Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Jesus said, "I and the Father [God] are one."¹

Almost 2,000 years ago when Caesar Augustus was ruling the vast Roman Empire, Jesus Christ was born in Palestine in very humble circumstances. Until he was 30 he was virtually unknown apart from his immediate family and friends.

However, during a brief three-year public ministry, his impact was such that it changed the world—including the change of our calendar from B.C. to A.D.

H.G. Wells, the famous historian, once said about Christ: "I am not a believer. But I must confess, as an historian, this penniless creature from Galilee is irresistibly the center of history."

No other person ever made the stupendous claims that Jesus did. He claimed to be the Son of God, the promised Jewish Messiah, and the only way to God for all mankind. He claimed to have power to forgive sins and to give people eternal life. Above all, he claimed to be God, saying, "I and the Father [God] are one."¹

Socrates once said, "Oh, that someone would arise, man or God, to show us God." Four hundred years later Christ came and claimed to be that person.

But was Jesus Christ the Son of God? If not, he would have been the greatest impostor who ever lived!

Lew Wallace, a distinguished general and literary genius, and Robert Ingersoll, a notable skeptic, agreed to write a book that would prove Christianity to be a myth.

After two years of research, however, in some of the leading libraries of Europe and America in preparation for writing this book, Mr. Wallace had a transformation of attitude. He was only up to the second chapter when he fell to his knees and prayed, "My Lord and my God."

After studying the evidence, Wallace became convinced of the deity of Jesus Christ. He then wrote Ben Hur, one of the greatest novels ever written about the times of Christ. Later, Robert Ingersoll had this to say: "In using my speeches do not use any assault I may have made on Christ, which I foolishly made in my early life."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please reveal to me the truth about Jesus Christ so that I can know without any shadow of a doubt whether He is Your Son and the Savior of the world or not. And please show me the way to You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

To be continued ...

1. John 10:30, (NIV).

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