The Afterword
How Can We Be Sure About Jesus?
Who do you say Jesus was? How do we know that He was the Son of God? Over the years many people have had many different opinions about Jesus.
I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.
– Napoleon
Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardour of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old.
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.
– Mahatma Gandhi
I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.
– H.G. Wells
As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene… No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.
– Albert Einstein
Jesus died too soon. He would have repudiated His doctrine if He had lived to my age.
– Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
As you can see there are many diverse thoughts on who Jesus was, what He accomplished, and even His purpose. However, in our natural, fallen state no one can truly understand:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (ESV)
Yet, God does want us to understand and know His Son and He has given us the Holy Spirit to inform us:
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6 (ESV)
It is incumbent of all of God’s children to see and savor Jesus for who He is. May God give you His grace to so today.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
P.S. Please feel free to share your comments and questions.
Rob
I rejected Jesus Christ for my first 33 years in skin-and-bones, not out of defiance as much as ignorance. Looking at His sacrifice and His motivation, followed by His miraculous resurrection, His overwhelming glory becomes unmistakable.
Praises be to God and Christ, our Lord of Glory!
Through Christ’s sacrifice, God opens the cup of our life to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Empty that cup each day by offering it’s sweet water to others in thirst. That way you allow the Holy Spirit to re pour himself into you every day. The gift of Salvation was freely given. Should we do any less with our gifts?
I am grateful for my family in Christ.