About 2000 yrs. ago, Jesus, God’s only son was born in Bethlehem . It was a miracle birth. His mother was Mary, a virgin. Jesus was conceived, not by sex, but by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of God. At age 30, he began a ministry that lasted for 3 years. He ministered with great love, compassion and miracle-working power. He preached and taught about the kingdom of heaven. He healed the sick, the lame, the blind and all others who came to him. In John chapter 5, verse 24, he told all who listened, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” There it is, my friends.  There is his promise of eternal life in heaven!  

 He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpentry shop until he was thirty, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. When the tide of popular opinion turned against him, some of his friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies. In spite of all the great miracles he did, they didn't believe he was who he said he was, the Son of God. He was tried and convicted. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave. Three days later, he rose from the dead and for 40 days taught his disciples more about the mysteries of God. He, then ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus will return to earth again to judge the living and the dead. 

                            "Proof that Jesus Christ Actually Lived"  
                    
  What proof can be offered that Jesus Christ actually lived as written about in the Bible?  Let me explain. There is more than one avenue to proof about the existence of a people or person in antiquity. Many of the empirical, or scientific methods we use in archeology and other dating are by modern methods developed in the last century or two. It is much simpler nowadays to prove a person's existence by DNA; also, fingerprints, iris scans and other biometric data  are assisting.  Before these methods existed, we have relied and still rely on one method: historical accounts written down by noted historians.

  What proofs do we have of the existence of people such as Abraham, Moses, Cleopatra, Shakespeare, George Washington, Lincoln, Stalin, Hitler, John Kennedy, et Al.?  We depend on credible Historians and historical accounts that have been written down showing the existence of these people. Were there historians who gave accounts of Jesus Christ? Very definitely, although not every historian who wrote about Jesus did so positively. Some historians were critical of him, as non-Christians, he did not fit their religious or social lives and ambitions. 

   Historians who lived and wrote in the early Jesus era and spoke of Him are known to us. Some of the names are: Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, Flavuius Josephus, Phlegon, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius,  Tertullian, Thallus, Hadrian, Trajan and so forth. Another source is the Babylonian Talmud which refers to Jesus several times. 

   Listen to what the historian Cornelius Tacitus wrote, speaking of Nero's punishing of Christians in Rome and of the death of Christ.  "Christus (Christ), the founder of the name (Christians), was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberias"  Tacitus, a non-Christian rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but his account of Christ proves the existence of Jesus' life on earth and that Jesus suffered death under Pontius Pilate.

   Flavius Josephus, General in the Israeli army and Jewish historian, born in A.D. 37 wrote these words: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the Cross, those who loved Him at the first did not forsake Him; for He appeared to them alive again in the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians so named from Him are not extinct at this day.” (Antiquities, xviii. 33.) ~ J. McDowell / annotations, R. Lawrence
                                                     
 When it becomes obvious to a person that Jesus lived and walked about on planet earth, then you must decide what kind of a man he was. Three possibilities exist: was he just a man? Was  he just a great moral teacher?  Or was he God, Himself, in a human body who walked among us?  In the Bible, in the Book of John, John tells us that Christ came to teach us how to live and to give eternal life to all who would accept Him.

  John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  In John 1:12 read, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."  

  Jesus claimed he was more than just a man. He did, in fact, claim to be God. He was God in a human body.  In one instance, Jesus saw a blind man he had healed. Jesus walked up to him "and said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?  He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?  Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him." (John 9:35-37)

  In John 6:38 . Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."  In John 10:30 Jesus says,  "I and the Father are One."   How you can be 100% sure you will go to heaven when you die; 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  You may have grown into belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior and are niot 100% sure you are spiritually born again.  But you can know and be 100 % sure that you are going to heaven if you die; you can know the day and the hour of being spiritually born again. God has made this provision so you can pin it down.  The supernatural, miracle experience of being spiritually born again can be yours.    Someone may say, “But what if my sins are so great I won’t be forgiven?”   I refer to King David and Bathsheba who had an adulterous relationship and the two of them became the parents of Solomon. It not only pleased the Lord to forgive them re initial transgression against Him, but he gave them a clean slate, e.g.,  and honored them with the birth of His Son Jesus through the Davidic line.

Psalm 51:1-17, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight  so that you are proved
right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother 6  Surely you conceived me and desire truth in the inner parts. you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.10  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  As you may know, a type of God's forgiveness and use persons and ministries can be seen in his dealings with Peter in Acts  10:15    "The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, He died that you might have forgiveness of any sin in your life. Anyone who majors on the sin of David and Bathsheba, doesn't understand that God forgave them and loved them so much, he allowed Jesus Christ to be born into their family line. be warned; don't continue to bring up their adulterous affair, or God may bring harsh discipline into your life. When He has forgiven and made something clean, don't be foolish and "harp" on the story or account of the sin as it occurred in Scripture, but rather be thankful and praise God for His forgiveness and love and the fact that if we make a sinful error, if we repent and turn from our sin and ask His forgiveness, He will forgive us through the blood of the lamb -- Jesus Christ -- who bore our sins on the Cross.

 In Rev.3:20a Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.  Ready to accept Christ? Here's a prayer you can pray: mean it with all of your heart.  “Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross for me and that you were resurrected and sit at the right hand of God in heaven. I ask you to forgive my sins, I repent and turn away from my sins. Lord Jesus, I accept you now as the Lord and Savior of my life. I open my heart to you and ask you to come into my heart and become the Lord of my life. Amen.”   Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? For a Bible study for new believers and those praying to be 100% sure, Find this info and additional series of Bible studies for Christian growth. If you have a computer  use this URL:  www.RKL2.org  About half the way down the home page you will find a link to a brief bible study about becoming spiritually born again and living a new life in Christ; it is also a good Bible study review for someone who was spiritually born again, but got off track and grew cold re the things of the Lord. www.RKL2.org/Christiangrowth1.htm . If you do not have a computer, just go to the library and ask one of the staff to find this website and the bible study mentioned in this paragraph.   ~ In His Service,  Rick Lawrence, spiritual counselor, evangelist, teacher and beyond