Give Jesus
a fair go
Picture 2 circles...
In the first circle I want you to put the 5 most influential people in all of human history.
Who would you put? Perhaps you put Isaac Newton, Muhammad, Buddha or Aristotle? Maybe you went with Hitler (they don't have to be positively influential, just influential), Alexander the Great or Einstein.
Whoever you picked, surely in your 5 you would include Jesus! Love him or hate him, you have to admit Jesus has made a big splash on human history. His teachings are famous. His life was exemplary. Throughout the world, even today, billions of people worship and adore Him. I bet some of the 5 people you picked would have admired him, revered him or even worshipped Him.
Now I want you to think of another 5 people for the other circle.
This time think of 5 people who have claimed to be God.
Not who claimed that they were one of many gods or that they have the divine spark in them. Think of 5 people that you know of who have claimed to be the eternal God, the creator of absolutely everything. Can you do that?
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I think it is incredibly hard to come up with anyone. Most people who say that sort of thing about themselves are not well people, and need specialist help. Yet Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to be the creator, sustainer and ruler over everything.
In the Bible Jesus says:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58)
Do you see what Jesus is saying? Jesus is claiming he existed before Abraham, even though he was born thousands of years after Abraham. And that little phrase “I AM”, that is the name God used for himself thousands of years ago (often referred to as Yahweh), when he spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15). Jesus is making the claim that; He is Yahweh, the God that Abraham and Moses worshipped. He is claiming to be the living God who made everything, including you and me.
Now here is the incredible thing...
Jesus is the only person in all human history who is on both lists.
Jesus has been hugely influential yet He also claimed to be God. How is this possible? How can someone claim something so crazy and outlandish, and yet have billions of followers in the world?
Now I want to be upfront. I don’t think these 2 circles prove that Jesus is who he says he is. That would be to overstate my case. What this does prove is that Jesus is worth checking out. He warrants a fair go.
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So how do you give Jesus a fair go?
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#1 Pray
Ask Jesus to make himself known to you. You could pray something like this...
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Dear Jesus,
If you really are God, please make it clear to me.
Help me to find answers. I want to know the truth.
Amen.
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#2 Read
Read the Bible. Get to know Jesus. Wrestle with His words and claims. We'd recommend starting with Mark's Gospel. You can get started in Mark by clicking here. If you want to take a step back first and get a broad overview of the Bible's message you can do that by clicking here.
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#3 Church
The other thing you'll want to do is get to know some other Christians. They can help answer questions and show you the ropes of what following Jesus is all about. We'd love it if you came along to one of our services. We meet at 9am at Peace Lutheran College every Sunday.
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And if the idea of coming to church is scary. We get it. Rest assured we want to welcome you and make you feel right at home even if you've never been to church before.
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