Scripture for Today, 5-27-20: Ravi Zacharias' Passing

Now With Jesus in New Pain Free Body
Christian Evangelist Ravi Zacharias
Is More Alive Than He Has Ever Been
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.​ v26 Last enemy to be destroyed is death."

1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 15:26

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
​Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 25:8

5-22-20, * -- Three short months ago, I received an encouraging text from my friend Ravi Zacharias. Now, as if in a blink of an eye, he has passed from this earth. Along with countless thousands, I grieve.
When he wrote, he was reeling from excruciating back pain, but wholly unaware of the cancer diagnosis that would soon follow. Despite his suffering and his onerous schedule, he shared that he was praying for my brother, Rush, who also had just been diagnosed with cancer.
Ravi was a unique Christian who presented the Gospel of Christ so cogently and winsomely. I first became aware of Ravi before I was a believer and when I was still struggling with doubts. I watched in awe as he explained during a television interview Christianity’s basic truths of Christ free gift of salvation [Ephesians 2:9-10] in a way I had never heard. He exuded a confident mind tempered by a humble heart.
I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I’d like to see any Christian skeptic listen to this man and dare claim that intellectuals can’t be Christians, or that Christians can’t be intellectual.” He was so obviously a deep thinker and gifted communicator. This brief exposure to Ravi was one of the pivotal seeds planted on my path to faith in Christ. 

​Ravi’s faith journey began when, at age 17, he found himself in a New Delhi hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. Someone read him Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John: “Because I live, you will also live.” At that moment, he immersed himself in prayer, promising God that if he were to leave the hospital, he would vigorously pursue God's truth. Upon discovering the truth of the Gospel, he spent the rest of his life fulfilling that pledge.
Ravi had a heart for defending the Christian faith against challenges and taking the Gospel to unbelievers. He firmly believed that we are called upon to love the Lord not only with all of our heart, soul, and strength - but also all of our mind, as Jesus instructed. Contrary to cynics who dismiss Christianity as anti-intellectual, Ravi knew Christianity’s truth claims could withstand the scrutiny of rigorous intellectual inquiry, and he devoted his life to demonstrating it.
He knew you couldn’t argue someone into the Kingdom of God, but he recognized that certain questions plagued doubters and that answering those questions was often an important step in removing obstacles to faith. He took seriously the Apostle Peter’s admonition: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. 

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

Unlike some, Ravi didn’t ignore the last part of Peter’s teaching. He always approached doubters with grace. It is sheer joy to watch internet videos of his many question-and-answer sessions with university students. In every encounter, Ravi treated skeptics as he would a lifelong friend whose eternal destiny was his driving concern. You could see God working in these exchanges, which were never contentious and were always overflowing with good cheer.

One hallmark of Ravi’s ministry is his credo that when anyone asks a believer a question about the Christian faith, the believer must focus on the questioner as much as the question. Ravi wrote:

“I have reminded myself over the years to never forget that behind every question is a questioner and behind every questioner is a network of assumptions, hurts, struggles and often prejudices.”

The purpose is never to win a debate or humiliate the questioner. It is to offer the questioner a rational basis for our faith in Christ. We must try to understand that person’s mindset and tailor our response to meet him where we find him.
As brilliant as Ravi was, he knew that even the best of finite human minds could not fully comprehend the infinite mind of Christ. He marveled at the story of Jesus explaining the Scriptures to men on the road to Emmaus in one of His resurrection appearances as “their hearts burned within them.” Luke 24:32

Ravi asked: “Who would not like to interview Jesus Christ? It is not possible to live without asking questions — and what better source for the answers than the One who claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life? [John 14:6] If one could only be face to face with Him from whom life comes, whom to know means Truth and to follow means direction, how delightful would be those moments when the most confounding questions of life are raised.”

Ravi is now face-to-face with His Savior; our Lord Jesus Christ in a new pain free body, surely the Lord Jesus believes he was a 'good and faith servant.' Luke 19:17 And although he is gone from this Earth, his legacy and his indispensable ministry, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, or RZIM, will continue.

"Jesus has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 
​2 Timothy 1:9-10
***

Please join us on May 29, at 11:00 am ET for a livestreamed memorial service honoring the life and ministry of Ravi Zacharias here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZxZG9nkC0&feature=youtu.be

*Excerpted and adapted from David Limbaugh, full original message here
David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney @davidlimbaugh  www.davidlimbaugh.com.