Who Is The Messiah?

It's heartbreaking to think there are faithful people in large numbers who still await the coming of their promised Messiah - a word meaning "anointed one" - who is destined to lead them to salvation and glory.

Jews have waited for their prophesied Messiah since King David began building the First Temple in Jerusalem over 3,000 years ago. Talk about loyalty, faith, and steadfastness. It's almost unbelievable; superhuman and saintly. 

Meanwhile, the true Messiah came and fulfilled His life's ministry regardless of the fact that many Jews refused to accept Him. That, too, had been prophesied around 700 B.C. (Isaiah 53)

This misunderstanding has separated Jews and Christians for almost 2,000 years, and it's all about the nature of Jesus Christ. Israelites of the the 1st Century were looking for a warrior who would re-establish the kingdom as it had been under David and Solomon, but they didn't understand the most important truth of all. The Messiah was for all mankind; the whole world, Jews and non-Jews; the Gentiles. And inevitably, everyone in the world from then until now. 

Many Jews couldn't live with the idea of their Messiah as a non-violent human sacrifice "taking on the sins of the world" and then being visibly resurrected to eternal life. A non-material heaven violated their fondest expectations.  Jesus saying, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36) was too much to take. 

After Jesus completed His mission, the predictions of His coming written by the prophet Isaiah - known as the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible - were removed. They clearly showed that Jesus was the promised king everyone was waiting for. 
Here are the prophesies and their New Testament fulfillment:

      Messiah Prophecy                                        Fulfillment In Jesus 
      (8th Century B.C.)                                        (1st Century A.D.) 

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a          Was born of a virgin named
sign: The virgin will conceive, and give birth        Mary  (Luke 1:26-31)
to a son, and will call Him Emmanuel; 
meaning "God with us"  (Isaiah 7:14)

Will have a Galilean ministry (Isaiah 9:1-2)       Ministry began in Galilee of                                                                              the Gentiles (Matthew 4:13-16)

Will be an heir to the throne of David                 Was given the throne of his
(Isaiah 9:7; 11:1-10)                                        father David (Luke 1:32,33)

Will have His way prepared (Isaiah 40:3-5)         Was announced by John the 
                                                                       Baptist (John 1:19-28)

Will be spat on and struck (Isaiah 50:6)              Was spat on and beaten
                                                                        (Matthew 26:67)

Will be exalted (Isaiah 52:13)                          Was highly exalted by God
                                                                 and the people (Philippians 2:9,10)

Will be disfigured by suffering                      Was scourged by Roman soldiers     (Isaiah 52:14, 53:2)                                   who gave Him a crown of thorns
                                                                  (Mark 15:16)

Will make a blood atonement (Isaiah 53:5)  Shed his blood to atone for our sins
                                                                  (1 Peter 1:2)

Will be widely rejected (Isaiah 53:1-3)        Was not accepted by many
                                                                                         (John 12:37,38)

Will bear our sins and sorrows                     Died because of our sins
(Isaiah 53:4-5)                                           (Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24-25)

Will be our substitute (Isaiah 53:6-8)           Died in our place (Romans 5:6-8)

Gentiles will seek Him (Isaiah 11:10-14)      Gentiles came to speak to Jesus
                                                                 (John 12:20-21)

Will be silent before His accusers            Was silent before Herod and his court
(Isaiah 53:7)                                             (Luke 23:9)

Will save us who believe in Him                 Provided salvation for all who believe
(Isaiah 53:12)                                           (John 3:16)

Will die with transgressors                      Was numbered with transgressors
(Isaiah 53:12)                                        and crucified with two thieves
                                                                (Mark 15:27-8; Luke 22:37)

Will heal the brokenhearted                      Healed the brokenhearted
(Isaiah 61:1.2)                                         (Luke 4:18,19) 


God's spirit will rest on Him                    The spirit of God descended on Jesus
(Isaiah 11:2)                                            (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10)

Will be buried in a rich man's tomb          Was buried in the tomb of the wealthy
(Isaiah 53:9)                                          Joseph of Arimethea
                                                             (Matthew 27:57-60; John 19:38-42)

He will judge the earth righteously           Jesus is given authority to judge
(Isaiah 11:4-5)                                       (John 5:27; Luke 19:22)

What more can anyone say? If you know the Bible is from God this is proof of the Messiah and His eventual return; the Second Coming of Christ.

Note: Muslims have their own version of a Messiah, known as The Mahdi, or Twelfth Imam, whom they believe will come to save them from Armageddon. Because Muslims deny the divinity of Christ, and scoff at the idea that He was the Son of God, their Messiah is not the Judeo-Christian one. The Mahdi of the Muslims will come only for them, and they believe that the more mayhem and violence there is in the world the sooner he will come. So, many Muslims see violence - or jihad - as a duty for their salvation 

Is Equality Good?

Our modern political world pretends that equality is a good thing. But is it? And what does equality mean? It's a huge, over-arching concept. If we mean equality under the law regardless of wealth, status, parentage, skin color, or race - and that laws and rules must be applied to all people fairly - then that is considered good, in the Western world. 

In Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, family connections, friends, or other factors may grant you immunity from the law. This is inevitably destructive to civilization. 

We all know that genetics doesn't endow all people equally with talents. Most of us don't have any exceptional talents that we know of. We're not beautiful, athletic, very smart, great dancers, performers on instruments, or charismatic personalities. Only perhaps 20% of us have skills good enough for us to excel in the world. If you watch television programs like America's Got Talent, British Idol, The Voice, or the permutations of them around the globe, you've seen many would-be performers who think they're superb, but really, truly, are not. It's painful to see these deluded individuals being laughed at and eliminated. 

Of all the twisted modern ideas of equality the most damaging and deceptive is the enforced belief that men and women are equal. This is false. It's not a matter of superiority either way, because both sexes are often uniquely excellent and ingenious. Young boys and girls display their differences very early in life, and if left free to choose, will select toys the way most of us would predict. Girls like dolls and doll houses; boys want planes, cars, and guns. There are exceptions, of course, which manifest themselves later in life. 
The so-called "progressive" view that masculinity is "toxic" and femininity cannot be toxic, is deranged and dangerous - as is the trend toward erasing masculinity and femininity. 

Regardless of our ordinariness and defects, we still have worth in God's eyes. God sees inside us, mysteriously; very differently from humanity. King David of ancient Israel, as a boy, was thought to be a wimpy, homely loser by his father and family. When God sent the prophet Samuel to find His future King of Israel, David's father Jesse hid young David out of embarrassment, and pridefully showed off his handsomer, more muscular older sons. But God chose David to be king and He said, "...[David] is a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do." - Acts 13:22. No one was more surprised than David, who was only a shepherd, but he was exceptionally good at killing wolves with his sling. Later on he learned to play the lyre, and soothed the mad King Saul with his playing. Still, from shepherd to king? Until Jesus came, David was the most beloved man of God on record. 

So we don't know what our greatest talents are. We likely have some we've never tapped. Don't despair. Pray to the Lord. Becoming rich and famous isn't a key to happiness. Many of us don't want the attention, lack of privacy, or trouble fame brings anyway. And there's never going to be  equality in the human world regarding the things the world values: power, money, glamour, sexuality, and so on. Equality would make the world dull and monotonous. 

There are quite a few nations in the world which have achieved a high level of equality by force. It can be done if you ruthlessly imprison or kill people of great talent and ability who can't bear the sameness and evil banality. It takes years and has to continue on some level with the secret police. Once that's done, almost all citizens will experience equal misery and want, since the talented and productive problem-solvers have been "liquidated" - a term these regimes like to use. Ninety-percent of the population will have little food, the same grim housing, monotonous menial work, repetitive literature praising its leaders as gods, and no chance at excellence or escape. 

All real religion has to be destroyed as well, because God and His angels and prophets rule from regions of light and joy far above the muck and mire of earth. They make a lot of people look bad, especially the greedy rulers of these dark dominions below. 

"Equality for all" is a deadly trap. We must be careful what we wish for. As the French say, "Vive la difference"; meaning, "Contrasts and differences make life exciting." 

The natural world is a radical hierarchy of variables, dazzling in its colors, and complexity. There's no equality at all between a lamb and a lion, a flounder and a whale. Even among the same species some excel over the others and rule them. Herds of horses and elephants have leaders and masses of followers, based on their respective strengths and weaknesses. 

We're happiest when we study nature and learn from it. Consider the airplane, for example. The Wright Brothers imitated birds as closely as they could, and succeeded wildly, beyond their dreams. Our modern jet aircraft are supremely attuned to nature, and developed over time as their shapes and parts became more integrated into the whole. They can fly up to 800 passengers at 500 mph, 330 days a year for twenty or more years before they have to be recycled. 

So where did we ever get the idea that there should be equality of outcomes in human society? Participation trophies and self-esteem courses don't prepare anyone for the realities of life in the real world of work, competition, struggle, and the pursuit of excellence. Genuine self-esteem comes from real accomplishments and good parenting that helps children learn to succeed.

Ancient Greece and Rome were the first societies to recognize that human beings had intrinsic worth regardless of birth, wealth, or status. Initially it was only in a spiritual sense, but because these societies gave voting rights to their citizens, politicians pandered to voters, spreading the idea of "equality for the masses" as a means of seizing power. Once in office they didn't care that their promises were seen as lies. Military force was used to hold power. The French Revolution, Marxist takeovers, and Stalinist totalitarianism all failed. The residual leftovers from these these poisonous ideas still guarantee misery and want for billions of people. 

Today we call it Socialism and Progressivism; the redistribution of wealth, power, and status from those who have to those who don't. It fails every time, because it defies the natural laws of God. It's a rebellion against the very idea of God, and His hierarchies. It's anti-theism, and nihilism as well. God has doomed these systems and the people who promulgate them to terrible destruction.  

Progressives, Socialists, and Liberals Should Be Celebrating

They seem to have won, don't you think? All over the globe, with few exceptions, human institutions call themselves "progressive", "liberal", or "socialist". Other words like "democratic" or "the people's" are also used, but they mean the same thing. North Korea calls itself "the people's democratic republic" even though one ruling family controls every detail of every citizen's life. Starvation, poverty, enslavement, and brainwashing are all the citizens of North Korea have to look forward to; except for the few percent who rule. (Link)

Venezuela, until recently a rich country, is now thoroughly "socialist" and run by a dictator who has squandered the vast oil wealth it possessed and ruined the economy to the point of real starvation and deprivation. In the name of "social justice", "fairness", and "human rights", laws and morality were sacrificed for lies. (Link) President Hugo Chavez proudly announced that evil capitalism was finished, and everyone would be happy now that socialism ruled. His plan was a disaster, and the promises of socialism were lies:

Lying is as common as the air we breathe now, and all over the world people are discovering that the reality of their lives is awful. Media of all kinds is now the "ruler of the air" and, as the Apostle Paul wrote, that ruler is Satan. 

Why aren't the progressives, liberals, and socialists celebrating? Because human misery, strife, and mayhem are rampant everywhere, and no solution is in sight. Yet almost nobody offers any remedy other than more government control or military force. Faith-based solutions are openly ridiculed in public media, and believers are thought of as naive, ignorant, or deranged; unless they're Muslim. Then they get a pass, invitations to live in the West, and their violent religion is called "the religion of peace." We've seen how horribly that's turned out in Europe. 

Isn't it obvious that all of humanity took a wrong turn at some point in the past? The world of 1910 was nothing like this. Optimism was common, and the progress of science, linked with faith in God, had brought true progress, wealth, and freedom to many millions around the world. There was no reason to think it wouldn't continue. But something went horribly wrong. World War I was the first symptom of the mental disease that's gripped us for over 100 years. 
 

Bill Maher is a true liberal who has discovered that modern "progressivism" is anything but progressive. Leftists are now preaching falsehoods:

The Masks and Methods of Evil

It's not easy to talk about evil, and most civilized people try to avoid it for fear of falling into its trap. What is the trap? Well, once we begin talking about evil, persons we know - or know of - will be mentioned and analyzed. There will be disagreements with friends and associates, and since none of us is pure and blameless we can be accused of 'projection'; that is, falsely accusing others of sins we ourselves are guilty of. This is a cardinal and deadly transgression against God, called hypocrisy, and the punishment for this crime against truth is too terrible to contemplate. 

The historic examples of the Medieval European witch hunts and the Spanish Inquisition are still vivid in our minds, and they still exist in primitive parts of the world. This is a perfect example of how evil hides behind the masks of state authority, the church, and the law.
Hence, the presence of truth is vital to any discussion of evil, and if someone is accused, there must be facts and evidence that would satisfy a court of law. This requires discipline and sober thought which will spot petty dislikes or grudges accusers may be holding. That said, it's essential that we engage our moral compass and stake out spiritual territory for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the Lord. 

In whatever small arena we inhabit there are opportunities for voicing honesty and defeating lies and slander about people and groups. If we witness abuse or crimes, we must act. Silence and timidity encourage the growth of evil. God has always commanded us to speak up and do His work when Satanic evil is roaming the earth. It's risky, of course. Jobs and careers may be lost. But you don't want to be part of an institution that allows evil to thrive. Perhaps you're a teacher and your school is encouraging children to "explore their sexuality", or some other politically correct and twisted doctrine. How will you account for your participation?

Especially in this time of Armageddon when the world is at war with God and itself, falling apart, and literally being held hostage by North Korea and Iran; which have nuclear weapons poised and ready to initiate a global holocaust. It's absurd and dangerous to remain silent. We are very close to a break-point where important distinctions and divisions will be made. The stakes are far higher than they've ever been around the globe. North Korea and Iran boast that their missiles can reach any part of the world in fifteen minutes or less.

Threatening to destroy God's creations, especially in the name of God, as Iran claims, is pure evil, squared. 

Today is the day to speak up and move the world to act, to disarm these grotesque nations and all other rogue elements who are planning likewise. 
We aren't all called on to be martyrs, as Christ's blessing for the Centurion proves: Matthew 8:5.

Jesus said, "Look, I am sending you out as sheep among the wolves. Be as shrewd as serpents and as gentle as doves." Matthew 10:16.
We need not look and act like the typical caricature of a Christian or Jew. There is a need for righteous and active people in every occupation. 
The Apostle Paul said, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."  
2 Corinthians 11:14. We see these demonic people in the media every day. 

Speaking of Satanic masquerades, it's impossible to top the hypocrisy, heinous crimes, and treason of Hillary and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, the media, and politicians in Washington D.C. today. In a deal known as Uranium One, Obama and Mrs. Clinton pocketed at least $145 million in bribes from the Russian government for giving them 20% of the uranium stockpiles owned by U.S. taxpayers. (Link) 

Using the machinery of government, all of them kept the crime secret, and then engineered - by paying $9 million for the services of the Russian government - a phony scandal designed to deflect attention from them, sink the candidacy and ruin the character and career of the newly-elected President of the United States.

The Clintons, Obamas, and their minions engineered a year-long lie, promulgated through a corrupt media, that it was Donald Trump who was colluding with the "evil Russians" to steal the 2016 election from Mrs. Clinton. They've emphatically stated, again and again, that Russia is a dire, existential threat to the U.S.; accusing Trump, his son, and his entire family of "treason".  This is hypocrisy on steroids, the worst crime against the government and citizens of America ever conceived and executed. They were leaders of government, which makes this pure treason, a capital crime. 

God is watching all of us and monitoring our reactions, words, and deeds. Your eternal soul is being weighed, measured and sifted by the Creator. Be very careful and aware. 

      The history of the Democratic Party from its inception up to the present.

If God Forgave All Sins, His Mercy Would Be Worthless

Is God merciful, as Scripture says He is? Yes, because mercy is a gift many millions of people - and prophets - have felt deeply. But why is it known to be profoundly valuable?

If we have any wisdom at all we know we've done wrong, and hurt people, or animals, or the Holy Spirit, consciously or unconsciously at some time in our lives. This author still feels some shame about it, and knows the sweetness of God's mercy. 

God is infinite and without limitations of any kind; being the Creator of all life, all things visible and invisible, even laws and limitations. 
God could forgive all crimes if He wished to.  But God is especially clear on this one thing: sins against the Holy Spirit are unforgivable, and will be punished with unspeakably terrible consequences - which starkly reveals the precious quality of His grace. 

This is made a law in the Third Commandment of Moses, which is usually translated as "You shall not use God's name in vain." But that is a mis-translation from the original Hebrew, which says, "You shall not carry God's name in vain." Which means that doing evil in God's name can never be forgiven, because you do irreparable damage to God; you kill God by these deeds. 

We're now seeing epic and Apocalyptic evil done in the name of God by religious authorities of all kinds, and especially since Islamists have declared war on the West, and all Jews and Christians. The end of these people will be very terrible.

Hell has many levels, as Dante specified (Link), and the worst of them are reserved for the violators of the sanctity and love of God. "They will be cast into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" - Matthew 13:50. "It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble" [speaking of the young and innocent] - Luke 17:2.

What is the Holy Spirit?  It's one of the three attributes of God Himself. It's not a corporeal being; that is, it has no body, but is pure energy, like electricity. It has personality and consciousness like Jesus himself, and is the very essence of goodness. Jesus said that we may not like him personally, which may be forgiven. But to hate the animating spirit of love and kindness that God sends into the world will never be forgiven. How else can it be? If you are rageful, cruel, unkind, unforgiving, and dishonest with yourself and others, then you're a creation of Satan, the sworn enemy of God - Matthew 12:22.

The Holy Spirit inhabits many forms which may deceive us. Jesus said, regarding those who fail the Lord's final judgement, "Whatever you did not do for the least of these [speaking of children], you did not do for me." All innocent lives might be holy, and must be protected. 

Of all offenses, hypocrisy is the worst.  If we preach to others a certain standard of virtuous behavior, and exempt ourselves from it, we're living a lie.  God hates lies, which violate His ultimate Truth. But there's worse in our world, what this author calls hypo-criticism. There are millions who not only live hypocritical lives,  but also loudly project onto others the crimes that they themselves are most guilty of.  They often go so far as to use the mantle of godliness and religion. Politicians all over the globe do this, and their end will be horrific - Malachi 4:1. 

We all know by now that the terrible torments that afflict this world are caused by sins against the Holy Spirit.  Can anyone say that if we behaved as Jesus did the world would not be utterly transformed? Of course it would.  But that means we would all have to act like angels of goodness and mercy,  an extremely unlikely turn of events. 

Which is why God has promised to intervene and remake the earth. There is no other choice,  because evil nations have nuclear weapons in abundance. North Korea and Iran have sworn that they will plunge us into Armageddon, sooner or later.

Some of you may think God's harsh judgment of the evil ones is wrong and cruel, but consider this:

Which points out another aspect of holiness. We're not all called on to be martyrs.  Jesus used the example of a Centurion (a Roman military officer) who came to him in Capernaum as an admirable man of perfect faith - Matthew 8:5-13.  We must have soldiers and police to build and maintain civilization. 
The Knights Templar of the Middle Ages were made up, in part, of holy priests who were warriors as well. Wherever we are in life, and whatever we do, our faith will save us. We all have God-given talents we can use to assist in His plan.  
So the question for you is, will you use this open window of opportunity to repair your relationship with God? Or will you waste it,  trying to make your own utopia in the wastelands of earth?

The Universe Next Door

We are never truly alone. Modern science now teaches in universities what people of faith have always believed, that there are extra dimensions and realms of unbelievable size and scale in the universe; from subatomic particles all the way up to the one trillion galaxies we can see - or prove the existence of - through the Hubble Space Telescope. Each of these galaxies are universes unto themselves. Our own Milky Way Galaxy is so huge that even if we could travel at the speed of light, it would take 100,000 years to cross it. 
But great distances aren't what they seem to be. Realms of angels and demons can't be ruled out.

                         Our universe of over a trillion small universes.

We who have faith know that God is infinite, but only today can we really gain some idea of what that means. Astrophysics now teaches that most of the physical universe is "dark matter", which means it's invisible to us. In addition there are extra dimensions beyond our four: height, width, depth, and time. Yes, time is now recognized as a dimension. Fact is, there are several more, and each, compared to the other, is like zero compared to infinity. Additionally, all space-time worlds are inter-penetrating; that is, only a thin wall of probability separates them, and God is forever next door to us, if we allow it. This is far beyond the human mind's capacity to understand. (Link)

      Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of Heaven, its imminence, and approach.

Considering this, and the fact that what we see as solid matter is actually mostly empty space, we're entirely at the mercy of forces we don't recognize as being real. If you doubt this you'll have to explain why X-Rays and Gamma radiation are both invisible and deadly. Those rays are a form of light that penetrates our bodies almost as if they weren't there, because they travel through the vast space between all the atoms in every bit of matter. What we think of as solid isn't, in truth.


Try to visualize for awhile what the Creator of this multi-verse must look like. How puny and insignificant the Napoleons, Hitlers, Stalins, and Maos of this world are. Today there are millions of men and women who fancy themselves godlike because their power and wealth gives them dominion over the material world, but their souls and spirits are less than nothing. The Creator doesn't recognize them. They created themselves by distortion, delusion, and lying. They fool millions for awhile, murder many, then are gone. 

The power our Creator wields is unutterably beyond all conception. Our infinite God has infinite power to work miracles beyond all human understanding. 

Book recommendation: The Universe Next Door, by James W. Sire, an expert at finding the way to God's Salvation. (Link)

Apart From God We Are Nothing; With God, We Share Everything That God Is

By ourselves, how strong and content are we? How meaningful is our existence? Each of us alone has to answer this question, but most of us would agree, not very. Which is why we form friendships, tribes, towns, cities, churches, political parties, and nations. 

Socializing with friends and allies is also a key to happiness, as many decades of studies show. When people are asked to rate their life happiness quotient, and they rate themselves 'happy with life', they also rate themselves as 'social'. The opposite is true, too. Those who are 'unhappy' rate themselves as 'not social'. True hermits are so rare and inaccessible that it's impossible to know much about them. 

The same is true for the sense of meaning in life. Those who rate themselves happy and social also find more meaning in their life than those who don't. Those who rate themselves 'open to ideas' and having 'empathy with others' also find more happiness and meaning.  

What if we had a relative who was phenomenally wealthy, powerful, joyful, sociable, generous, attractive, loving, heroic and - although extremely ancient - looked and acted like a vigorous thirty-year-old? If he or she were searching for you, would you try and hide? Or would you send a note of invitation? What if this relative also had an immense family that shared all the wealth, beauty, power, heroism, glory, and endless youthful life? What could possibly keep you away?

Maybe you aren't well, or your house is a mess, or your clothes are worn out? Perhaps you're so short of money that you can't afford a gift? Or possibly you've been bad-mouthing this relative and family out of jealousy? What if you committed a crime against this person or the family? That really would put a damper on things. How awful it would be to experience rejection from them. But what if the invitation said you would certainly be forgiven? Could you forgive yourself?

Or perhaps it's not you, exactly, but the crowd you run with and your closest friends and family who are slanderers that have been envious and jealous; maybe even at war with this great family? You know for certain that if you attempted to respond to the great invitation your 'friends' would be angry and might even excommunicate you from their group. You've seen this kind of shunning before, and know how others crumbled - maybe died - of loneliness and disgrace. Perhaps, as with some eastern religions, leaving them would bring a death sentence on your head. Your misery would be great indeed. Still, we're all going to die anyway, so maybe it would be better to risk it; to 'face the music'? Many others have done so and freed themselves from nightmarish bondage. 

This is the state of the world today, and that great person is God, our Creator, who is looking for every lost family member who ever went astray. Most of the world is lost in the wilderness and afraid; estranged and disconnected from their only hope of escape from worldly hell. Life on earth almost everywhere is filled with hardship and trials; strife, great suffering, and death. It's getting worse, too. 

But it's not too late to reconnect with the glorious family. It's your relatives who are searching for you. Make the first move. A simple prayer will do. You'll know what to say. 

                                               The Prodigal Son

So You Find It Hard to Believe In Christ's Resurrection? Join the Club

Almost anything is easier to believe than the reports that Christ came back to life after being crucified, and spoke to his Disciples and Apostles before ascending to Heaven. Even though he bore the torture wounds on his body, he appeared more healthy and joyous than he was in life, they said. This resurrection claim is unique in human history; only existing in mythology before Jesus came to earth. 

It deserves mentioning that the word Christ means "The anointed one." Jesus was a Jew who was recognized as the Christ only after his execution, and his believers were dubbed "Christians" by the authorities, and not with respect. 

But it is a documented fact that after seeing the resurrected Jesus in the flesh, his Disciples were transformed from cowering, panicked, and silent fugitives into fervent speakers, witnessing on his behalf. All but one were murdered for their faith, but not one recanted or tried to flee his fate.  Millions more Christians experienced similar visions and went happily to their death in the following two-thousand years. Miracles and testimonies about them fill our literature. How else could a religion that demands so much of its believers have thrived and taken over the Western world? In 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine himself had a vision and converted to Christianity, thus ending the persecution.  

The Apostle Paul - who was once a rabbi and a deadly enemy of all Christians - heard and saw the resurrected Jesus as an all-powerful and luminous angel, brighter than the sun. The vision caused Paul to fall off his donkey, and he was blinded for three days. He ate nothing during that time, ceased persecuting and killing Christians, and converted to the new faith. 

The deeds of the early Christians are recorded in Roman state documents, such as those by Josephus, an historian living in Jerusalem at that time, and not a believer. He ingratiated himself with the Flavian family - Emperor Vespasian, and his two sons, Titus and Domitian - who were tasked with subduing the Jewish rebellion of 69 A.D., occupying Judea, and destroying Jerusalem; including the Second Temple of Solomon.  

The evidence is there for all to see that Judeo-Christianity has always been vibrant and powerful, until recently. It exists outside of human reason and science. We moderns should be used to such things by now. Science itself has gone beyond reason and logic, in many instances. The technology we see in old episodes of Star Trek and Star Wars, such as talking computers and smartphones, are becoming commonplace. Take a look at Quantum Mechanics, which is now cutting-edge science, no longer science fiction. Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein never saw this coming: (Link) 

Still, the dead coming back to joyful life is a tough nut to chew on. So the big question is, can you be a faithful Christian and win the reward of Heaven even if you think the literal Resurrection is merely a metaphorical story? The answer is yes. This author never believed it until witnessing it, and it was this author's faith in the spirit of Jesus - not the written words - that made such a revelation possible. Consider these good reasons for believing in the spirit of Christ: 

The example of Jesus willingly going to his death with courage, poise, and fearlessness is so powerful that it enriches the lives of everyone in every age of humankind. If we understand the power of faith, and the love of God, we become indestructible, emotionally and intellectually. Death, suffering, anxieties and irritations disappear like a bad dream. Faith, like a candle in the night, draws others to us and lights our path. 

How is it that snow-covered and dead-looking branches and twigs suddenly burst forth in flowers, leaves, and fruits with the coming of spring? Isn't this a resurrection?

Christ's example of nearly-infinite forgiveness heals and repairs damaged friendships and loves every day. You won't read about this on the internet, but such generosity is the key to lasting relationships.

One aspect of the crucifixion is a real stunner. Christ gave salvation to the thief who was next to him on the cross, because he recognized Jesus and asked for forgiveness: Matthew, Luke, and Mark

Here is the key: