"The Christian Difference” Series

A farmer would call his pigs to feed by tapping a stick against the fence of the pig sty. When they heard the “tapping” they ran to the trough to feed. One day they got loose and wandered into the woods nearby. A woodpecker landed on a tree and began pecking away. When the pigs heard the “tapping,” they ran that direction expecting something to eat. But there was nothing. They scared the woodpecker, who after landing on another tree, began pecking again. When the pigs heard the “tapping,” they ran that direction expecting something, only finding nothing and scaring the bird again. This went on ‘til the pigs died of exhaustion and starvation.

Today, many messages promise to fill the hunger of the soul, only to leave people unsatisfied. Many are dying because the God shaped hole in their heart isn’t filled with the only thing that can satisfy - a personal love relationship with their creator, the God of the universe. But the message of Christianity presents the answer people are looking for. That’s why Paul said he’d committed his life to telling others about Jesus. He sums up the Christian difference in verse 27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” What sets the message of Christianity apart from others proclaimed in our world today?

1. A Person - “Christ”

The God of Christianity can be known on a “first name basis.” He is a personal Savior, and His name is Jesus Christ. Three thoughts:

A. He is an eternal person.

Jesus has always existed as the eternal God of the universe.

“For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]” - Colossians 1:16-17 (Amplified)

“That Jesus is Himself God is the heart of the gospel, because apart from His deity He could not save a single soul. No heresy so corrupts the gospel and robs it of its power as the teaching that Jesus is not God. Apart from His deity, there is no gospel and no salvation.” - John MacArthur

B. He is a historical person.

E.F. Harrison, the founder of Fuller Theological Seminary, once wrote: “Some religions, both ancient and modern, require no historical basis, for they depend upon ideas rather than events.

Christianity is not one of these.”  Jesus was a person of history. And God took on flesh in the person of Christ for two reasons:

1) Christ came to bring the ultimate revelation of God to us.

“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).” - John 1:1; 14 (Amplified)

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” - John 14:9b (NIV)

He’s the “one and only,” the unique person of the universe, God/Man.

2) Christ came to provide a personal relationship with God for us.

A holy God can’t have anything to us, because we’re all guilty, since all it takes is one sin to qualify as a sinner. So, no one’s good enough to relate to God. Even the best we can offer is tainted by sin. But because God wants a relationship with us, He came in Christ to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves: pay the penalty for our sins in our place.

The difference between religion and Christianity is that religion says that man, through his efforts, must reach up to God. But Christianity says that God, through His efforts, has reached down to man.

“He who lives eternally came to die, so we who were dying eternally might come to live.”

C. He is a real person.

History says Jesus lived, died, and had His body laid in a tomb.

“(The) abundant historical references leave us with little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died. The more

interesting question . . . is whether Jesus died and lived.” - Simon Gathercole, Westminster Seminary

Many have offered explanations for the empty tomb. But none is more satisfying than the one given by His followers - He rose from the dead.

“The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.” - Henry Morris