The Difference of Jesus

The list is long. Very long. Trying to cite all those who have been identified as “gods” throughout the epoch of human existence would be a near impossible job. Whether we speak of mythologies, demigods, those of Pantheon, the upper world, the underworld, nature, elements, apotheosis, etc., the fact remains that there is an undeniable difference between the God of the Bible, manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, and all others deemed divine. Without the slightest twinge of hesitation, I can say that no “religious leader” can compare to Jesus Christ. One needs to go no further than the fundamental fact that every other religious leader is either alive or dead. Jesus Christ, however, is the only one who was dead and is now alive. Actually, He unequivocally declares in Revelation 1:17, 18 that He is alive eternally! Search as you will, there is no other religious leader who dares to make such a claim. The answer for why this is the case is overly obvious. If such a proposition were not true, the claim would be utterly preposterous, and Jesus would forever be dismissed as a madman or total fraud. The authenticity of Christ is also discovered in Christianity itself. The heart and core of Christianity is Christ Himself, the One crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and promised to return again someday. Without these simple, and yet profound truths, there is no such thing as Christianity. As Ravi Zacharias said so insightfully, “Jesus did not come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live.” Those who accept Christ are transformed into spiritual life. All other religious leaders introduce a strident set of rules to be followed in the hopes of achieving some type of superior morality and/or spiritual betterment. The outcome of these regulations has been debunked historically by spiritual impotence and utter practical futility. The most significant difference between Christ and all other religious figureheads is found in that which was cited in the previous paragraph, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This event is documented for the reader in both the Gospels and the Epistles. The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 15:13-19 that “if Christ were not raised from the dead” our faith is useless and we are still in our sins and cursed to die! The truth claims of Christianity are based purely and exclusively on the resurrected Jesus Christ! If Jesus did not rise from the dead - in both time and space - there is then no validity to Christianity at all. Throughout the New Testament and beyond, though, the apostles, evangelists, and believers based their lives on this truth. In many instances, Christians died brutal executions because they held unwaveringly to the conviction Christ was resurrected. Numerous secular Greco-Roman and Jewish historians attest to the ‘superstitious rumor’ that Jesus was crucified by Rome, and then raised from the dead. All of this introduces the prominent question, what will you do with Jesus? We cannot arbitrarily dismiss Him. We cannot disregard Him. He is the obviously the fundamental figure in all of human history. If He did in fact die for the sins of the whole world, then He died for you and me. I’ve determined that His resurrection is empirically verifiable. As such, His claims then have been substantiated, and demand that I respond to His overture of salvation appropriately. I accept Him as Savior. Consider doing the same. I suspect you won’t be disappointed.