New Hope Notes
What Makes Christianity Different?
Ask Seek Knock
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
May 25, 2003 - W0321
What makes Christianity different from all other religions of the world?
I was talking to a nerve surgeon who specializes in microscopic surgery, Dr. Paul Brand. I said to him, "When you do surgery and look deep into the human anatomy and you check the nerves in microscopic details, what does that tell you about God? Does it move you further away from God or closer?" He said, "Wayne, the more you study the human anatomy like I do in microscopic form, the more convinced I am that there is a creator God. I can see that God is everywhere present in the minute microscopic part of the human anatomy."
So I want to challenge you today to examine the claims of Jesus Christ and learn what really makes Christianity so different than all others. There is one thing that really stands out above all else (whether one has the intellectual capacity to understand or not). That is that all who claim to have Jesus as Lord in their lives are utterly transformed by Jesus Himself.
It is about Jesus taking broken lives and making things new again. And it doesnít matter who the person is or where they come from. Christianity is not a philosophy, but a Person. And Jesus connects with the sinner (and by the way, we are all sinners) and brings about the needed transformation. So the first thing that sets Christianity apart is that
1. CHRISTIANTY IS NOT A PHILOSOPHY. IT IS A PERSON.
If you take Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism, you will note that all these religions follow a philosophy and teaching left behind by someone who called himself a prophet. But Christianity does not center around a philosophy, but rather a PERSON! In the other religions you can take away the prophet and the religion and it would keep on going. However, if you take away JESUS from Christianity, you would have no Christianity.
This is so much so that without the Spirit of Jesus guiding us, we cannot even understand the Bible. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14 NIV)
In Christianity, you do not have a person who claimed merely to be a prophet, but a prophet who claimed to be GOD HIMSELF!
- Others claimed just to be PROPHETS, but Jesus claimed to be GOD!
ì . . .He who has seen me has seen the Father Öî (John 14:9)
ìI am the Father are oneî. (John 10:30)
The very thing that caused Jesus to be so hated was the fact that He claimed to be God. You see, they didnít mind if he called himself a prophet. But He claimed to be God. So they had a problem with that. So if He was telling the truth, they then had to make a decision.
And this is what makes Christianity so difficult for so many people. When they meet up with Christ, they have to make a decision about Christ -- either He is God or not. And if He is, then we need to make a decision about our life and our relationship with Him. Christianity is designed to force people to make a decision. This is why we say that accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is the most eternal decision you will ever make.
ìThe Jews answered Him, ëFor a good work we do not stone you, butÖbecause You, being a man, makes Yourself out to be Godíî (John 10:33). This is what put Jesus on the cross, the fact that He makes Himself out to be God. Thus the Jewish leaders had to make a decision.
Did you know that others in other religions venerate or reverence Jesus Christ as a good teacher? The Koran teaches that Jesus was a prophet. Even in the Unity church, Buddhist or New Age -- they all call Jesus a good teacher.
I was talking to a Buddhist monk on the Big Island, and he was asking me why I believe in Jesus, and I said to him: "Do you recognize Jesus as a good teacher?"
He said, "Oh, yes! He is a good teacherî.
I said to him, ìOkay, since Jesus is a good teacher, letís say that a good teacher taught 2+2 = 91? Would that person still be a good teacher?î
He said, ìNo. A good teacher must teach the truth in order to be good.î
ìOkay,î I said. The Bible says, ëI and the Father are one (John 10:30). He who had seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9). I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me (John 14:6)í. So Jesus is a good teacher because He teaches the truth, right? So If He is a good teacher, and what He said is true, then what is your decision? Is he God and will you follow Him?î
The Buddhist monk said, "We will take up this discussion later."
You see, if Jesus is a good teacher, you must decide. If you say that Jesus is a good teacher, then why don't you follow him? Either Jesus is teaching the truth or He is a liar. But if you call him a good teacher, then you are affirming that He is speaking the truth. Therefore, are you following him? ThenÖ
- We must DECIDE.
Jesus forces us to make a decision. Did the apostles simply perpetrate a lie or created a big hoax? Did Jesus really live? We have a lot of eyewitnesses. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Pet. 1:16).
It could not have been a lie with so many eyewitnesses. There are more evidences that Jesus lived than there are of Caesar, Aristotle and Socrates all put together? There are more testimonies and more written manuscript evidences and more evidence of history being changed by this ONE MAN than by any other figure in human history.
Do you know that there are over 60 major prophecies that pinpoint the coming of the Messiah? Where He was to be born, the circumstances, what they would name Him, under whose jurisdiction He would be, how He would live, and exactly how He would die? These prophecies where not written after Jesus had died, but rather were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. And they are all found in the Old Testament. Therefore, the Jews knew about them.
Some scholars got together and did some scientific probability of what would be the chance if these prophecies had all gotten fulfilled in one man. Hereís what they found out if it was simply by mere chance: It would be 10 to the 165th power. Ten to the eleventh power is 100 billion. If you took silver dollars, put a mark on just one of them, and covered the state of Texas three feet deep with silver dollars and then mixed it all up and had a blind man come through and pick one out, it would be one in 100 billion chances. Also, if it was just by coincidence that all 60 prophecies could be converged into one man, it is one chance in something like one billion trillion. In other words, this could not have happened by chance. It had to be something that was orchestrated by God Himself.
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25).
So the Bible is saying there is enough evidence here for every single one of our faiths to come alive. And if you need verifiable evidence, there is more than enough.
2. IT IS HISTORICALLY ACCURATE AND VERIFIABLE.
The works and words of Jesus are not only written internally from the Bible, but also externally in other records too. Eusabeus and Josephus (who was a Jewish historian and not a believer) both write about Christ. Mohammad writes about Jesus as well.
Furthermore, a lot of religions get started by one person doing something solo or in private and then getting people to buy into what happened. They say that Mohammed ascended from Jerusalem. The problem is that he never went into Jerusalem. Rather his followers said that he was transported in the spirit and went to Jerusalem and from there ascended. But no one can verify it.
ì To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of Godî. (Acts 1:3)
On the other hand Jesusí life was lived in public. He died and was resurrected. If all this were not true, it would be easy for people to dismiss this as a bold-faced lie! But the many people who saw him spoke to Him knew who they had spoken to and it was not an apparition. Even Peter ATE with Jesus after he swam ashore. Ghosts canít eat.
There were three of them though that had to be convinced that Jesus was alive. First there was Peter who after the resurrection went back to fishing (John 21:3). Second, there was Thomas the doubter who said he didnít believe (John 20:25). Third was James who was Jesusí half brother. While Jesus was alive on the earth in his physical body, James refused to believe. It was only after Jesusí death and in his resurrected state, that Jesus appeared to James and made a believer out of him (1 Cor. 15:7).
So you see, this was not something that everyone bought into. Some had to be made believers by actually witnessing the appearance of Jesus Himself. ìthen He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also (1 Cor. 15:7-8). At the time of this writing, those people who saw Jesus after his death were still alive. So what the writer is saying is that these people literally seen Jesus after his death. ìFor we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majestyî (2 Pet. 1:16).
Someone once said: ìPeople might die for a lie, if they thought it was the truth; but no one would die for something they knew was a lie.î Peter, Andrew, James the son of Alphaeus, Philip, Simon and Bartholomew ñ for their faith they were all crucified. Matthew, James the son of Zebedee, and Paul the apostle ñ these were all beheaded because of their faith in Jesus. Thaddaeus was told to deny his faith or be shot through with arrows. He died by being shot through with arrows. Thomas was asked to deny his faith, but didnít and was run through with spears. John the beloved died of old age but was exiled on an island called Patmos.
You see these people would all die for their faith if they believed it was true, but not all of them would die for a lie. Remember, these were the eyewitnesses. And although He died for our sin. . .
3. HE IS NOT DEAD, BUT ALIVE!
These men refused to die for a philosophy, but rather they died for a Person.
ìJesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and yes, foreverî (Heb. 13:8).
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades (Rev. 1:17-18).
Jesus is not a historic philosophy, but a person. So do not mistake Christianity for this. The ONLY way to God is through Jesus.
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be savedî (Acts 4:12). This is why the name of Jesus is so powerful. Since there is power in the name of Jesus, the devil seeks to counterfeit that precious Name so much.
Why do so many people hate Jesus Christ and Christianity? Partly because Jesus makes you to decide when you come face to face with Him. Even though we know it is true, we often have to fight with our pride and not so much with objective truth.
Notice in the news the talk about religious discrimination. Take a look for example at the University of Hawaii Catalog and you will see scores of religious classes offered. There is no religious discrimination. Itís more like discrimination against Christianity. But on the university campuses, not just here in Hawaii but elsewhere as well, you will be hard pressed to find classes offered on Jesus Christ and His teachings for credit.
The other reason people donít like Christianity or Jesus is this. Letís say there is capital punishment over someone who did something wrong. The death of that person would disperse your anger of that person because he was killed by the death penalty and is no longer alive to deal with. He got what he deserved. Yet there is so much angst against the Lord? It is because he is not dead! And Jesus still offers people the opportunity to make a decision to come to Him.
ìSubmit to God and resist the devil and he will flee from youî. (James 4:7).
If you have never made that decision, it is not that there is not enough evidence to make such a decision. The evidence is overwhelming. But most likely the issue is with your heart and will. Give God your heart and will. Lean completely on Him and He will transform everything about you. And on top of it all He will give you the gift of eternal life. When Jesus says, ìFollow me,î follow Him and put away self. He will make His plans, your plans, His future, your future, His dreams, and your dreams.
This is what makes Christianity different from all others.
Life Group Questions
- In what other ways have you heard or been taught that Christianity is different from all other religions?
- Why is Jesus Himself so important to Christianity? Is it narrow minded to believe that Jesus is the only way? How would you respond to someone who confronted you on being narrow minded?
- Is it fair for Jesus to always be pushing us toward making a decision? How to do work with someone who needs more time to think and the pressing need to make a decision?
- If there werenít a bible to read, would you still have enough evidence to hold to a strong faith in the Person of Christ?
- Why did Jesus showed Himself so much during the 40 days after His resurrection, but hardly does He do so today? Or does He?
- If it came right down to it, would you be willing to die give your life for Jesus Christ?
- Spend a few minutes as a group sharing the names of those you know who are not yet Christians for one reason or the other. Pray for each person by name at every meeting. Have someone keep this list and date it. Then write in the praise report and date when someone on that list comes to Jesus. This will greatly build up faith in the Person of Christ and keep your hearts tuned in to the needs of the lost.