A farmer, who prided himself on being an atheist, wrote to the editor of a newspaper:

Sir, I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of corn which I plowed on Sunday, I planted it on Sunday, I did the cultivating on Sunday, I gathered the crop on Sunday, and on Sunday I hauled it into my barn. And I find that I have more corn per acre than has been gathered by any of my neighbors during this October.

The farmer’s sneer is obvious. By deliberately choosing to do all the work connected with his cornfield on the Lord’s Day, he had challenged God to express disapproval by giving him a disappointing result. Instead, he had reaped an exceptionally good crop.

But the editor of the paper drew attention to one overlooked fact in a footnote:

God does not always settle His accounts in October.

This helps explain the present prosperity of many who defy the holy Word of God. The truth is that the present world and the life of the individual on earth aren’t adequate for the display of divine righteousness. God does not always settle His accounts in October!

He sometimes meets sin with His obvious displeasure and gives those who obey Him a quick reward for their faithfulness. But this is by no means always the case. The conclusion to draw is, not that God is indifferent to sin and that His government of men is a sham, but that the reckoning day is future.

The Scriptures give repeated testimony that a judgment day is coming when “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Every seeming injustice will be set right, “so that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous: verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Psalm 58:11).

I am not assuming that, like the farmer, you have any wish to challenge or defy God. But does the judgment day scare you? Remember, there will be no mercy but strict justice. Sins that demand punishment will then certainly be punished.

God must and will judge your sins. Does this concern you? Are you prepared to face God’s just judgment and punishment for them?

God offers you an alternate. In love He sent His Son into the world, so that He could take your place and be punished for your sins. He offers His Son as your substitute. He came and died for you. He suffered to pay for the sins of each one who trusts in Him as their Saviour. Have you accepted Him as your substitute? If you have, you no longer face judgment.

What good news! How good to know that God has acted. He has Himself provided the needed sacrifice and has dealt with our sins on the ground of it. The only way to personally benefit from God’s plan is to receive it by faith in Christ as applicable in all its glorious results to oneself. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). And such a one will never come into judgment.

Other than this great redemption plan, there is no hope for anyone. Sooner or later every unrepentant sinner will be broken by God. The settling day will come.

God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).

We live in a world where people use someone else for their own personal pleasure. When that pleasure is gone, they move on to someone else. A colleague of mine always used to nervously straighten up and apply her make-up before going home to her husband. She feared him leaving her — again — and wanted to pass his inspection. It wasn’t enough; he moved out for another woman. Have you felt that pain of rejection from a parent, friend or spouse? Do you have to hide part of who you are to be acceptable to others?

Late one August afternoon, 75-year-old Dorothy finally got her one chance of the day to water-ski and gracefully rose out of the water on her first try while her husband Marvin steered the boat.

Only a few years later, Marvin walked very slowly with a walker or cane. Dorothy slumped her weary, medicated body in her chair, her white head bobbing sleepily while a high-pitched, rodent-repelling whining noise filled their ears.

A tragedy of old age? Hardly! Yes, it’s sad to see someone you love suffering. The Bible tells us, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). That’s the horrible effect of our sin and disobedience to God. But there’s more to Marvin and Dorothy’s story than that — and more to ours too. A caregiver, watching Marvin sitting day after day by his wife’s side, hearing him call her “honey,” and watching him painfully walk over to serve her every need, said, “I wish I had someone to love me like that!” Who wouldn’t crave a love that keeps on flowing our way when we have nothing to give back?

Marvin learned to love his wife from his Saviour Jesus Christ. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We’ve all done many acts of disobedience to God. One, just one, “little” lie deserves punishment by a righteous God who hates sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But God loved us when there was nothing in us to attract His love. Marvin said, not that he was living a tragedy, but that God was using his situation as part of His plan to show a love that flows from God to people like us who don’t deserve it. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Will you receive, as Marvin has, the only Saviour of sinners like yourself?

 

S

ome years ago I was on a train leaving Quebec. After taking my seat in a crowded coach, a Roman Catholic priest sat down beside me. It wasn’t long before he noticed a small Bible case which I carried, and he asked me if I were a businessman.

“No,” I replied, “I preach.”

“Where?”

“Wherever the Lord opens a door,” I replied.

“Do you believe there is a heaven?”

“I do,” I said.

“Do you believe there is a hell?”

“I do,” I replied.

“Do you believe there is a purgatory?”

“No, I don’t,” I answered.

“Now,” I said, “you have asked me three questions; I would like to ask you two. My first is this: Is the Roman Catholic Bible the Word of God?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Well, my next question is just this: Is purgatory God’s judgment for my sins?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Now,” I replied, “the Roman Catholic Bible says in John 5:24, ‘Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.’ Therefore on your own statement that the Roman Catholic Bible is the Word of God and that purgatory is judgment for my sins, I have the assurance that, whoever you may believe will go to purgatory, I will never go there. This has made me so happy that I am trying to get others happy about it too! You would not blame me for that, would you?”

With some hesitancy, he replied, “No, I would not.” I then asked him if he would object to me showing him how to be happy as well. After a thoughtful pause, he said, “No, I would not.”

“Well,” I replied, “that is the very thing I want to do, for according to your own admission, there is no purgatory for the one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Continuing our conversation, I remarked that I, like him, had witnessed people dying. I told him of one I had once visited who was about to die and to whom I had quoted Ephesians 1:4, which assures the believer that he is “holy and unspotted in His sight in charity” (Roman Catholic Translation). The dying believer replied, “Isn’t that lovely, and I only have to wait until He takes me home to Himself.”

Then looking at the priest I said, “Wouldn’t you like to die like that?” A lump seemed to come in his throat and he couldn’t answer, but later when he got up to leave, he shook hands with me, remarking as he did so, “I hope I will meet you again.”

“Put your trust in the Word of God,” I replied, “and we will meet with Christ in glory.”

You too can believe the precious Word of God and know by faith that there is no judgment for you. Although we have all sinned and deserve God’s judgment, He in love has found a way of blessing for lost sinners, for our verse says that He sent His Son — sent Him to bear our sins on the cross.

Let us once again quote from the Roman Catholic Bible, Hebrews 9:28: “Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many.” Yes, He exhausted all the judgment for all who believe, and now God gives everlasting life as a free gift to all who believe in Him.

I want you to be happy about it too!

Do not forget to read John 5:24 in your own Bible — believe it and rejoice in it!

“Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life” (John 5:24, Roman Catholic Bible).

On February 25, 1955, a young mother in San Francisco made her doctor swear he would keep her secret. He would never reveal her name to anyone who came asking about the child he’d just delivered. But about thirty years later he was dying and the secret burned in him. He sat down to write a letter. The doctor finished his letter and then died with it still on his desk.

Steve Jobs, billionaire founder of Apple and mastermind behind the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and so much more, was put up for adoption at birth. His adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, loved and understood him. Steve later said, when referring to their understanding of his gifts and needs, “Both my parents got me.”

But when Steve reached his thirties, he had a hunger to know more. Where did he come from? He spent years hunting for answers, but each clue ended in a dead end. Finally he was given the name of a doctor. But the doctor told him that he knew nothing about Steve’s birth or adoption.

Do you know where you came from and where you are headed? Dig deeper than mere genetics. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:27). God not only has created us, but He wants to enjoy a loving relationship with us. However, our rebellion against Him has ruptured that relationship. Like one of the first people to ever live, Cain, we’ve decided we don’t want to be around God and His authority. “Cain went out from the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16).

Missing Clues

Steve Jobs went home without hope. Weeks later a letter arrived from the executors of the mysterious doctor’s estate. The letter, left on the doctor’s desk, contained the clues Steve had been searching for. Before long he had discreetly contacted his birth mother and found out about a sister, Mona Simpson, who’d become a successful novelist. But Steve didn’t like what he heard about his father “John” Jandali. Steve had no desire to meet his birth father.

Mona went to see John Jandali with the express instruction from Steve that she not tell John anything about him. Mona and John sat down for a few hours’ chat at the small restaurant he managed. John’s a good storyteller and the conversation flowed. He casually mentioned he’d had a baby boy that was put up for adoption before Mona’s birth. Mona asked, “What happened to him?” John replied, “We’ll never see that baby again. That baby’s gone.”

But many years later Jandali discovered his link to Steve. In 2006 Mona confirmed the truth to him but told him Steve Jobs had no interest in meeting him. The years slipped quickly away and Steve refused to connect. John Jandali sent a few unanswered birthday emails but never tried to call his son. As Steve’s pancreatic cancer dragged him into the shadow of death, John told reporters, “Now I just live in hope that, before it is too late, he will reach out to me, because even to have just one coffee with him just once would make me a very happy man.”

Waiting for the Phone to Ring

John Jandali did very little to restore his relationship with Steve Jobs. But God, who isn’t at fault in our ruptured relationship with Him, has done everything He possibly could to reestablish contact with us. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). The Lord Jesus Christ as a baby entered into the world He had created. He grew up. He was hated for His purity and crucified. But when He died, He died to pay the price to remove the sin barrier that blocked our relationship with Him. He says, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If we receive His love and forgiveness, then our relationship to God can be restored. But some people are too proud to admit they need to be forgiven.

John Jandali said, “This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbed, to pick up the phone to call him. … Pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune.” On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs entered eternity. John Jandali’s iPhone — yes, he carried an iPhone — never rang.

Will you call on God? It’s essential for you to say something like this: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me” (Psalm 55:16).

The Mona Lisa may not be your favorite work of art, but it would be hard to find a more famous or imitated piece. Painted in approximately 1504 by Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa has had a pretty unique journey.

• She was stolen from her place in the Louvre and hidden in a small apartment for two years.
• Pablo Picasso was picked up for questioning about her theft.
• She has appeared in over 2,000 different advertisements.
• Joconde, as she is also called, hung in the bedroom of Napolean Bonaparte.
• She is guarded in a concrete and bulletproof glass viewing case.
• The Mona Lisa has over 500,000 distinctive cracks in her protective varnish.
• The information desk at the Louvre answers the question “Where is Joconde?” far more than any other.
• She is estimated to be worth in excess of $700,000,000.

What Could You Do to Make It More Valuable?

Suppose you or I were to touch up the painting just a bit. Salvador Dali, the famous painter, created a version with some special flourishes that isn’t worth anywhere near as much as the original. Suppose we just make the background a touch more interesting and then sign our names to the bottom. All we would succeed in doing is to reduce its value. Suppose the lady who sprayed red paint at it in April 1974 had succeeded in coating more than its protective casing, would she have improved it or its value?

An Even More Famous Masterpiece

There’s an even more important work that cannot be made more valuable by the extra touches you or I could add. Each one of us has made what we call “little mistakes” in our lives. Most of us are willing to admit that we aren’t perfect, have “messed up” or have occasionally acted in a way that we now regret. God, the holy God we must answer to, says a very uncompromising “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He had a masterpiece planned for our lives that would have been for His credit and our joy. We have defaced it with our self-will, lust, anger, jealousy and selfishness. No amount of touch-up is going to make it any better.

But, amazingly, God loves us deeply in spite of our rebellion against Him and spoiling of His treasures. So that God could express His love in a perfect way that would let Him have a right to receive us into His presence, Jesus Christ came to pay the ultimate penalty for sin — death. He came to fully and completely wipe out the guilt of any who would trust Him as their Saviour. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). After He completed His work on the cross of suffering for the sin He hadn’t committed, Jesus announced, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God’s ultimate masterpiece — His fair and righteous work to take away sin so that the undeserving could be saved — was completely finished. Nobody would ever need to come along and improve it.

Trying to Improve the Masterpiece

Sadly, there are many people who think God’s beautiful and perfect plan of salvation needs a few of their finishing touches to make it complete. Many religions offer people activities like prayers, penance, pilgrimages and acts of charity that are supposed to make God a touch more favorable toward the pious person. But Jesus’ work was perfect, complete and finished. “After He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Most of us would be appalled if someone grabbed a can of spray paint and started to “improve” the Mona Lisa’s smile. How could we possibly think that we can improve on God’s smile of love toward us? It’s really an all-or-nothing gift. Either we gratefully receive God’s gift or we not so subtly deny its value by saying we can add to it, improve its worth or pay for it with our own good works. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). What will you do with that masterpiece?

Many years ago Nicholas was raised in religion, but he was notorious for his pursuit of pleasure. However, like you and me, he had both a memory and a conscience.

Nicholas began to remember the many wicked things he had done and the warnings he had received. His conscience convicted him. He thought, “It may be true that there is an eternal punishment for sinners!” He had heard of the “lake of fire” and thought, “If anyone is ever likely to be there, it is myself — for I have never seen or heard of anyone who has sinned as I have done.”

His sins lost their pleasure. The horrors of hell haunted him — he longed for deliverance from his past, from his guilt — from himself! He despaired of ever discovering a way for sinners to be saved. He feared that a long life of penance and a thousand years in purgatory would not be enough to find the favor of a holy God. What could he do?

He had heard of a monastery whose rules and restrictions were the most severe of any, and he decided to go there to seek his soul’s salvation, if possible. He would become a monk and endure all of the harsh discipline demanded, if only he could be sure of pardon.

That monastery was about 1,500 miles from his home, and he walked the whole way because he thought that the long, hot journey might count as a part of his penance. Finally, faint and fearful, he reached the old building and rang the bell. An old monk slowly opened the door.

“What do you want?” asked the aged monk.

“I want to be saved,” replied Nicholas.

“Tell me what you mean,” said the old man.

Nicholas answered, “I have been a far greater sinner than anyone I ever heard of. I do not think it is possible that I can be saved. But I am willing to do whatever may be done, if only I may have a faint hope of escaping eternal punishment. If it must be by spending all of the rest of my life in penance, the harder it is, the more I shall be thankful. Only tell me what to do, and I will gladly do it.”

“If you are ready to do what I tell you,” replied the old monk, “you will go back to Germany. There was One down here who has done the whole work in your place before you came — and He has finished it. He did it instead of you, so there is nothing left for you to do! It is all done.”

“Who has done it?” asked a stunned Nicholas.

“Did you never hear of the Lord Jesus Christ?” replied the old man.

“Yes, of course I have heard of Him.”

“Do you know where He is?” enquired the old man.

“Yes, of course I know. He is in heaven.”

“But tell me,” said the old man, “do you know why He is in heaven?”

“No, except that He is always in heaven.”

“He was not always in heaven,” replied the old man. “He came down here to do the work you want to do yourself. He came down here to bear the punishment of your sin. He is in heaven now because the work is done. If it were not so, He would still be here. He came down to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself!

“Do you not know what He said on the cross? ‘It is finished.’ What was finished? The work you want to begin! And now, if you want to do something worse than all you have ever done — you may cast contempt on the blessed and perfect work of the Son of God by trying to do what only He could do and has finished. It would be as if you said, ‘Christ has not done enough. I must add to the work which He has declared is finished.’

“I stay here where Christ is insulted because I am old and can only walk to the gate. But you can go, and I urge you to go back to your friends and to tell them what the Lord has done for you.”

Said Nicholas, “I stayed three days, and the old man told me much more of the work of the Lord Jesus — not only what His death had done for me, but also how He had risen again to give me eternal life and how He had won a place for me in heaven, above the angels, where He is waiting for me and for all who believe in Him. Now I tell any who will listen the wonderful news of the perfect work of Christ.”

“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

“Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

Friend, do you rest in Christ and in His work?

 

 

 

Many years ago there lived in Greece a ruler named Archias. A very selfish man, he lived only for pleasure and cared little or nothing for the needs of his people. Many hated him, and at last some plotted together to kill him.

Archias knew nothing of the plot, but a friend in Athens heard of it. Immediately, he wrote a letter to the king warning him of his danger and pointing out a way to escape. Urgently the vital message was sent on its way.

Archias was busy holding a great feast when the messenger arrived, but since he came all the way from Athens with an important letter, he was admitted at once into the presence of the king.

Last Chance

“My lord,” he said, “your friend earnestly begs you to read his message at once as it speaks of serious things.” Archias, merry with wine, bent on pleasure, was in no mood to read the letter then. Never guessing what it contained, he laughingly cast it aside, exclaiming as he did so, “Serious things tomorrow!” Then he returned to his pleasure.

Poor man. His tomorrow never came. No further warning was given. His evening’s pleasure came to a sad and abrupt end. At the height of the feast, those who had plotted against the king rushed forward and killed him.

Perhaps you are enjoying good health and looking forward to an evening of fun and pleasure. Thinking about your soul is too serious for you to consider just now, and like Archias, you say, “Serious things tomorrow!”

But stop! Tomorrow may never come. This may be your last night on earth. What if God should say to you as He said to a prosperous farmer long ago, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20)?

A Crucial Warning

You may not like such serious thoughts, but Satan, the enemy of your soul, is trying to persuade you to put down this tract and forget its warning. Meanwhile, God is sending you a warning of coming judgment and at the same time pointing out a way to escape.

That way is through Christ crucified on the cross for you. In those three hours of darkness He bore the judgment of God against sin—a judgment that you and I deserved. He died; He rose again; He is seated now at God’s right hand in heaven. Through Him God now offers a free pardon to all who will believe. The pardon states:

“BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU THEREFORE . . . THAT THROUGH THIS MAN [JESUS] IS PREACHED UNTO YOU THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS: AND BY HIM ALL THAT BELIEVE ARE JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS” (Acts 13:38-39).

Won’t you pay attention to this warning message and come to Christ for safety? Or will you, like Archias, throw it away, saying, “Serious things tomorrow”?

No More Chances

You will have plenty of time for serious thoughts—and for nothing else—when you find yourself without a Saviour, without a friend and without a hope in the darkness of a lost eternity.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

This story is about nothing — nothing at all. That’s what you brought into the world with you when you were born. Just nothing … zero.

There was a man in Italy who added a great deal of money to his first zero, and he became a rich man with a lot of zeros after the number one. He had an expensive car and much more. He also had in his car one little New Testament which he had stuffed out of sight in his glove compartment, because he didn’t know what to do with it.

Think of that! The eternal Word of God, showing the way to everlasting joy with the answer to all the sins and sorrows of life and death … and he didn’t know what to do with it! He knew how to handle money and how to make more. He knew how to get a beautiful house and how to meet im­portant people, but he didn’t know God’s simple way of salvation. How poor can a rich man be?

Then came the car accident. The ambulance was called, and there was nothing he could do but wait. His injuries were not severe, but he knew very well that he could have been killed. His hand reached for the ownership papers of his car, and his fingers came up with that little New Testament. For the first time, he opened it and read that verse about “nothing.” It was 1 Timothy 6:7. “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”

“I felt as if I had been struck by lightning!” he said later. He realized that if he had been killed, all his possessions would be reduced to the original zero. Nothing would be left for eternity. Not a single penny of all his riches would still be his the moment after his death.

But after death there is something that would still be his. His sins! These you cannot get rid of after death. They must be gotten rid of before death or they are yours forever, through the endless ages of eternity. Will you please, at this mo­ment, picture this awful truth — stand­ing before God in your sins!

However, the awful debt of my sins has been paid by the One who loves me and died for me on Calvary. His pre­cious blood cleanses from all sin now, and this cleansing is forever. After I’m gone, everything I own will also be left behind for someone else. But, Jesus is mine forever. I cannot lose Him because He cannot lose me. When God looks at me, He sees Jesus, now and forever.

The rich man in the car accident be­gan to read the Bible earnestly, and he soon accepted the Lord Jesus as his Sav­iour and was then baptized. Will you also receive this loving Saviour as your own? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salva­tion” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

 

The rubble, dust and dirt were products of the renovation project in the bathroom. But staring out from underneath it all was a small glistening object. Turns out the plumber in Calgary, Alberta, had uncovered a heavy $50,000 gold bar the size of a cell phone. It had the jeweler’s stamp on it as well as its serial number. The owners were thrilled, of course.
The news brought to mind Jesus’ story about the woman who lost a coin and who swept and searched the house until she found it. It says she also rejoiced. See Luke 15.
Through neglect or carelessness, your life may be like the lost gold bar. Maybe life is mostly an environment of dusty rubble, mislaid plans, broken promises and disappointing results. Maybe, as in the case in Calgary, there is a personal renovation job going on, an attempt to reform and restart, to turn a new page. But you’re finding it difficult to get out of the rubble.
Remember this: In our ruin we still show the stamp of our Creator’s work — and retain our value to Him. And you have your own serial number in your personal DNA. In your darkness and loneliness, you still have the same value that God put upon you. That has never changed, and that’s why God never stops looking for you.
In fact, it is God who has initiated the search in the debris of our sinful world. It is God who sent Jesus here to sweep, to search, to turn the light on, and to pursue the lost sinner. He came here and lived among sinners, among the filth and debris, yet He was without sin. In rich grace, He went as far as the death of the cross where God’s wrath fell on Him, because of my sin.
How could humans ever invent a God like this, a God who seeks and saves unworthy sinners, because they have an undiminished value in His heart of love? Where else is there a God like this who seeks out His enemies and makes them His friends?
It is God’s hand that can pick you up and restore you to the usefulness He intended for you when He made you. You are the object of His search. In the story Jesus told, the woman searched until she found her precious coin. God is not quitting either.
There is a verse in John 3 in the Bible that sums up these thoughts, that speaks of the worth you have to Him and the cost of His search. It says that God loved this evil world so much that He gave us Jesus, and everyone who believes in Him will not stay lost forever, but will have eternal life, right now.
The exact words are: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Will you believe in Him? Will you simply trust Him to sweep away the rubble of sin and restore you to what He intended you to be? You can receive Him as Savior today.

The historical evidence for Jesus is long-established. Within decades of His life, He is mentioned by Jewish and Roman historians, as well as by many Christian writings. Compare that with, for example, King Arthur, who “maybe” lived around 500 A.D. The sources for events of that time do not even mention Arthur. He is first referred to only 300 or 400 years later. The evidence for Jesus is not “folklore.”
The Christian writings are evidence that is early and detailed. There are early writings by the Apostle Paul, and scholars agree that these were written within about 25 years of Jesus’ death. The detailed biographical accounts of Jesus in the Gospels date from around 40 years after He died. These all appeared within the lifetimes of numerous eyewitnesses and provide descriptions that agree with the culture and geography of first-century Palestine.

The first non-Christian author to mention Jesus is the Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote a history of Judaism around 93 A.D. He has two references to Jesus. One of these is controversial because it is thought to be edited by Christian scribes, but the other is not suspicious — a reference to James, the brother of “Jesus, the so-called Christ.”
About 20 years later we have the significant Roman high officials, Pliny and Tacitus, who ruled at the beginning of the second century A.D. Their reports fit with the time frame of the Gospels and we learn that Jesus was executed while Pontius Pilate was the governor and that the Christians worshipped Christ as “a god.”
These abundant and significant historical references by various writers leave us with little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died. But another important consideration is that Jesus died and LIVES.
The Bible says that because He lives, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost [completely] that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25). He knows your situation, your sins and your attempts to break free. He’s not shocked, surprised or repulsed by anything about you. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). But just like a doctor that scans a patient to expose a cancerous tumor, God exposes our sin so that we will run to Him for treatment to have it removed. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Only God is able to save you, to change your life. And He does this from the inside out. He can cleanse your heart, bring forgiveness to your soul, and put a song in your mouth. He promises to be with us forever. He says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Those aren’t the words of a long-dead historical figure, a mere inspiring example or a religious dogma. They speak to you at this moment about a living person, Jesus Christ, who wants you to come to Him today to begin a living relationship.
But meeting Jesus Christ face to face isn’t just an optional appointment, a mere bonus upgrade to life on earth. Everyone will meet Him. Some do it in this life and begin a personal relationship with Him as their Savior and friend. But here’s another important part of His message: God “commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30‑31).