Claims are made that It is “offensive” to claim that JESUS CHRIST IS the ONLY WAY to SALVATION

1. Claims are madethatIt is “offensive” to claim that JESUS CHRIST IS the ONLY WAY to SALVATION

2. AS EVANGELISTSWE OUGHT TO BE READY TO ANSWER EVERYONE ABOUT THE REASON FOR THE HOPETHAT IS INSIDE US … AND in order to answer this question we need to have a close look at ….

3. Who is Jesus of Nazareth?

4. Have you ever met a man with such attraction that he is always the center of attention? • Possibly his personality or intelligence---but something about him is extremely and surprisingly attractive and inviting. • Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ.

5. But it wasn’t merely Jesus Christ’s personality that captivated his followers. Those who witnessed his words and life tell us that even though he was human, he was remarkably different from all other men

6. Lets review some basic facts that we may have always taken for granted

7. Eyewitnesses tell us that Jesus Christ was a man who grew physically:ate, slept, felt pain, and eventually died

8. BUT

9. Their written accounts also describe Jesus Christ as walking on water……..

10. Their written accounts also describe Jesus Christ healing the blind and lame….

11. Their written accounts also describe Jesus Christ as even raising the dead.

12. Over and above, they tell us that Jesus Christ appeared alive to them after they watched him die on the cross

13. Jesus Christ’s greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him. • But, whereas most great people simply fade into history books, Jesus of Nazareth is still the focus of numerous books and media controversy. • And much of that controversy revolves around the claims Jesus Christ made about himself.

14. Jesus Christ said that those who have seen him, have seen God, and that the way to God is through him---alone.

15. It was mainly Jesus Christ’s claims that caused him to be viewed as a threat by both the Roman authorities and the Jews …

16. Although he was a “carpenter” with no prestigious position or political powerbase,

17. …within three years, Jesus Christ changed the world for the next 20 centuries + 

18. Did Jesus Christ really exist? • Although some have wondered if Jesus really existed, even most non-Christian scholars acknowledge him as a real person. • The great non-Christian historian, H. G. Wells, ranked Jesus Christ as the most influential person ever (see http://www.y-jesus.com/bornid_1.php)

19. Other great leaders have left an impact---but nothing like that “unknown carpenter from Nazareth”

20. What was it about Jesus Christ that made the difference? • Was he merely a great man, or something more?

21. But many – including former skeptics – believe something far more ……..

22. So who is the real Jesus Christ? • Let’s take a closer look at this man who changed our world. • As we take a deeper look at the world’s most controversial person, we begin by asking:

23. Could Jesus Christ have been just a great moral teacher?!!!

24. Former Cambridge professor and skeptic C. S. Lewis came to a shocking conclusion (shocking to him) that Jesus Christ’s claims wouldn’t allow us to call him simply a great moral teacher.

25. Even those from other religions acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral teacher. • Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, spoke highly of Jesus’ righteous life and profound words. • Likewise, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, • “It is universally admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimest ethics … which throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far into the shade.”2

26. Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual.

27. In fact, much of what we know today as “equal/ human rights” actually is the result of Jesus’ teaching. • Historian Will Durant, a non-Christian, said of Jesus that: • “he lived and struggled unremittingly for ‘equal rights’ ... ‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of all sanity.”

28. Many, like Gandhi, have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man who taught lofty moral principles. • For example President Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s Founding Fathers, cut and pasted a copy of the New Testament, removing sections he thought referred to Jesus’ deity (being God), while leaving in other passages regarding Jesus’ ethical and moral teaching. • Jefferson carried around his “cut and pasted New Testament” with him, respecting Jesus as perhaps the greatest moral teacher of all time.

29. In fact, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social status. • The famous document sets forth, • “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …”

30. But one thing Jefferson didn’t answer: • If Jesus Christ falsely claimed to be God he couldn’t have been a good moral teacher.

31. Was Jesus Christ simply a Great Religious Leader?!!

32. Surprisingly, Jesus Christ never claimed to be a religious leader. • He never got into religious politics or pushed an ambitious agenda,

33. When one compares Jesus Christ with the other great religious leaders, a remarkable distinction emerges. • Ravi Zacharias, who grew up in a Hindu culture, studied world religions and observed a fundamental distinction between Jesus Christ and the founders of other major religions.

34. Ravi Zacharias said • It is not Buddha who delivers you; it is his Noble Truths that instruct you. • It is not Mohammad who transforms you; it is the beauty of the Koran that attracts you. • By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message.

35. The truth of Zacharias’ point is underlined by the number of times in the Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was simply • “Come to me” • “Follow me” • “Obey me.” • Over and Above … Jesus made it clear that his primary mission was to forgive sins … something only God could do.

36. In The World’s Great Religions, Huston Smith observed, • “Only two people ever astounded (surprised) their contemporaries so much that the question they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’ but ‘What is he?’ They were Jesus and Buddha. • The answers these two gave were exactly the opposite. • Buddha said that he was a mere man, not a god—almost as if he foresaw later attempts to worship him. • Jesus, on the other hand, stated that He IS GOD …

38. And that leads us to the following questions: • How could we explain the fact that Jesus insisted on His being God? • Where would this argument lead us?

39. Possible answers to this question are:

41. Could Jesus Christ Have been lying?!!!

42. Even Jesus Christ’s harshest critics rarely have called him a liar. • Scholars have scrutinized Jesus Christ’s words and life to see if there is any evidence of a defect in his moral character. • That label certainly doesn’t fit with Jesus’ totally agreed upon high moral and ethical teaching. • In fact, even the most ardent skeptics are stunned by Jesus’ moral and ethical purity

44. A liar cannot be Consistent

45. Jesus Christ’s Teaching and Personality is characterized by Consistency • In fact, the Jewish enemies of Jesus were always trying to expose him as a fraud and liar. • They would barrage him with questions in attempt to make him contradict himself. • Yet Jesus replied with remarkable consistency.

46. Why would He lie?!!! • One of the best-known and most influential political works of all time was written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1532. • In his classic, The Prince, Machiavelli exalts power, success, image, and efficiency above loyalty, faith, and honesty. • According to Machiavelli, lying is okay if it accomplishes a political end.

47. Had He been lying, what is His motive • Could Jesus Christ have built his entire ministry upon a lie just to gain power, fame, or success? • We may think of one of TWO possibilities: • BENEFIT • LEGACY

48. BENEFIT • Many people lie for personal gain. • In fact, the motivation of most lies is some benefit to oneself. • What could Jesus have hoped to gain from lying about his identity? • Power would be the most obvious answer. • If people believed he was God, he would have tremendous power.

49. But the fact is Jesus refused all attempts to move him in the direction of power, instead he always blamed those who abused such power and lived their lives pursuing it. • He also chose to reach out to the outcasts (prostitutes and lepers), those without power, creating a network of people whose influence was less than zero. • All that Jesus Christ did and said moved in the OPPOSITE direction from power.

50. It would seem that if power was Jesus’ motivation, He would have avoided the Cross at all costs. • Yet, on several occasions, He told his disciples that the cross was his destiny and mission. • How would dying on a Roman Cross bring power?