THE JESUS CODE

 
I.  Who was Jesus?  Matthew 16
      A.  Some people thought He was John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah or
some other prophet.
      B.  Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ.

 II. There is evidence that Jesus was the Christ.
      A.  Identity evidence
           1.  Jesus allows others to call Him Christ.  Matthew 16
           2.  Jesus forgives sins.  Luke 5:20
           3.  Jesus allows His disciples to call Him "Son of God".  Matthew 14
           4.  Jesus promises to come back from the dead  Matthew 20:19
      B.  Biographical evidence
           1.  Jesus was God in the flesh.  Colossians 2:9, John 1
           2.  Jesus was God in their presence.  Luke 5:20
           3.  Jesus expresses unconditional love; "Father forgive them, they know not what they do".
           4.  Jesus will be the final judge.  John 5:27
      C.  Historical evidence
           1.  Jesus left an empty tomb.  John 20
           2.  Jesus' body was alive after His death.  1 John 1 (We touched Him.)
           3.  More than 500 people saw Jesus after His death. 1 Corinthians 15
      D.  People gave their lives to serve Jesus.
            1.  The apostles - Saul of Tarsus who later became Paul.
            2.  Polycarp
            3.  Many others

III. Take homes
      A.  If Jesus is not God's son then the Bible is worthless.
      B.  If Jesus is not God's son then there is no good news.
      C.  If Jesus is not God's son then life is pointless and we are little better
than the animals.
      D.  The good news is that Jesus is the Savior; "If I be lifted up I will draw
all men unto me".  John 12:32