Jesus Fast Facts:
- Jesus is not a myth. He is an actual historical figure who was reportedly (by scholarly estimates) born between 6 and 4 BC, and died between AD 30 and 36.
- Numerous extra-biblical historical and archaeological pieces of evidence exist to support the fact of His existence and the New Testament accounts of His life.
- Both founders and followers of most religions of the world acknowledge Jesus’s life and existence. He is revered and admired by many outside of the Christian faith.
- Most religions of the world acknowledge some sort of deity; most commonly referred to as “God” or “a god”.
- While many ancient and some present-day religions are polytheistic or amenable to worshiping several different deities, Christianity maintains at its essence the tenet that there is only one true God Who is the Creator of the cosmos and all that’s in it. Every other deity is considered a “god” because they reside and originated within God’s creation and are therefore subservient to Him.
- Jesus is the central figure of Christianity and the reason for its existence.
- His birth, life, death, resurrection and deity were predicted in historical religious writings (e.g the Jewish Torah and Prophetic Books) centuries before He existed.
- Jesus stated very boldly, clearly and repeatedly during all through his time on earth that He was the Son of the ONE true God, the Creator of the cosmos and possessor of all earth and heaven.
- He stated repeatedly that He was the ONLY way to that ONE true God; there was NO OTHER WAY FOR MAN TO ACCESS GOD BUT THROUGH HIM. This effectively repudiates any other religion as a means of access to God.
- There are only two conclusions that can be drawn regarding point #9:- One could either conclude that Jesus was a farce, liar or lunatic who led millions astray with His revolutionary teachings, persona, lifestyle and miracles by which He instituted the world’s largest, most ubiquitous and fastest-growing faith ………….. or, He was indeed Who He said He was – God’s gift to humanity; the only way and access point to God.
Why Does Humanity Need An Access Point to God?
- All humanity has sinned (missed the mark; did something that was wrong) at some point or the other in their lives. Anyone who has ever lied, stolen, cheated, disobeyed rules, broke a law, had a bad thought, acted selfish, felt ill-will towards someone, etc. – whether or not they committed the act as a child, only once, are otherwise mostly good, etc. … – it doesn’t matter. The fact is that we have all fallen short of God’s glorious standards for our lives at some point or the other (See Romans 3:10-12; 23 – New Living Translation)
- Sin (missing the mark) is a big deal in the spiritual cosmos. Just as the law of gravity in the natural cosmos demands that everything that goes up must eventually come down, so exists a spiritual law called “The Law of Sin and Death” which states that everyone that sins must face the death penalty, no matter how big, small, infrequent, etc. the sin is (See Romans 8:2b & 6:23)
- The Death Penalty in #2 is three-fold: a) Spiritual Death – in the sense of being alienated and separated from all the life, and goodness and greatness of God (see Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:12) b) Physical Death which all will eventually experience c) Eternal Dual Death – both spiritual and physical to those who don’t take advantage of Jesus’s solution of life (see Romans 5, entire chapter; 1 Corinthians 15:21)
- All of humanity, by virtue of our guilt as sinners (if you ever did just one wrong thing you are a sinner, and the scriptures above already clearly state that as our spiritual lot. We are all deserving of the Death Penalty referred to in #2 &3 .
- The reason the Bible Gospels are referred to as “The Good News” is that they tell the true life accounts of Jesus coming to earth for the express purpose of paying the penalty for our sins. He literally died in our place, taking on the death penalty so we could go free and access a new life with and in God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21 & John 3:16)
- A new life in and with God as described in #5 above totally erases the penalty of death that was naturally against us and rebirths us into the true person & life we were meant to live (see John 5:24; 1 John 5:11-12, 2 Corinthians 5:17)
- The steps outlines above are commonly referred to as salvation, meaning “rescued”. Divine rescue and new life can easily be accessed by believing and acknowledging Jesus’s death in exchange for our new life (see Romans 10:9-10, John 1:12)
- Jesus did not come to save one particular race, religion, group, gender, age range, etc. He came to rescue ALL, and to give ALL the free gift of a new life in God! (See Galatians 3:28 and Revelations 5:9)
In Summary: Jesus is God’s gift to humanity regardless of color, creed, religion, race, etc. Research what I’ve shared above for yourself (I’ve included a short list of references below), read the Gospels (the book of John is a great place to start), consider all your findings, compare with all I’ve shared and come to your own irrefutable conclusion and conviction. Then by all means invite Him into your heart by praying something like this: “Dear Jesus, I believe with all my heart that you are the Son of God and my Savior. Please forgive and cleanse me from all my sins; make me a new person. I invite you into my life as my Lord and Savior. Help me know and grow in You, walking in the reality of your absolute truth. Thank you for loving me. In Your precious name I pray. Amen.”
Folks, if you’ve prayed that prayer, please let me know! Email me at: [email protected] so I can celebrate with you and point you to more resources for your growth and spiritual nourishment. I’m excited for you and look forward to hearing more about your new and exciting life in Christ! I can tell you one thing – life with Jesus is certainly an adventure; put on your seat belts and get set for the ride of your life!!
Resource List:
- Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace
- Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell
- More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell
- The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
- The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
- The Case for A Creator by Lee Strobel
- Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias
- The Logic of God by Ravi Zacharias
- Jesus Among Other gods by Ravi Zacharias
- The Air I Breathe by Louie Giglio