sea became calm, Jesus' disciples exclaimed, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark 4:37-41)

Someone has defined a scholar as "a person who learns more and more about less and less until he knows almost everything about almost nothing." By that definition, the religious teachers of Jesus' day were scholars indeed. They specialized in trivia and knew almost everything about almost nothing. When they had a point to prove, they simply piled up quotes from other scholars. The voice of God was no longer heard.

How different when Jesus spoke! "The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." People exclaimed, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" (John 7:15) "No one ever spoke the way this man does" (John 7:46). Jesus didn't base his teaching on scholarly opinion; he did the opposite. "You have heard it said [by your experts]," Jesus would say as he introduced a subject, "but I tell you"--and then, on his own authority, he would declare the real truth of the matter. As Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), his voice rang with the same authority as the voice on Mount Sinai that thundered forth the Ten Commandments. It was the voice of God.

God has spoken many words, but Jesus is his final Word. God has many angels, but Jesus is worshiped by angels. Jesus is unique, supreme over every person on earth and every angel in heaven. He is the Father's one and only Son.

"I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary" (Apostles Creed). Before the Son became a baby in Mary's womb, he was God from all eternity. And even after becoming human, Jesus remains God as well as man. A pregnant virgin is a great miracle, but an even greater miracle is that her Child is both divine and human.

Was there ever life on Mars? Do aliens from other worlds ever visit earth? Many people wonder about these things. Even some scientists look for signals from space.

We may wonder if physical life exists anywhere besides earth, but we can be sure that humans are not the only form of intelligent life. The Creator has made millions of intelligent spirit beings. They don't need spaceships to travel or transmitters to communicate. They're not subject to physical laws; scientific instruments can't detect them. But Scripture does what science can't: it shows the reality of angels, countless beings of amazing intelligence and power.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt confused and out of place, and then it turned out that you were in just the right place at the right time? Have you ever been mistreated and felt everything was going wrong, only to have it all turn out for the best? Suddenly things make sense, and you say, "That didn't just happen. It was meant to be."

Everything that happens is part of a plan. This is true of those moments when things click in a special way, and it's true at every other moment as well. Everything that happens, happens for a purpose.

Some religions exalt an impersonal power; the Bible exalts an all-powerful Person. I believe not in a force but in a Father. "I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth" (Apostles' Creed). The universe is not an evolving process driven by an impersonal force. The Father personally created every star in every galaxy and calls them each by name. He created the earth and all its creatures and knows each of us by name. So the Source of all being is not a force to be tapped into by magic or mantras; he is a Father to be loved and obeyed.

Compared to him, entire nations are like a drop in a bucket or a bit of dirt (40:15). "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers" (40:22). God is so strong that he creates and controls all things without getting tired. He is so smart that he knows all things, even our thoughts--though we can't fathom his thoughts (40:28).

Jesus doesn't want us to muddle along with a foggy idea of God. He says that people everywhere must hear the truth and be baptized and marked with a definite name, "the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Notice that Jesus speaks of "the name," not "the names." The threefold title "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" is one name--the name of the one God.

The church teaches, "The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God" (Athanasian Creed). The church worships God and declares God's blessing on his people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 13:14). And the church baptizes new members (as Jesus commanded) "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."