The conversation surrounding Jesus Christ is prevalent this season among both believers and non-believers. This article is designed to inform you of ten significant reasons why believing in and following this historical figure is essential. It aims to highlight the importance of having a role model in life, and for many, that role model is Jesus Christ. Now, let’s delve into the details of the article.
REASON 1: BECAUSE HE IS THE TEACHER
Throughout history, there have been many great teachers, but none have been held in such high regard as Jesus, also known as the Christ. His name and title alone set Him apart. Even today, billions continue to follow His teachings, often quoting His words, both consciously and subconsciously.
It’s interesting to note that phrases like “rule of thumb” are mistakenly thought to originate from Jesus, when in fact, they do not. Similarly, the Golden Rule is often associated with Him. It seems our world no longer cherishes such a universal rule. Society has shifted towards individualism, which brings its own set of challenges.
The practice of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us has been replaced. Now, it seems we aim to treat others as they prefer to be treated, acknowledging personal preferences. The shift away from collectivism means we no longer subscribe to a set of universal principles that apply to everyone. We recognize that what we desire for ourselves may not be what others desire, leading to a fundamental conflict.
Related: Good vs Evil: Pros and Cons for Modern Humans
Jesus Christ is considered the greatest teacher of all time, and many believe He will forever hold this distinction. His teachings are based on the eternal truth of God. His understanding, knowledge, and wisdom are regarded as just and pure, not aligned with deceit or cunning. He embodies and teaches truth, reflecting His nature as the way, the truth, and the life.
REASON 2: BECAUSE HE IS THE LEADER
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable leaders before, during, and after the era of Jesus the Christ. Figures such as Adam, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and the renowned David along with his son Solomon, have all been recognized as leaders.
Yet, none have led quite like Jesus the Christ. He led by setting an example with his own life. He embodied the teachings he imparted. He was a man of his word, meaning what he said with conviction. In contrast, humans often fail to mean what they say.
This is why the author of the Book of Proverbs stated, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” referring to the nature of the human heart. This verse has since been taken out of its original context. The author’s intent was to counsel a person to dine with moderation when invited to someone’s home.
The concern is that while he is eating, the food’s owner might harbor negative thoughts about his eating habits and subsequently speak ill of him to others. Do you grasp the concept?
In contemporary times, it’s common to interpret certain verses outside their original context, sometimes using the Bible to advance personal teachings and placing ourselves at the center. However, Jesus pointed people toward God, not himself, despite being God in the past, present, and future.
Every human leader has distinct motives and may speak with different intentions. Jesus Christ, however, was a leader unlike any other. Even as Christian leaders, we cannot fully emulate Him unless we wrongly assume authority to divert followers from Christ to ourselves.
Indeed, the Bible states that we are to be as He is in this world (1 John 4:17), but this does not mean we possess His exact form of leadership. He remains unique, and although we may share similarities with Him, we are called to humility, to endure suffering, and to lead by example, yet we will never match His character as mere humans.
REASON 3: BECAUSE HE IS THE HEALER
Indeed, history and various cultures have recognized many true healers, attributed to either divine or malevolent sources. They existed in Egypt and Israel, as well as in surrounding nations. However, none is considered equal to the divine healer, Jesus the Christ, according to Christian belief. This stems from the claim that Jesus is precisely who He professed to be.
Jesus stands unique as a healer who simply spoke, and individuals were completely restored. He cured all manner of illnesses, which, if not true, would render Christianity a myth. If the gospel narratives are mere fiction, then faith is futile. However, if they are factual, as believers assert, then Jesus the Christ is indeed ‘the’ healer.
Many claim to heal in His name today, yet it is believed He will reject many at the Final Judgment. This is predicated on the belief that He is the sole true healer in existence, one who healed gratuitously, in contrast to contemporary practices where people are asked to give in hopes of receiving healing.
In the future, there may be many healers, yet none will compare to Jesus, the Christ. This isn’t a personal belief but a consideration. Imagine, if Jesus truly healed all manner of diseases as the gospels recount, often by merely speaking a word, touching the afflicted, or through unconventional acts like mixing saliva with dirt to anoint someone’s eyes, who on earth could match Him?
Indeed, we might heal in His name, which is both true and commendable, but it doesn’t transform us into Him. We may emulate His ways, but we are not Him. We remain human, simply human. Jesus the Christ was, is, and will forever be God incarnate. Recognizing this distinction is crucial.
REASON 4: BECAUSE HE IS THE PROPHET
Throughout history, there have been prophets who were considered good or bad, true or false. Many existed before Jesus, and many were contemporaries during His time.
Numerous prophets emerged after Him, and many exist today. Yet, Jesus stands out as a unique figure. Some regard Him as more than a prophet, believing He is the Son of God. Others do not subscribe to the concept of a triune deity.
Nevertheless, Jesus Christ is seen as the one who not only predicts the future but also knows and governs it. Therefore, He is referred to as ‘the Prophet’—a title emphasizing His unparalleled nature. Remember the significance of the definite article here; it underscores that there is no one like Jesus Christ, despite the presence of many prophets.
The prophecies of Jesus regarding Jerusalem were realized after His death and resurrection in A.D. 70, roughly forty years later. He foretold of wars, famines, and deadly diseases, akin to the modern coronavirus disease, COVID-19. We assign names to diseases based on our human understanding. However, God comprehends everything from their inception.
Whether COVID-19 originated in a man-made lab, transmitted from certain animals, or was sent by God due to humanity’s reliance on its own knowledge and wisdom, Jesus had forewarned us of such events. Jesus is the prophet, not merely a prophet. His knowledge spans not just forthcoming events but also the entirety of eternity, from the past to the future.
Indeed, long before the advent of modern science, health preventative measures such as quarantine and hygiene laws were already prescribed to the Israelites. Today, practices like wearing face masks and washing hands with soap and water may seem novel, yet they are not new concepts.
It was understood that illnesses could be transmitted from one person to another through close social interactions, like hugging and kissing. For instance, a person might turn away to spit on the road and then shake your hand without cleaning it first.
Furthermore, it is believed that Jesus was aware of all that transpires today. While He once lived as a human, it is said that He exists now in the form of the Holy Spirit and remains alive in heaven with His resurrected body.
REASON 5: BECAUSE HE IS THE KING
If Jesus is the sole leader who died and then rose from the dead, what would that make Him? He is considered the King of kings and the Lord of lords because no other ruler, who reigned and passed away before Him, nor those who followed, have lived, died, and risen again. He alone is the eternal King, living with His real and physical human body in heaven, having broken all the natural laws He Himself created.
If indeed Jesus the Christ rose again, then the question arises: why wouldn’t we follow Him eternally? If He rose, and we believe He did, then He governs both life and death. The Bible proclaims that Jesus the Christ emerged from death and hell as the triumphant King, returning to earth in victory and glory.
Are you aware of what Paul expressed upon witnessing the resurrected Jesus? Or what John, His beloved apostle, did when he beheld Jesus as He disclosed the future of the world? Indeed, these men were astounded; they beheld a figure, a human form unlike any they had ever seen before.
I recall reading a book by Agnes, a renowned preacher of the 21st century, detailing his vision of Satan. He described it as the most hideous creature he had ever seen, one he hoped never to encounter again. In contrast, Jesus appeared glorious and majestic after His death, burial, and resurrection.
Our understanding of what it means to be a king in the 21st century is limited due to various factors. One reason is that many of us are unfamiliar with the appearance or the roles of a king from the past.
Historically, many communities were not ruled by kings. For instance, the Dinka and Nuer peoples of South Sudan were governed by chiefs, resulting in chiefdoms rather than kingdoms. However, by reading the Bible, we can gain insight into the role of a king in ancient times. Alternatively, a visit to the Shilluk kingdom, located across the Nile River to the west of Malakal town, might offer a glimpse into the experience of being under a king’s rule.
REASON 6: BECAUSE HE IS LOVE
Imagine this for a while. If Jesus the Christ offered Himself up to be treated the way He was treated, crucified, died, and buried, just to save the whole world from sin and its consequences, then Jesus must be the love Himself instead of being full of love.
He Himself must be described as love in a form of a human being, who lived and walked the streets of Galilee in the first century A.D. He’s love personified.
If He died on the cross just to save you and me, and everyone else (See John 3:16-21), then how do we call such a man? Is He full of love, or is He the love Himself? I mean, how do we classify or describe Him? He gave up His own life as young as I am, just to save the world: 33 years old.
We don’t understand it when we talk of a man dying in order to save others who later on believe in Him, but that’s it. We may not first understand advanced mathematics and its calculation methods. But when we do, we appreciate learning through trial and error, don’t we? In the same way, these abstract teachings are harder to understand than mathematics or natural sciences lessons.
When I read my Bible, especially the Old Testament, I have a lot of questions from time to time. For example, why was God so glutton on animal sacrifices in such a big way? Where do the Israelites get all these animals in the desert? Why slaughter and burn an animal twice a day? Was it a good thing to do to slaughter animals each and every day, morning and evening?
I can’t comprehend this, just as my finite mind can’t comprehend the universe, though my eyes could see a glimpse of it. I don’t know what is behind the curtain above the earth. If anything then what is behind it? You can go and go until you end up crazy or insane. We can’t understand these abstract teachings very easily.
But now I know that God demanded all these [just as He did in each and every tribe of people in His own way]. But to show us the way to Him is not through those animal sacrifices, but through His own way, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and this shows us that God is love.
Have you ever wondered about the hellfire? I do! Why can such a loving God send people into the lake of fire that burns on and on for eternity future? Would He be a loving God still?
Won’t he feel sad and just quench the fire Himself? Does He want some to go into that fire, and others into eternal life? Sure. Jesus doesn’t want us there, so He came and died. But what if we still don’t believe in Him?
REASON 7: BECAUSE HE IS THE WAY
If Jesus the Christ died and rose again from the dead to save me and you, then He is the only way to life and peace, not to hell and pain. Imagine the hellfire for now. See how terrible it will be for people to be there, not only for an hour, a day, a week, a month, or even a year, but forever, and ever!
Do you see the need for a way to escape that terrible death? If indeed there is a way, won’t you take it? Won’t you walk that way leading to life instead of navigating the way to death and hellfire? Of course, none of us will choose the latter option purposely, but it seems that’s what we are doing each and every day of our lives.
Because we hardly understand these spiritual teachings, we don’t take them seriously. Look, I just read a story in a WhatsApp group from a friend writer who got admitted to a certain hospital because he was diagnosed positive for SARS-Cov2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease, COVID-19.
In the story, he said he had a dream or a vision of a tall ugly woman who started a fight with him.
In the fight, the woman pinned him on the wall with her feet. But instead, he said he looked at her in the eyes and said, “I’m not scared of you,” and she again threw him to the other side of the room, and followed after him. He again looked at her right in the eyes and said, “I’m not afraid of you, woman,” and then she left him only for him to be awake.
Now, my friend was declared COVID-19 free on 22nd October 2020, and I wrote this the following day, 23rd October 2020. Does this prove that the spiritual world is that real? Does it mean that COVID-19 is a spirit, or that there is a spiritual side of it that needs spiritual warfare to overcome it? I don’t know the answers to these important human questions either.
But Jesus is the only way to life. Don’t forget that the name Jesus is not how it is spelled, or how it is pronounced that matters, but who we refer to with the name. This settles it. This means there is no language barrier at all because even the gentiles must have a way to know about Jesus.
One of my Bible questions that I keep asking is this: will God condemn those who never heard about Jesus and yet they died? The answer is that Jesus is not that white man you see on the screen in Jesus’ Film work. The man you see there is Brain Deacon, not Jesus the Christ. Therefore, Jesus is a name of God, not of a man, and if so, there is such a name for HIM in each and every human language, whether we know this fact or not.
Jesus is the way. Those who followed this way regardless of traditions have been following the same Jesus of the Bible. You may be surprised to meet your great grandparents in heaven and they never have seen or heard anything about water baptism, or the Western form of the name of God, Jesus. They may not even know how to say the name, but they can say something that means the same thing in their own God-given languages.
Look how dangerous religion is. In religion, we think small and become foolish in the long run. Think about it for a while. Why do people call God Allah, when in fact they have the same word in their own languages? The answer of course is religion. But Jesus is the same being, God. He’s the way.
REASON 8: BECAUSE HE IS THE TRUTH
One of the leaders of His day asked Him, “What is the truth?” and I think we still ask the same question today. The Greeks were known for their highest form of wisdom. In fact, most of our wisdom and philosophy (which means love of wisdom) comes from the Greek thinkers and philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant and Plato.
But the truth is that there is God, the Creator, and we all are His creatures in His creation. The creation can be divided into the spiritual and spiritual worlds. God, Himself is the truth because everything that ever existed came out of Him and for Him. If the stones are real, and it’s true there are stones, then this means they have a source, God.
Jesus described Himself as the truth, with that definite article, [the] even in the original language of the New Testament. Jesus the Christ is the only truth about God, you and me, and the rest of His creation. He is the origin of all things, the basis for all things.
This means everything hangs or holds together because of Him. He holds the world in His hands! (See the String Theory.) Again, these are higher thoughts from God Himself. We don’t understand them easily, just as we may not easily understand mathematics at first.
The Bible calls those who don’t want to try their best to understand these things “simple” because they focus their minds and their attention mostly on the simple ways of thinking and understanding. I hope you are not one of them.
Jesus the Christ is the truth, the only truth because He is truth Himself. If He is indeed God, then He is the truth because everything is because He makes everything become. He is not only the cause, while the creation is the effect, but He is actively involved in every detail. He knows everything because He is in everything and everything is in Him.
Have you ever heard of quantum physics? I am not a physicist or a scientist, but I read a lot about important topics such as these. This field of study is not new though. Some physicists call it spooky and weird. Why? Because the smallest parts of the particles are so weird. They act as if they are one. Something holds them together, and these scientists named it, the string.
Try to learn more about string theory in physics. You will be amazed that what the Bible said many years ago is now very close to our discovery. Jesus, the God, holds each and everything together in the whole universe. You can’t measure the strings because they seem to be everywhere at the same time.
REASON 9: BECAUSE HE IS THE LIFE
If life is another unique form of energy that humans can’t create or destroy, then that means Jesus is life. He’s not full of life, but He is life Himself. He is the life-giver and the life taker.
Some people may start a fight with me because they were taught that God doesn’t kill anyone. Sad doctrine indeed, because it means the Devil [who they think kills] is much stronger than the God who creates life. But Jesus gives life, and He takes it at will.
Did you know He said the same thing about Himself? He said He was about to give His life away, and then claim it back on the early Easter Sunday morning when He rose again from the dead. He gives and takes away life. Jesus is in everything, living and nonliving alike.
Everything is in Jesus, living and nonliving alike. Jesus sustains life on the planet earth, as He does elsewhere. We don’t know how many worlds and universes are there. We don’t know how many deities are there in these worlds and universes, but we know this one unique character, Jesus the Christ.
Let’s go back to quantum physics. Life is that energy. Those strings are weird because they are the clues of the source. They are the source of everything, living and nonliving. They are the basis of life. They are beyond cells and their smaller contents and units. God is even far smaller than what we can see and examine, yet He is bigger than the biggest.
If Jesus is life, then every living thing has Jesus in it. You have Jesus in you if you are alive. You also have Him in you even when you are dead because a human or disease can’t create or destroy life. Life is that energy that lives on and on, and on unto eternity future. Even God can’t destroy life because He will be destroying Himself!
God is life and life is God.
REASON 10: BECAUSE HE IS THE PRIEST
And finally, if Jesus died to save us from sin and its consequences, then He is the only high priest who prays for us before God each and every day. He is up there in heaven praying for us, asking God the Father to forgive us of our sins, past, present, and future. He intercedes for us and for the world of sinners and unbelievers to repent from their sins and turn to God for salvation.
But if God is in all and all is in God, then He speaks to everything in His own way. Remember, Jesus spoke to a fig tree, and it heard Jesus, and then it died. It obeyed Jesus’ command. This has a lot of lessons to learn about Jesus as a God in a human form.
Try to curse a live tree now and see if it will die. Jesus said we can do these things, but only if we have faith in Him. Do you have faith in Him? I do, but I can’t tell a live tree to wither, or a rock to move to another location.
If I do, people will look to me, not to God, because I will love it when people praise me instead of the source of power, God. This is the main reason why we don’t perform miracles exactly as Jesus did. The other reason is that we don’t believe we can do so.
When Jesus speaks to God on your behalf, does it mean He is just a medium? Is that not another form of idolatry? Why don’t we pray to God directly? Well, Jesus said we can call God our Father, and that we can pray to Him directly without the need for Jesus in the middle or in between.
But today we pray to God in or even through the name of Jesus, which some seasoned Bible teachers interpret in their different and sometimes conflicting and even very contradicting ways.
Jesus is the High Priest who prays for us. He is not just a priest but the priest, [the] high priest. He is the Pastor of pastors. He is the Bishop of bishops. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is love.
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May God richly bless and keep you safe!
Shalom!