Print“The Blue Angels” are the precision flying team of the US Navy and watching the skills of the six pilots as they entertain huge crowds all over the United States is enough to get my pulse rate up and running!
When those FA/18 Hornets are flying in close formation there are barely 1 metre apart. As if they were one aircraft, not six, they slowly roll through each procedure with their eyes fixed on the lead aircraft. The other five take their lead from the team leader up front.
Wherever he goes, they go. If he gets it wrong, they all get it wrong. If he goes into the ground, they all go into the ground.
Now that is what I call trust in the leader.
What has this got to do with Christianity? Just this, where are we if our leader was wrong? What if believing as we do is nothing more than a great cosmic joke? What if, when we die, there is nothing? No heaven. No reunion. No eternal life?
The Apostle Paul was willing to face such questions when he wrote the following about the Resurrection of Jesus
“And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world”. 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (NLT)
Then follows one of the biggest “But”s in all of Scripture.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died” . 1 Corinthians 15:20 (NLT)
It seems very self-evident to me that everything that we believe and to which we are committed is absolutely based and dependent on the Resurrection of Jesus. If that didn’t happen, then we are doomed. We have no “alternate plan B”. There are no parachutes that would make it possible for us to jump off at the last minute.
We are to be so committed to our leader, Jesus, that if He is wrong, we are all wrong. If He crashes into the ground, we all crash into the ground. That’s what trust is. The currency in heaven is faith.
Read what Paul had to say in connection with this faith/trust commitment
“For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe ……………” 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NLT) Based on the historicity of the Resurrection Paul proceeds to outline the key aspects of the Second Coming of Jesus.
Can you see that the Resurrection of Jesus is the very foundation of all that we believe and practice?
I heard a preacher say some years back now, “Faith is spelt R.I.S.K.
Those Blue Angels….well, risking it all on their leader. Fixing their eyes upon their leader and refusing to be distracted.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)
