Almost everyone who walks on the earth has at times the sense that there is Someone or Something greater than any of us...
...Someone who made and controls the universe. It's not always a comfortable thought. We may have been brought up to believe that science now has all the answers, but anyone who considers this for any length of time realises that science can tell us How, but not Why or Who. Ultimately, we are faced with one of the oldest philosophical puzzles: is it possible that the universe caused itself (to which we reluctantly have to say: "No, not in any way that makes sense"), and if not, how was it caused?
The basic human instinct for religion, it seems, stacks up intellectually.
We can learn so much from looking around us, but not much more. We can deduce that if there is a God, He (or She, or It) is a God of order and rationality, because the universe seems to be an ordered and rational place. And if we look at people, and assume that God is greater than us, we can imagine that He (or It or She) has our best characteristics — kindness, justice, love, goodness, and so on — to a much higher degree. Perhaps even infinitely more.
But if that's all we know, then we don't know much.
Unless.
Unless God should Himself (we will stick with 'He', though gender really has no meaning when talking about God) decide to reach out and make Himself known to us.
It is this which is the foundation of the Christian faith. That God has made himself known, first through the prophets and leaders who put together the Old Testament, and then through Jesus Christ — God appearing as a human.
Christians believe that it is possible not only to know about God, but to know God personally. And not only possible, but fundamental and essential for living life to the full.
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About Jesus Christ
There is absolutely no doubt that Jesus Christ was the most remarkable person who ever lived.
His impact on history has been greater than any other person, even though in historical terms nothing he actually did would seem to deserve more than a footnote in a history of ancient times.
His impact on ethics and moral philosophy has been greater than any other person. No-one has ever found a better summation of the highest order of ethics than "Love your neighbour as yourself" and "Do to others what you would have them do to you."
His impact on literature and art has been greater than anyone else. From verse scratched on ancient tombs to The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and from mosaic tiles on the floors of Roman villas to the blockbuster The Passion of the Christ he is the most written about, the most talked about, and the most depicted person of the last two-thousand years.
But most of all, his impact on individual lives is like nothing that the world has known. To be a Christian is to be in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This may sound strange and bizarre — in fact, its very uniqueness means that it almost has to. A dedicated musician can sometimes feel close the spirit of Bach, a literature student can feel close to Emily Brontë, an athlete can feel they are close to the heart of the track. But these are just ways of describing a sense of discovery. Christians claim to know Jesus in a completely different way — something as hard to describe as describing 'red' to someone who has never seen colours.
Does this sound strange and odd? It should and it shouldn't. If you have ever felt a desire to get close to God, you've felt something of the desire which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
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