Christ

Jesus Christ is by far the most influential person in history.

But how did a man born the son of a carpenter in a vilage smaller than Crockenhill, in a province on the edge of the Roman Empire end up shaping the course of history, the culture of nations, and the lives of up to 2 billion people?

Obviously he must be more than just a carpenter's son. Jesus proved that in his life. He healed the sick, he calmed the storm, he raised the dead to life. He taught with power and authority that had never been seen before.

As the video above says, by doing these things Jesus was showing us that he is God's King. The one with supreme authority over the universe: God himself in human form. Jesus was showing us he was the one God had promised to send to sort out this mess of a world we all live in, and to rule it with justice for all.

Isn't that what we all want? Jesus showed us a glimpse of a world without sickness and death. A world without injustice and pain. Wouldn't that be great?

But the world Jesus gave us a glimpse of isn't the one we have is it?

Our world is full of sickness and pain, loneliness and suffering, injustice and oppression.

It's obvious we've all rejected God's king. We don't want to live as God says, we want to do our own thing. And all around us we see the results.

Sometimes when people see something particularly shocking they say: "he needs Jesus!". But deep down we know we all need help to be who we want to be. We know we're not perfect. Our relationships are broken: we hurt those we love. We feel guilty: we don't even live up to our own standards.

We've rejected Jesus and separated ourselves from him. One day that will be permanent. God will banish all those who reject his King, and they'll be left in darkness without anything good forever. Jesus called this hell, and spent much of his life warning us about it.

The only way out is to be reconciled with Jesus, God's king. But how?

God saw we'd rebelled against him, saw we were headed for a lost eternity without him, and he loved us enough to do something about it.

Jesus was born as a man and lived a perfect life - the life we failed to live. And having proved himself the perfect man, he was killed. Murdered in the most barbaric way possible.

But this wasn't a mistake! It was all part of the plan. Jesus became a man to die on our behalf. To take the death we deserved and suffer it himself. And having suffered death, to defeat it entirely.

Three days after dying on the cross, Jesus rose from the grave. He was seen by hundreds of eye-witnesses. And in rising from the dead Jesus proved that death had no power over him.

Because Jesus rose from the dead, our guilt doesn't need to have any more hold on us. Jesus bore the penalty on our behalf. Nothing stands between us and God anymore. We can be reconciled. Instead of eternal death, Jesus offers eternal life!

No wonder we say that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ!