WHY CHOOSE JESUS?

There are many different religions in the world today, and everybody has the right to choose any one of these or none, this study is not a criticism of any one of these, merely a look at those things in Christianity that are unique to it. One of these things is the belief that God Himself came down to, for a short while live among those He had created and show them the good way to live their lives, for the benefit of others and for the glory of God.

One of the things that shocked the people who were living in the days of Jesus’ life on earth is that He called God His Father, which indeed He is. The very God who was and is all powerful left His home in heaven, for a period gave up all the glory and adoration to live on earth in the same way as every other man lived, the difference with Him is that Jesus never sinned.

All other religions say that their god does not have a son, but Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God because of what is recorded by some of the people who lived and worked with Him for more than 30 years. One of them for example described Jesus conception and birth like this: "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").

Those of you who know much about mythology will know that it is said that there have been other virgin births, these though have all turned out to be female, through the lack of a male chromosome, Jesus birth was different, because He turned out to be a male. Jesus so loved the people He had created that He wanted to come to live with them, as one of them, and to take their punishment upon Himself thus making a way back to fellowship with God that Adam and Eve lost through sin and disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

Unfortunately many people do not believe the story of Adam and Eve because it describes a temptation by a serpent. However, what they do not realise is that the word "Serpent" is a description of the tempter’s character, not his physical make up or appearance. For instance in Luke chapter 13 verses 31 to 34 Jesus is told that Herod is out to get Him and He gives the reply as follows: "The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill you." Jesus said unto them, "Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. ³³ Nevertheless I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem."

He was not suggesting for a moment that Herod had red hair, a bushy tail and walked on all fours, this was obviously a description of the character of the man. Further in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 14 the Apostle Paul writes: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." The word satan is the name many have given to the arch-enemy of God and the enemy of all good things, the one responsible for all the evil in the world.

One of the other unique things about Christianity is that salvation (deliverance from all bad things and an eternity of bliss if you die as a Christian comes as a gift and not as a result of good works. Think how tragic it would be to have lived a good life, being kind to everyone, helping people, feeding the hungry, drink to the thirsty and accommodation to the homeless and then finding out that all this was in vain.

Again, the Apostle Paul made it very clear in Chapter 2 v 8 to 10 of his letter to the churches in Ephesus: "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

In Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 to 23 Jesus speaks about the day of judgement, when everyone will come under the judgement of God, for whether they did wrong or right in their lives. "Many shall come to me on that day and say did we not heal the sick in your name, cast out devils in your name and do many good works? Jesus does not deny this but casts them away from Him for ever because they missed what was for Him the most important thing, for them to walk in fellowship with Him day by day.

Good works would then come out of their relationship with God and rewards would follow, not as a result of their works done to earn them a heavenly reward, but as works of gratitude that God had given them a heavenly reward. Many people do various things in order to be made right with God, but only one is effective. We can see that from Genesis chapter 15 v 1 to 6 inclusive where God makes a covenant with Abraham.

"After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward."

² But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³ And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir." ⁵ He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring] be."

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." This too is yet another thing unique to Christianity, believing what is said in The Bible and walking in fellowship with Jesus every day is all you need to do in order to spend eternity with the one who created the universe and everything that is in it.

One of the other things Christianity is unique in is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead having covenanted with His disciples to take upon Himself the sin of the whole world, past present and future, in order that anyone and everyone who will believe in Him, who He is and what He has done through the cross for men, woman and children throughout the ages until the end of time itself. If you believe these things then your life will change for the better.

Finally, is there any evidence today that Jesus is alive and can help all who call upon His name or is He a myth? For the answer to this question you can look around you and look back into history to find so many people who were murderers, thieves, drunkards, addicts of various kind who are walking around with totally transformed lives. This is only one part of the physical evidence for Jesus resurrection from the dead, for more evidence, just read below.

The Truth About The Turin Shroud

For many years there has been a huge debate about whether the piece of cloth in the Cathedral of Turin in Italy really is the shroud Jesus was wrapped in after His crucifixion. The cloth clearly shows blood stains matching the stains one would expect for a man who had been given the treatment that Jesus received, the marks from the place where the crown of thorns was rammed into His head, the nail marks through His hands and feet etc.

Some have said that the shroud is no older than the 16th century. Since a piece of it was cut away and examined under laboratory conditions; and the conclusion that it was nowhere near early enough to have been the shroud that Jesus was wrapped in. However it has been demonstrated recently that what they had cut a way was a piece of the cloth that repaired the shroud after it had been involved in a fire.

Recently it was again tested under laboratory conditions having cut away a piece of cloth from the other side of the shroud and this proved scientifically that the shroud is it fact 1st century because of the traces of vegetation on the cloth. Some of the vegetation is known for certain to have become extinct in Israel around the second half of the 1st century. The blood stains on the shroud were tested and found to be unusual.

When ordinary blood is tested there is evidence of both parents, but on the shroud the blood stains only show who the mother was, no evidence of who the father was, which is totally consistent with the biblical account of a virgin birth. In John chapter 20 verses 1 to 8 inclusive there is clearly mention of literally a face cloth being wrapped round Jesus head in addition to being on the shroud. This blood was also tested and found to be an exact match.

If you ask an atheist or someone from a non-Christian or non-Jewish religion they will tell you that the shroud is not genuine, but then they have a vested interest in proving it a fake, as if they admitted it to being true then that would mean their theology is wrong. But how did the shroud get to Turin which is many miles outside the borders of Israel? That question is not difficult to answer since it is a historical fact that the Apostle Paul visited substantial parts of both Italy and Spain.

On the cloth there is no indication of the face of the person unless you photograph it in a negative image. If you do this you will find the face of a man matching the paintings of the 1st Century depicting Jesus. It is believed that this image got onto the cloth by a burst of radiation, and proves that Jesus really did rise from the dead just as the scriptures say He did and just as recorded by more than 500 people who saw him alive after His resurrection.

The Bible does not say whether this happened at one time or over a period, but the theatres that were functional in those days could literally seat thousands at one time, so for 500 of them to have seen Him at the same time is nothing amazing. There you have it, the truth about the Turin Shroud. You either accept these facts or dismiss them, but I rejoice in that I can echo the words of Job "I know that my redeemer liveth".

If you want to receive Jesus now as your only Saviour, Messiah and Lord, then say this following prayer: Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I need a saviour. I ask you therefore to forgive all my sin, cleanse me from it all right now I pray and come in to my life right now, and help me to live a new life in your honour and to your praise and glory, trusting alone in what you have won for me and done for me on the cross.

I thank you that you are my Lord and my God forever. Amen.