The dramatic effect of
Jesus on peoples’ lives indicates that His claims are true. Nobody has changed
the world the way Jesus has. Nobody ! Charles Badlaugh, the nineteenth-century atheist, once challenged
Hugh Price Hughes, a well-known Christian minister, to debate with him about
the claims of Christianity compared with those of atheism. Hughes agreed on one
condition: that Bradlaugh bring with him a hundred
people whose lives had been changed for the better by their commitment to
atheism; Hughes said he would bring a hundred whose lives had been changed for
the better by their commitment to Christianity. Later Hughes dropped the demand
to fifty, then to twenty, then to ten, and finally to just one. Even then Bradlaugh withdrew the challenge. He could not produce one
atheist who would qualify!
The following experiences
of people from all walks of life demonstrate the unity of Christian experience.
While each one embraces a different background, profession or culture, each
points to the same object as the source of new power for transformed
lives-Jesus Christ. Multiply these testimonies by millions upon millions and
you would begin to approach something like the impact Christ has had on the
world in the past two thousand years.
Is the Christian
experience valid? These and millions more believe so, and have new lives to
back up their statement.
1. Throughout
history
The influence which Jesus
has had on the lives of people has never been surpassed. No other great leader
has inspired so many positive changes in the lives of his followers. People who
encounter the risen Christ are totally transformed. Their outlook on life is
altered forever. Staying true to their faith, they do not hesitate to face
hardship, persecution and even death. Many consecrate their lives to serving
others, minimizing their own needs and desires.
2. First Century Christians
Following Jesus'
crucifixion, His disciples were devastated. They had forsaken Him in the
Peter
When Jesus told His
disciples that He would be arrested, put to death and they would all desert
Him, Peter replied, ‘I never will.’ He thought that he knew himself and his own
heart, he was certain that he, of all people, would not be so frightened that
he would forsake his Lord. However, Jesus knew Peter’s heart better than this disciple knew it himself. The prophet Jeremiah said,
‘The heart is deceitful above all thing and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah
17:9). Peter was so convinced, “I will lay down my life for Your
sake” (John
Certainly Jesus Christ
had not cast him aside, even though Peter must have felt that he deserved to be
cast off and forbidden to serve his Lord for evermore. We know Jesus did not have
that attitude because when He rose from the dead the angel gave this message to
the women who came to Jesus’ tomb: “Do not be alarmed”, he said, “You seek
Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He
is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go and tell His disciples
and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galille; there
you will see Him, as He said to you’ ” (Mark 16:6-7). It is as though Jesus was
saying, ‘Make sure that Peter gets the message. I want him back in My service.’ Peter was restored. He was changed by the power
of Jesus Christ. Later we hear of Peter receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking
boldly and openly about Jesus in the font of orthodox Jews (before whom he had
denied any connection with Jesus). He was put into prison and was now willing
to give his life for the sake of Jesus Christ. What would change a person so
radically in this way? Certainly the power that Jesus has was able to do that!
James
Skeptics and enemies
were also transformed. Jesus' younger half-brother, James, did not think Jesus
was anybody special. He would not believe a word of what Jesus said. His
reaction to Jesus was that He was mad! But after the resurrected Jesus appeared
to him, James not only believed Jesus was Lord but became the leader of the
Paul
Saul of Tarsus was the
chief persecutor of early Christians. A
very zealous Jew, He was an enemy to the Christian Church. He was a murderer.
He put innocent Christian people in prison and delighted in doing it. He hated
Jesus Christ and His name and His people and His work and His word. But
he had a dramatic encounter with the risen Christ. As
Saul was on his way to
Roman governor Plinius Secundus wrote in his Epistles
X96 that Christians were people who loved the truth at any cost. Although
he was ordered to torture and execute them for refusing to curse Jesus, he was
continually amazed and impressed with their firm commitments "not to do
any wicked deeds, never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify
their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it
up."
For centuries, true
Christians around the world have stood as shining examples of the standards of
truth and love established by Jesus of Nazareth.
3. Modern Day Christianity
The power of Christ
knows no boundary of time or space. In our own age, many skeptics have been
convinced just as thoroughly as their first-century counterparts.
Lew
Wallace-A skeptic who was saved
For example, Lew Wallace, a famous general and literary genius, was a
known atheist. For two years, Wallace studied in the leading libraries of
When confronted by
solid indisputable evidence, he could no longer deny that Jesus Christ was the
Son of God. Later, Lew Wallace wrote the book Ben Hur, one of the greatest English novels ever written
concerning the time of Christ.
Leo D'Arcangelo- Former Criminal
Pacing back and forth in
his prison cell, Leo D'Arcangelo was deeply
disturbed. Who wouldn't be, facing what was ahead of him?
As a boy of eleven, he had
picked a lady's handbag on a crowded tram. That was the start.
Five years of stealing
followed before his first arrest at sixteen in a
Shortly after release he
started mainlining heroin. Then began the seemingly endless arrests: November,
1954, for use and possession of drugs; January, 1955, for picking pockets.
Shortly after, in
... As he paced his cell he
noticed a few lines crudely scrawled on the wall:
"When you come to the
end of your journey and this trouble is racked in your mind, and there seems no
other way out than by just mourning, turn to Jesus, for it is Him that you must
find."
This started him thinking:
This is the end of my journey. What have I got to show for it? Nothing except a lousy past and a worse future. Jesus, I
need Your help. I've made a mess of my life and this
is the end of the journey, and all the crying isn't going to change my past.
Jesus, if You can change my life, please do it. Help
me make tomorrow different.
... For the first time Leo
felt something besides despair.
Released from prison in
September 1958 a totally changed man, Leo earned his high school diploma and
then went on to graduate from West Chester State College and the Reformed Episcopal
Seminary in
He is presently active in
prison work and as a speaker in church and youth meetings.
Kamal-A
radical Egyptian terrorist changed from a murderous person to a forgiving
person
Kamal started memorizing the Qur’an at a
very early age and developed what he called ‘a love for the word of God’.
As he grew older, he started reading books on Islam and the interpretation of
the Qur’an. By sorting out Muslims from non-Muslims according to the Qur’an’s teaching, he ended up considering his own parents
infidels. Little things such as a woman not wearing a veil would make her
a non-Muslim according to the way he understood the Qur’an. If a man
didn’t grow a beard he would be considered a non-Muslim. He considered Christians
as his worst enemies and started getting involved in attacks against Christians
and churches. An Islamic Group, dedicated to the overthrow of the secular
government of
Upon
reading an article in the
When
he had completed reading the Bible and cross-referencing what he had read with
numerous Islamic books, Kamal was astonished to
discover that the Bible was neither inaccurate nor corrupted. Instead, he
was astonished at the Bible’s teachings on forgiveness and unconditional love,
as reflected in the life and words of Jesus. He was particularly stunned
to read how Jesus had warned his followers about persecution and how, two
thousand years later, that persecution was taking place exactly as Jesus had
said it would. His reading of the Bible helped him understand why
Christians in
Nonetheless,
he had a job to do, and he continued with dogged determination, electing to
prove that Jesus is not God and was never crucified. Studying the Qur’an
for this purpose, he put together all of God’s qualities and attributes as the
Qur’an talks about them, and then searched the Qur’an for Jesus’
attributes. To his shock, Kamal discovered that
many attributes the Qur’an assigns to God are also assigned to Jesus, proving
to Kamal that Jesus and God are, indeed, one.
Growing doubts now made Kamal’s
life miserable. He had always loved Islam and had always believed that
the only way to God was through Mohammed. But if Jesus and God are one,
then what is the way to heaven?
One day, the Emir came to visit Kamal in his house and discovered all the research that Kamal had documented (the deity of Jesus, the Bible being
the true Word of God, etc.). He couldn’t believe what he read. He
told Kamal that he would kill him if he shared his
heretical ideas with any Muslim and that he was now considered an
infidel.
Kamal, however, could not turn from the conviction that Christianity was the
right way. He sat down and said, “God you know that I love you, and I know that
you want me on the right path. God, I can’t resist anymore. All that I did, I
did trying to please you. Please help me.”
Jesus heard his prayer. He saved him. He
gave him a new heart and new life. Kamal’s search for
reconciliation started with his mother. He begged her forgiveness for his years
of harshness and ill treatment of the family. His search for
reconciliation didn’t end with his family either. He sought out the
Christian owners of businesses whom he had robbed, or mistreated, and begged
their forgiveness too.
Over the ensuing months, Kamal grew in his new faith, gradually winning the
confidence and trust of local Christians and finding fellowship at a
church. He was baptized and continues to brave physical attacks and
threats against his life, because he feels that no price is too great to pay
for the One who gave everything for him, Jesus.
Joon
Gon Kim- a Korean who loved his enemies
Many other men and
women in recent decades have dedicated their lives to spreading the Christian
message, often braving torture and death. For example, in
Yes, Jesus always has,
and still does, change lives. He alone has the power to do that
life-transforming work in people’s hearts. All of the above Christian people
have found fulfilment and joy in following the
teachings of Jesus. They were transformed when they met Christ and yielded
their lives to Him. Each of them has made a positive impact on the world.
They realize that religion, agnosticism, atheism, and secular humanism hold no
true answers. Christianity is still relevant to the needs of today.
A reformed alcoholic,
with a vivid memory of past hopelessness and a new sense of power through
Christ, was replying to the charge that ‘his religion was a delusion’. He said,
‘Thank God for the delusion; it has put clothes on my children, shoes on their
feet and bread in their mouths. It has made a man of me and has put joy and
peace in my home, which before had been a hell. If it is a delusion, may God
send it to the slaves of drink everywhere, for their slavery is an awful
reality.’
You may also wish to
encounter the living God and experience His transforming power. Christ's desire
is to enter your heart and give you a new life in Him.