The Perfect Stranger Page #4

And God will handle

them all accordingly,

but that's just

the whole point, Nikki.

On what basis would you

stand before a perfect God

and say that you've

been good enough.

But I thought God is forgiving.

With this perfect justice thing,

you're saying that God

can't forgive anyone.

God is forgiving and more than

anything else,

God wants to forgive people

so that they can return to Him -

but God's desire to forgive can't

override His perfect justice.

People have to pay a penalty

for breaking God's laws.

And the penalty is death.

So what has to happen

before He'll take us back?

Well, God has two options.

Either He could let people try

and pay for their own penalties.

Which you already said

they can't do.

Right - there's no way. They'd

be separated from Him forever.

God's other option,

is to take the penalty

of death on Himself.

How can He do that?

He's God!

The creator is always

greater than the creation.

And for the Creator to take on

the penalty of death for himself,

that satisfies perfect justice.

But if He's already perfect and

holy, why would He want to do that?

Let's say,

when Sarah is twenty years old,

she falls in with a bad crowd

and gets hooked on heroin.

You're painting a real

cheery picture, there, Jesus.

Just stay with me.

Now, while she's on drugs,

she murders someone

and is sentenced to be executed -

would you take her

sentence if you could?

I'm sure I would.

Why?

Because I love her.

She'd have the rest of her life to

get straightened out and be happy.

Don't you think God loves you at

least as much as you love Sarah?

Maybe...

I really don't know.

Well, I know that God wants

you with Him -

that's why He made

you in the first place.

It is?

Mm-hmm.

But you're naturally separated from

God because of the bad stuff you do

And to make good on a fact

that a penalty has to be paid

before you can be with God,

God took your penalty on Himself...

and He died to pay it for you.

So what's the catch?

What does He want from me?

Just that you trust Him.

...and believe in the fact that He

did die to pay your penalty.

There's one thing I'm confused about.

The Bible says that Jesus

died on the cross, not God.

Nikki... I am God.

Would you excuse me

for just a minute, please?

Oh my gosh,

this guy just told me he's God!

They all do, honey.

Just make sure he pays for dinner.

Prove it.

Excuse me?

Prove that you are God.

And just what would convince you?

I don't know, a

miracle or something.

You couldn't even turn

the wine into water earlier.

You just assumed I couldn't.

So you're saying you could

have, but chose not to?

And what if I had done it?

Well, it might've

gotten my attention.

And then what?

I'd like to try the

strawberry amaretto cake.

Just... bring me a canoli.

So you're having trouble believing

that God could become a man.

Wouldn't you?

Maybe.

Depends on what

I expected from God.

I don't expect him to look like he

just got off work at Merrill Lynch.

No, I guess I wouldn't either.

And to be quite honest,

I really don't

believe that God just

asks people to take a leap

of faith that He exists.

You're right.

God always gives proof

before He expects faith.

Then what proof is there

that Jesus was God?

Well, for one thing, it's exactly

what God said would happen.

When did He say that?

You've read what some

of the prophets said.

Yes, some of the Nostradamus

stuff, but that never really...

The real prophets, Nikki.

Sorry.

Y'know, a guy I dated

when I was a Freshman

actually got me

to join a Bible study

I remember one lesson

they were talking about the

prophets predicting that

a Messiah would come...

but I don't remember them saying

anything about him being God.

That's because you were more

interested in Tommy...

...than the Bible study.

And how would you know that?

Because I was there.

All right,

the prophets predicted that the

Messiah would be born of a virgin,

in Bethlehem...

Oh, and they also described

the crucifixion. So there.

Don't you think that

was a pretty good tipoff?

Predicting my birthplace seven

hundred years before it happened?

One man writing

about crucifixion

hundreds of years before

the Romans even invented it?

But still, all that doesn't

mean that Jesus was God.

Did you see that special

Peter Jennings did

about the historical Jesus?

I... know which one

you're talking about

It said that He never

claimed to be the Messiah,

much less God himself.

It said he struggled

with his identity,

and he was killed

for political reasons.

Mr. Jennings wasn't only

concerned with accuracy.

In truth...

I forgave sins, I accepted worship,

I healed the sick,

I raised the dead,

and I demonstrated

my power over nature.

I said I existed before Abraham,

that I was one with the Father,

and the giver of eternal life. Now,

who does that sound like to you?

Just because you claim to be God

doesn't mean that you are.

No, but it does mean that I wasn't

just another religious leader.

You only have three options -

either I was telling the truth,

I was lying,

or I was insane...

good religious leaders

don't claim to be God.

People distort the

truth mainly because

they reject this

proof they were given.

And what proof was that?

That I rose from the dead.

You're sitting there,

obviously alive -

if you claim that

you were once dead,

it would be pretty hard

for me to prove otherwise.

Good point.

So why don't we go by the facts.

According to that Peter Jennings special,

what does history say about me?

That Jesus was an actial person.

All right.

That He was a teacher

with a large following.

Okay!

And we know that the

Romans executed Him.

Which brings us to

the Resurrection.

What happened next?

According to the disciples,

Jesus rose from the dead.

But of course they

would say that.

Why?

Is that what they were

expecting to happen?

I'm not sure.

The answer is no, they weren't.

Even though I told them several

times it was going to happen,

they still didn't believe

until they saw me in person.

Isn't it possible that they

only thought Jesus had died?

So the Roman executioners would

let someone down off the cross

that was just badly injured.

And three days later my

recovery was so miraculous

that the disciples

thought I was God.

But the disciples did

have something to gain

by claiming that

Jesus was resurrected.

Like what?

Like having the status of starting

a whole new religious movement.

So you are saying...

that the men who spread

the word about me...

launched the greatest force for

good the world has ever known,

they they did all this based on

something they knew was a lie?

Do you know that each disciple was

eventually persecuted and murdered?

Would someone willingly die for

something they knew wasn't true?

What about things like the Crusades,

and the Salem witch trials...

...and the wars between the

Protestants and the Catholics?

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