There is no one who has had a greater impact on the world than Jesus Christ. Lately, I’ve been inundated with videos (Star Trek: The Original Series: “Bread and Circuses”; J. Warner Wallace and Mike Winger’s “How Did We Miss this?” to name a few) that have pointed to one fact: whether or not one chooses to acknowledge it, Christianity has impacted our lives to the degree where we’re living based upon Christian principles, thanklessly using Christian advancements, and living out (relatively) comfortable and peaceful lives thanks to Christianity. According to J. Warner Wallace, a former atheist turned apologist, the data shows that no one has impacted Art, Science, Music, social reforms, or any other facet of human history than Jesus Christ. And, though they even try to scrub the Year of Our Lord (BC, Before Christ and AD, or Ano Domini) by replacing it with the Common Era (B.C.E., Before Common Era, or C.E., Common Era), one event, one man came on to the scene that changed history forever, and no person in all of History changed the world like Jesus Christ. Public Education was founded by Christians, our universities the world over are proof of that. No other world view that has founded a school has had the impact that Christ has had on education. Medicine is also proof: most hospitals are named after saints, as it was Christians who founded them to (originally) bring inexpensive health care to as many as possible. Science (in spite of common false allegations) was pushed forward by Christian men who, in a Christian environment were allowed to explore and experiment in God’s creation to find out more about the world we live in. Human rights, equality among gender and ethnicities, and basic human rights are ideas that first sprang up within Christian communities, and spread to the rest of the world (not perfectly, but in some way, shape or form). In contrast, since the secularization (by and large) of the world, more people have been killed or murdered in the name of humanist movements since the 1900s than every other war and century combined. We see, as the world grows more secular, more violence, more depravity, more division, more hate than we’ve ever seen before, all while the claim “getting rid of religion will bring us peace” is screamed in our faces. The Fact is, whether we desire to acknowledge it or not, we owe everything to Jesus Christ. He is the author of all creation, He is the apex of human history, and He is the reason we love each other, to the varying degrees in which we do. Some day every knee shall bow, and each tongue shall confess that He is Lord, and we shall all meet Him, either as a friend or an enemy. How you meet Him on that day depends on how you receive Him now.
Hebrews 2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
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