Fw: the historical Jesus

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 7:28 AM
Subject: the historical Jesus

I was reading about the epistle of Philippians.  It was a letter written to a church in Philippi.  What captured my attention was that the city of Philippi was named for the father of Alexander the Great who had lived in that area and the city was founded in something like 356 B.C.  My thoughts focused on all of the well documented history that took place "before" Jesus was born.  I considered that there was a definite time before the person Jesus was born.  He then made a well recorded entrance onto the world scene, passed through over thirty years of life on the planet (under the rule of well documented world and religious leaders of the time), was crucified, died and then resurrected (as witnessed by over 500 people).  Jesus isn't just the Son of God, He is an historical figure.  He really lived at a definite time in a specific place.  The question is: "What will we do with this history...this reality?"  The introduction to John's late letter (1 John, chapter one) puts it this way:

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1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—

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And so Jesus has also been manifest to us as well.  We don't doubt Napoleon lived or George Washington.  We believe Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world way back there.  Jesus also lived and as we carefully consider the facts and the witness surrounding that life....we will find the Life that will carry us from our small period of history into His eternal presence.

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blessings,

Rob Smith