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Jesus vs. the Other Guys

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These days, if you even think about opening your mouth and talking about Jesus, you better be ready - because that is not a name you can say without getting some kind of reaction. Mentioning Jesus has a crowd splitting, opinion-shouting effect that forces you to know what you are talking about.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

For example, one very common reaction is:

"Yeah, I know about Jesus, but I believe that He was just one religious teacher just like all the other religious teachers. What makes Him so different?"

At this point you have an awesome opportunity...that is if you actually do know what made Jesus completely different, unique, and totally distinct from all other men and women who claimed to know the way to God, Nirvana, the path of enlightenment, etc. etc.

But the fact is, most Christian teens don't know. In their hearts there is belief in what Christ did, but in their heads there is confusion about who Christ is.

So let's get the facts straight so you can shoot straight about Him with your friends who desperately need to discover the true Jesus Christ!

Fact #1 - Jesus has always existed.

In John 8:58, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I AM". He was responding to a sarcastic and stupid question thrown at him by the religious rulers of the day:

"You aren't even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?" (John 8:57)

Jesus had just told them that He knows Abraham - a guy who has been dead for thousands of years. So they come back with: "Wait, you're not even 50 years old, so how could you be 2000 years old?"

Brilliant. As if someone could live that long?

So Jesus' response tells us that He's not 50, He's not 2000, He's infinity. He had no beginning, He will have no end. He has always been around as the second Person of the Trinity.

No other religious leader has always been around. They all were born at some point - which was the beginning of their existence. When Jesus was born, it was not the beginning of His existence, it was the beginning of His humanity. Jesus, as God, took on human flesh when He was born. That's sorta unique - wouldn't you say?

Fact #2 - Jesus' mother Mary was a virgin at the time of His birth.

So if you're even just a little familiar with the way the whole pregnancy and birth thing works, you realize that the words "virgin" and "birth" don't usually go together. This is why Jesus' birth was such a miracle! The fact that Mary was a virgin shows that Jesus' Dad is a holy God, not a sinful man. No other religious leader has made that claim - nor would they.

Fact #3 - Jesus lived a perfect life.

Jesus didn't live a good life, or even a great life. He lived a perfect life. As in perfection. As in, He never, ever, ever sinned. Never thought badly about a person. Never told little white lies (or big black ones either). Never once in 33 years of life did He mess up in word, action, or even thought. And it's not like He didn't face temptation either. Can you imagine doing battle with Satan himself? Or how about refusing to be angry towards the malicious, hateful Romans who beat Him, whipped Him, and nailed Him to a cross? If you do any sort of research on other religious leaders, you will discover that they were far from perfect in their words and actions, which is why they never claimed perfection. They wouldn't dare. But Jesus did - check this out:

"Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?" (John 8:46)

And no one could.

Fact #4 - Jesus made extreme claims.

We're not talking extreme claims like "I can hold my breath for 10 minutes" or "I can burp the entire alphabet without stopping". This is even beyond claims that other religious leaders made. They said they knew the way to God, Jesus said He IS God. This is why you can't categorize Jesus as just a good teacher or moral example. He went around saying things like "I'm going to raise myself from the dead", "I can forgive sins", and "I've always been around", etc. Good teachers and moral example-type people don't go around saying crazy, whacked out things. If they do, we don't trust them anymore, right? Unless, of course, they could prove that their apparently crazy claims were actually true.

Which is exactly what Jesus did when He came back from the dead. The opening of Jesus' empty tomb was the shutting of the critic's empty accusations. Even if another religious leader did make that claim, why on earth would you believe him/her?

Fact # 5 - Jesus came back from the dead.

This is the one that pretty much knocks out any possibility of Jesus being "just another religious leader". You can visit the graves of every founder of every other religion, and unless someone dug them up and sold them on E-Bay, they should still be there. Jesus' grave was a three-day rental, and it has been empty for nearly 2000 years. Actually his grave was borrowed, which proves the point even more. He knew He was going to die, so why would He completely ignore making any funeral plans unless He knew there was no need for them? No one has ever found His body, and no one ever will, because He's alive and well.

Fact #6 - Jesus ascended into heaven.

This one is often overlooked, but it is very important. After Jesus came back from the dead, the Bible tells us that He appeared to more than 500 people (I Corinthians 15:6). After His appearances, He put an exclamation point on the story of His life by being transported to heaven. Here's what happened:

"When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." It was not long after he said this that he was taken up into the sky while they were watching, and he disappeared into a cloud. As they were straining their eyes to see him, two white-robed men suddenly stood there among them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!" (Acts 1:8-12)

Jesus was taken up to heaven, and the angels promised that one day He will return. That was kinda their way of saying "Jesus is coming back, so don't look busy, get busy!"

Go ahead and google every other religious leader. They didn't go up, they went down- and they aren't coming back.

So now that you know what you're talking about, it's time to start talking to those who have been misled by false teachers and false books like the da Vinci Code. You have the truth, so open your mouth and free them from their closed minds!

Head: What you need to know about this truth

Jesus is completely different and unique from every other religious leader because He has always existed, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, made extreme claims and proved them to be true by coming back from the dead and ascending into heaven.

Heart: What you need to feel about this truth

Confident and extremely grateful. Confident that you have discovered the truth about Jesus, and because of that you should be grateful that you personally know the God-Man who split history in half and paid the penalty for your sin. Be grateful as well that one day He is coming back to take you to your true home! For one of the greatest descriptions of Jesus ever recorded, click here to see the video "My King".

Hands: What you need to do about this truth

You ever wonder why some people just flat out refuse to hear the truth about Jesus? The Bible tells us why:

Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

The good news is that the good news of the gospel can remove the blinders from our friends who need to trust Christ. As one writer put it: "with great power comes great responsibility". You have the facts about Jesus, and that is a powerful message. Will you fulfill your responsibility? Don't let the facts about Jesus go to waste in your head. Brush up on your GOSPEL Journey and take the 48-hour challenge today!