“...who formerly were not a people but now are the people of God.”

Jesus Christ is one figure in history whom we
only ignore to our own peril.

 

It has been rightly pointed out that there is no neutral ground when it comes to where we each stand with him. We can only conclude one of three things: that he was a liar, a loony, or Lord of all. His claims don’t leave us room to fudge an in-between position.

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It is well-documented that Christ stepped into history in the first century and, right from his birth, started fulfilling predictions made about him by prophets hundreds of years beforehand. During a three and a half year teaching ministry, he himself made many predictions which were fulfilled, as well as doing miracles (to prove his claims – John 10:37-38) which were so prolific, so convincing and undeniable, that the only way his opponents could counter him was to kill him. (And even that didn’t work.)

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His most crucial prediction (and miracle in fulfilling it) was that he would be put to death and rise from the grave on the third day afterwards.  That was unprecedented and unsurpassed as the most important event in history, because it provides us with ample reason to believe the claims Jesus made.

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What claims did Jesus make?  That…

• He is the Son of God [Mark 14:61-62]

• Before Abraham was, “I Am” [John 8:58]

• All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him [Mat 28:18]

• “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6]

• If we stay with his word, we’ll know the truth & the truth will make us free [John 8:31-32]

• The words he spoke are spirit and they are life [John 6:63]

• "I am the light of the world.  The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." [John 8:12; also 12:46]

• The word that he spoke will judge people on the last day [John 12:48]

• The time is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice and shall come out—those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to a resurrection of condemnation. [John 5:29]

• He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. [Mark 10:45]

• He would suffer many things from the religious leaders, and be killed, and raised the third day. [Matthew 16:21]

• He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [Matthew 12:40]

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So either Jesus Christ is the most brazen liar in history, or
the most deluded fool in history, or
everything he claimed to be.

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We believe the evidence overwhelmingly supports the last alternative. No one else in history comes close to his greatness.  His life and teaching have changed the world, one life at a time.  It’s true he was an extraordinary man, but that’s badly understating it.  He showed by his words and deeds that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, absolutely unique in the history of the world and indeed beyond.

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Therefore we unreservedly say this: the only conclusion we can draw from the facts about Jesus of Nazareth is that he is this world’s only hope, the one who came from heaven to show us the way to heaven, who came from God to show us God, who died for us so we would live for him.

Furthermore …

'In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because by him all things were created – the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

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He is also head of the body, the church; and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he may have the first place, because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him.'

Colossians 1:14-20

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"We don't proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord."
2 Corinthians 4:5

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