0847 Jesus - Jesus is Unique

Jesus is Unique

Jesus is doctrine. Concealed and revealed. More than religion, more than relationship, it’s revelation.

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life—He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.” -James C. Hefley (Baptist Christian Writer)

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.  If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.  If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.  But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989

Jesus Christ: the meeting place of eternity and time, the blending of deity and humanity, the junction of heaven and earth.

Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that man can understand S.D. Gordon

Jesus is unique in His fulfillment of numerous specific prophecies. There were 333 prophecies about Christ mentioned hundreds years before He ever came to earth. 150 of them occurred in the 6 hours He hung on the cross. The probability of just 8 out of 333 coming to pass is equivalent to covering the state of TX two feet deep in silver dollars, one of which has a special mark on it, with only once chance to pick the right one (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Psalm 22; Zechariah 11:12-13; 13:7; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 53; Psalm 16:10). Jesus differs from other religious leaders in His miracles. At least 35 miracles of Jesus are recorded in the New Testament, yet John wrote, "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25). No other human has been able to do miracles of the nature of Jesus in the presence of numerous, verifiable eyewitnesses, including raising people from the dead. Power over nature, animals, demons, death, and disease and weather. Jesus is different from other religious leaders in His teachings. He spoke with authority that astonished His audience (Matthew 7:29). His teachings included parables, prophecies, and poetry (such as the Beatitudes in Matthew 5). Further, He could speak with the religious leaders of His day while also connecting with the common people. Socrates taught for 40 years. Plato for 50 years, Aristotle for 40. Jesus is unique in His impact. More than two billion people claim to follow the teachings of Christianity. Within 300 years, Christianity grew from Jesus and a few followers to become the religion of the Roman Empire. Though early followers were often persecuted or put to death for their beliefs, the Christian faith spread with unstoppable power. Vast numbers of hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other works to help people have been started by those who follow His teachings. Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. . . . I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man. . . . I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this is was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is unique as the only founder of a world religion who is still alive. Every other religious leader is either now dead or one day will be. But Jesus died and rose from the dead. Find the body and Christianity is dead! Disciples did not think he will rise. Empty tomb. Appearances. Changed lives. Church. James’ half brother. Paul on the Road. Sir Lionel Luckhoo (1914-1997), Considered one of the greatest lawyers in British history. He's recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Most Successful Advocate," with 245 consecutive murder acquittals. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II – twice. After his complete examination of the facts, Sir Luckhoo declared: "I humbly add I have spent more than 42 years as a defense trial lawyer appearing in many parts of the world ... I say unequivocally the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt." – Sir Lionel Luckhoo  Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) was one of the founders of Harvard Law School. He authored the authoritative three-volume text, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence (1842), which is still considered "the greatest single authority on evidence in the entire literature of legal procedure." Greenleaf literally wrote the rules of evidence for the U.S. legal system. He was certainly a man who knew how to weigh the facts. Greenleaf was an atheist until he accepted a challenge by his students to investigate the case for Christ's resurrection. Simon Greenleaf Investigation After personally collecting and examining the evidence-based on rules of evidence that he helped establish, Greenleaf became a Christian and wrote the classic, Testimony of the Evangelists ... after thorough investigation of the resurrection, concluded... "The resurrection of Christ is the most verifiable fact of ancient history" – Simon Greenleaf