The Lord Of Life

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.

John 5:26–27 RSV

Why is Christianity so different from the religions of the world? It is because Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with the living God. Jesus, Son of God the Father and second person of the Trinity, is the central figure of our evangelistic message.

Today many voices are making other claims. Atheists say there is no God. Polytheism may allow that Jesus is one of many gods. When I first went to some Far Eastern countries, I had to learn that in giving the invitation to receive Christ, I needed to make it clear to my listeners that they were turning from all other gods and turning to the true and the living God as revealed in the Scriptures. We, as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), boldly echo the ringing conviction of the apostle Peter when he affirmed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The title “Christ” means “anointed one.” It is the term, in the Greek language, for the ancient Hebrew word Messiah—the anointed one whom God would send to save His people.

Peter and his fellow Jews, the first believers of the early Christian church, recognized Jesus Christ as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was one of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. . . . That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:4, 9).

Our Father and our God, shine through the darkness and chase away the evil. I know You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And I know You are the King of kings. I worship and adore You, Lord. I place my trust in You. And I draw my encouragement and strength from Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).