Cfaith Explorers

By Gabriel Folorunso

The age-long misconceived idea that Christianity is just one of the other religions has, unfortunately, done more harm than good in preventing millions and millions of people all over the world from embracing the truth about Jesus. The ‘Cfaith Explorers’, which is a short for the ‘Christian faith explorers,’ is written out of a genuine desire for people who would like to explore what the Christian faith is all about. It provides, in a most practical, chronological, and dramatic way, how God’s revelation and dealings with humanity culminated in the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Saviour of the whole world. It is the truth about Jesus Christ that brings people to the life-changing relationship with the living God, not religion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Mar 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665584302

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© 2021 Gabriel Folorunso. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  10/05/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8431-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8430-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James

Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV

Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Chapter 1   How it All Started

Chapter 2   Who is behind it?

Chapter 3   The Root Cause

Chapter 4   The Called

Chapter 5   The Law & the Grace

Chapter 6   The Golgotha

Chapter 7   The Empty Tomb

Chapter 8   The Decision

References

FOREWORD

When you need to travel somewhere, you may have different ways to map the route. These days, we have become so dependent on SatNavs and Google Maps that we probably got a bit lazy. Therefore, the old school skills of map reading and working out a route are dying. But, despite the best, most interactive modern system, nothing quite compares to being guided by someone who knows the route intimately – every twist, turn, and landmark along with every potential wrong turn and useful short-cut.

What follows that kind of guide is probably the most important journey that any of us will ever experience. Seeking after God and meaning without any direction can be a hazardous occupation. Here’s a guide that can describe all the contours (and pitfalls) with a greater knowledge of the landscape. Explicitly based on the best, unique, unerring map – the Bible – the guide points us unambiguously towards the one who described Himself as ‘The Way’, Jesus Christ.

I gladly commend this book to you and also pray that you will see beyond the words to seek Him. I hope that you will find new purpose and direction as you undertake the journey set out in these pages.

Mark Leveson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, praises and thanks to God for the showers of His blessings and divine resources throughout the journey to complete this book with success. This book would not have come into existence without Him.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to my wife, Marion, whose unwavering support provided me plenty of time to concentrate and think through the work. Special thanks to my daughters, Ruth and Timi, for their encouragement and moral support. Their diligence, good attitude, and character provided me with a peaceful environment required to focus on my work. Particularly, I want to thank Ruth for her artwork and providing me with some of the illustrations I used in the content.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to the entire members and the Board of Trustees of King’s Business Club. Their commitment and belief in the project was a source of inspiration that helped turn the idea into a reality.

INTRODUCTION

History is full of famous explorers who sailed and navigated the unknown world at the greatest cost that one can ever imagine. Whatever motivated them to go that far, what stood out is their courage and determination. We all need to thank them because some of their achievements made it possible to know every corner of the globe. Moreover, they laid the necessary foundation for most of the scientific discoveries that you and I enjoy today. Marco Polo travelled around Asia; Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover America (although history says Vikings were there three hundred years before); Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in a single expedition; David Livingstone navigated the continent of Africa and his work provided a better understanding of Africa. One thing that was common among these people is their curiosity to find out the unknown. They had a similar purpose in mind – to discover the hidden information, lay open the hidden treasure, and unravel the unknown. The list can never be exhausted.

Have you ever had a sceptical view on something only to discover that it was not as you thought after taking a courageous step to search for more facts about the issues? I have experienced this a lot of times. When people become an authority in a particular field or school of thought, it means nothing is a mystery to them in that particular field of knowledge, because they have explored all the knowledge and mastered it.

How do you feel? What comes to your mind when you think about Christianity or when people talk about it? Do you take a sceptical or indifferent view? Or do you say, ‘Oh they’ve come again with this their religious stuff’? Whatever your stand or view may be I do sincerely respect them, but I can almost guarantee you that there is something you are yet to discover about the Christian faith. Our views are often shaped by speculations and not the explored facts. A lot of people in the past and present generation have beautiful stories of eternal fortune and their adventure in finding the core truth about the Christian faith. In your hand is a small book inviting you to get enlisted among these great explorers of the Christian faith and know their life-changing experience.

In this book, you will learn one mind-blowing fact that Christianity is not just a religion as presumed by many people. This book, therefore, seeks to bring to fore an illumination that will help you and beloved ones see the true picture of the Christian faith. Just like you have many unanswered questions about Christianity and other religions, I had a lot of questions until one day when a young lady explained to me the true meaning of the Christian faith. It felt like a light piercing through the darkness. She then invited me to a local Christian fellowship to learn more. On the first day, I attended their meeting and was encouraged to begin a new relationship with Jesus. For me, it was the beginning of a new journey and a life-changing experience.

Another crucial fact that you would discover in this book is that more often than none what you see on the surface is not the whole story until you look more deeply. Therefore, I do sincerely crave your indulgence in this book to not just read it but enjoy it. Whatever your background may be, I promise you this book is full of practical evidence that will provide an experience of both new adventures and fresh challenges to your conceptions about the Christian faith. Why has Christianity left so many people confused and indifferent? And from my interaction with people over these past years on the issues of Christianity, I could come up with only one thing that a lot of people, both old and young, have a problem with Christianity due to their religious mindset. This little book covers practical step-by-step explanations and drama of the historic journey of God’s involvement in humanity as revealed in the Bible. For some of us who are familiar with the subject under investigation, this may be a wake-up call, but for some other people, this book is an adventure of faith.

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How it All Started

I welcome you all to our first week of the greatest treasure search in human history. I am a risk-taker and know what it means to both fail and succeed. I remember taking part in this search many years ago, and I would say it was the most daunting adventure of my life to date, yet a life-changing experience. I sincerely hope that one day when you look back, you will be glad you dared to join in this search for the timeless truth. So, arise! Let us go and lay siege to the mystery of the Christian faith. I hope you are ready to roll with your travel guide and compass. Great! I sincerely think it will be wise to run a final check on the condition of all our materials and equipment. Also, I am sure you will agree with me that a travel guide and compass are the most important tools of any explorer, among other things. True to this fact was the story of a great explorer. On his first expedition which began on 22 May 1975, Mungo Park left Portsmouth and joined a vessel heading to The Gambia. When he reached the Gambia River on 21 June 1795, he began to ascend the vessel 200 miles to a British trading station named Pisania. At the beginning of December, accompanied by two local guides, he commenced his journey to the unknown interior. The reason was not clear, but he chose the route crossing the upper Senegal basin through the semi-desert region of Kaarta. It was an exceedingly difficult journey, and at Ludamar, he was imprisoned by the Moorish chief. At the end of the fourth month in prison, precisely on 1 July 1796, he escaped with nothing but his horse and a pocket compass. On the 21st, he reached the long-sought Niger River and Ségou, becoming the first European to do so. He then followed the river downstream 80 miles to Silla, where he was forced to turn back due to lack of resources to carry on. Could you imagine how useful that small compass was to Mungo Park? He was at the risk of being trapped or even getting lost without that tiny instrument. Our travel guide and compass in the journey is the Bible, and for the purpose of this adventure, we shall be referring to it most of the time. So, let us do the final check to be very sure of its authenticity.

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What do we know about the origin of the Bible and what makes it unique?

People have different views and perspectives on the Bible. Some people think it is just a religious book, while others believe it is nothing more than a Jewish historical book, yet many other folks tend to presume it was a combination of myth and history. That said, what is your view of the Bible?

In your hand is the book that has been widely considered to be the most influential and best-selling of all time. Although it is not the first-ever written book, it does not come second to any regarding its huge influence on human history and literature. Biema David in his article titled ‘The Case for Teaching the Bible’ in Time magazine writes, ‘Simply put, the Bible has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled and shows no signs of abating. Even culture is deeply influenced by the Bible’. It has been documented that the Bible has an estimated total sale of over 5 billion copies, selling approximately 100 million copies annually.

It is made of the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT). The Old Testament is the first part of the Christian Bibles based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). It is a collection of 39 books that may be traditionally divided into the first five books called the Pentateuch (Torah), the historical books, poetic books, and the prophetic books (See the appendix). The New Testament, on the other hand, is a collection of writing by early Christians, mostly Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ. It consists of 27 books which are also divided into the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, and Revelation or the Apocalypse. There are a total of 66 books written by 40 authors of diverse backgrounds, ranging from kings, scholars, philosophers, lawyers, historians, and poets to fishermen and doctors. They wrote at different times in different locations over the course of 1,500 years, using their individual styles of writing and personalities.

Content Overview

The Bible is an incredible record of Scriptures and God’s supernatural dealings with humans. Jason Lisle captured it in a very special way as he wrote: ‘The Bible is an extraordinary work of literature and it makes some astonishing claims. It records the details of the creation of the universe, the origin of life, the moral law of God, the history of man’s rebellion against God, and the historical details of God’s work of redemption for all who trust in His Son’. Moreover, Jason Lisle almost captured the summary of all things we are set to find out in this book.

As we set out for an adventure with this travel guide, we shall begin with our exploration of the Old Testament visiting important landmarks. Our first port of call will be the Garden of Eden, where we shall be able to find out about the creation of the world and the origin of life. We shall then proceed to Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia, where we shall find out about a great man who used to live there during the pre-historic period, his life story, and what happened when he had to move from there to Haran, then to Canaan. Subsequently, we shall gather information about his descendants, how they moved to Egypt and escaped from Egyptian slavery, and their occupation in Canaan. We may spend some time at Canaan to explore a little more about the establishment of his descendants as a nation and various kingdoms that unfolded. Finally, we may get to know about their final military defeat by 587 BC; deportation to the enemy lands; and eventual return to their land. Of course, most importantly, the unfolding fulfilment of the covenant promise of God to this man along with the birth and role of the promised Messiah.

The New Testament is dominated by the accounts of the Messiah, his person, work, and teachings. Who is Messiah? This question will be revisited and examined in depth in chapter six but suffice it to say that it’s been more than 400 years since the last Old Testament prophecies and faithful Jews all over the world are still waiting to see Messiah. Doctor Luke confirmed their state at the time as says, ‘As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ’ Lk 3:15. He is the one for whom the Jews had waited to release them from the Roman oppression. Yet when he arrived, they did not recognise him. These accounts were documented by four different persons. Three of them were his disciples who consistently followed him throughout his ministry on the earth. These carefully documented accounts are called the ‘Gospels’. While they present an accurate account of the life of Jesus Christ and prove beyond the doubt that he was the Messiah, their main themes vary slightly depending on their specific target audience. For example, Matthew–targeting the Jewish audience–spent more time trying to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, as the audience has trouble accepting his Messiahood. Luke, being a doctor, Greek, and non-Jewish Christian, presented the most detailed account of the humanity of Jesus while writing to Theophilus and his fellow non-Jewish audience. In our treasure hunt, we shall need to find answers to some of the questions including what is unique and significant about Messiah? His miraculous birth, life and teachings, miracles, and triumph over death, do they ring a bell? How did he enter human history? We shall be camping at key places like Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Capernaum, and Galilee and try to gather as many facts as possible to enrich our chances of discovering the ultimate treasure.

After the accession, we heard something spectacular happened in Jerusalem that marked the birth of the Church. This event has a lot to do with our third and final treasure and a short expedition through the book of Acts will be necessary. However, our exploration of the NT in gathering crucial facts can never be complete without stopping briefly on our way to Damascus at a place. Here, a man called Saul of Tarsus, while still foaming with anger to destroy the followers of Christ Jesus, experienced an unusual encounter with the risen Christ and later became the greatest advocate of what he wanted to destroy.

How does the Bible come about?

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:2Tim 3:16. ‘For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost’ 2Pet 1:21 (KJV). From these Scriptures, we can understand that the Scriptures were divinely inspired by God; God communicated his words to these holy men and they committed the very words to old patches in black and white. The Bible claims that its contents were inspired by God, but we know that it was written over a period of 15 centuries by at least forty authors with their individual writing styles and personalities. The above Scriptures clearly confirm the divine inspiration of the Bible, therefore, just like Nicky Gumbel rightly puts it, ‘the Bible is 100 percent the work of human beings, but it is also 100 percent inspired by God’.

How did God inspire them?

How did God communicate or covey His word through these writers? What influenced or inspired the writers to compose the Scriptures? Does it mean God was dictating the words and they were just writing them down word for word? It might be useful to start by visiting the meaning of the word ‘inspiration’. What is inspiration? Simply put, it is a sudden idea, thought, or understanding that pops up in the human soul or spirit, but not previously taught and can only be received as an inspiration. Naturally, all humans are capable of being inspired by everything they put their heart to; we are made to function that way. Our travel guide says: ‘…there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding’ Job 32:8 (KJV). Most of the time, inspiration also comes as an ability to find a solution to a problem that needs fixing. Have you ever been puzzled by a problem? After giving it some time and thoughts and possibly even forgetting about it, all of sudden you achieve an understanding and solution with an idea or thought that just came up. How did you feel about it? You just knew it was an inspiration. Inspiration comes in diverse ways and forms. Just like you have heard people say, what inspires me is…, they are talking about the same subject, and I am sure you can relate your own stories about the times you have been inspired in the past. All scientific and creative accomplishments that brought humanity to the present civilization and development were possible because someone or a group of people received inspiration at some point in their lives. Samuel Morse, the brain behind the invention of the telegraph, was just having dinner with friends and debating about electromagnetism when he realized that if an electrical signal could travel instantly across a wire, why couldn’t information do the same. That was an inspiration. Wasn’t it? So, when we talk about people being inspired by God, it should not be an issue or difficult to get our heads around. Just like we are all capable of being naturally inspired, God can also inspire our hearts when we open ourselves to Him. And of course, unfortunately, we are also all capable of being inspired about evil and bad things when we open ourselves to evil thoughts.

The question remains. How did God inspire them? Although we do not know the exact individual experience of the authors, what we do know was the common experience that they were all divinely inspired by God to write what He intended. The Spirit of God came upon and inspired them to write the Scriptures using their talents, education, and cultural background. I particularly like the way Don Stewart puts it in his article, ‘God supernaturally guided the writers of the Scriptures to inscribe His Truth’. That is correct! Therefore, under this supernatural influence, sometimes they could receive direct words or messages from God to be written down. At another time, it could come in the form of prophecy. Or, God may direct these writers to the course of historical events and inspire them to remember and commit them to write. At another time, the Spirit of God could inspire them to remember some previous historical events and enable them to commit to writing.

How was it possible for God to inspire them in this manner? Although this may not be a perfect example, it could give you an idea. Have you ever seen anyone drunk? What do you notice? They remain under the influence of alcohol for some time. And while they are under that influence, what do they do? You know the rest of the story. In the same vein, it was possible to be inspired by God from the supernatural, divine influence that came upon them. And, they could enjoy such supernatural influence because of their complete dedication and surrenderness to God. Similarly, there is no limit to which God can use you and me when we willingly surrender our will to follow His. These men were completely sold out to God that they could easily understand when God is speaking or nudging them. They were so sensitive to God that it was not an issue for them to understand when God is drawing their attention to something that they need to commit to writing. They were also so cooperative with the Spirit of God to ensure that the message God intended was faithfully communicated through their words. They became such powerful instruments in the hand of God, and therefore, the Scriptures call them the holy men of God. In the contextual diversity of the Bible, we see how God revealed Himself, His plans, and purpose to these holy men, who wrote down these messages for His people and us to read. The Scriptures were guided by the Spirit of God, in the authors’ individual unique manners, to give us exactly the message God intended. This is the reason Christians believe that the message God gave us in the Bible is unique and infallible.

How do we know the above claim is true?

In other words, how can we be sure about the divine origin it claims. Before we take this subject further, let us try and clarify the term. When we say the Scriptures are inspired by God, what exactly do we mean? I guess we mean all the