"...the single most powerful figure--not merely in these two millenniums but in all human history--has been Jesus of Nazareth." TIME Magazine, December 6, 1999

As the new millennium approached in December of 1999 TIME magazine spoke in two different issues concerning the persons of the past two millennia that have changed the course of history. TIME concluded that Albert Einstein was the "Person of the Century." Several others, including Johann Gutenberg and Isaac Newton, were noted as the "Most Important People of the Millennium." But it is an interesting observation, and one we believe to be absolutely accurate, that the December 6th cover article of TIME considered Jesus of Nazareth to be the most dynamic and influential man to ever walk the face of this earth. Below is how this cover story began.

"The memory of any stretch of years eventually resolves to a list of names, and one of the useful ways of recalling the past two millenniums is by listing the people who acquired great power. Muhammad, Catherine the Great, Marx, Gandhi, Hitler, Roosevelt, Stalin and Mao come quickly to mind. There's no question that each of those figures changed the lives of millions and evoked responses from worship through hatred. It would require much exotic calculation, however, to deny that the single most powerful figure--not merely in these two millenniums but all human history--has been Jesus of Nazareth. Not only is the prevalent system of denoting the years based on...his birth, but a serious argument can be made that no one else's life has proved remotely as powerful and enduring as that of Jesus. It's an astonishing conclusion in light of the fact that Jesus was a man who lived a short life in a rural backwater of the Roman Empire, [and] who died in agony as a convicted criminal..." TIME Magazine, December 6, 1999

The four Gospels in the New Testament record the life of Jesus of Nazareth. What is recorded is the earliest and only authoritative history of this man's life. What is revealed in these Gospels is that Jesus was both a real man and the incarnated God. In John's gospel He is called the "Logos," i.e., the definition, the explanation, and the expression of God. Jesus, as a real man, defined, explained, and expressed God by every word He spoke and also by the life that He lived. The divine attributes of God were expressed in the human virtues of this man. He was Love embodied. He was Wisdom incarnate. he was righteous and pure, yet kind and merciful. He was everything we could ever hope for or long to find. Embodied in Him was the reality of every positive and lovely virtue known to mankind.

Of course, as the TIME article said, Jesus Christ changed the course of human history by His speaking and by the life He lived. As the article did not say, but the New Testament reveals, He died not merely as a martyr for His cause, but as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, and very personally as a payment for the sins each of us have committed. The Bible also records that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Furthermore, in His resurrection He became the Spirit who enters into man and who gives life to man. As such, Jesus Christ, who lives today, desires to enter into every man and to live within us.

We should realize that Jesus not only changed human history, but over the past two thousand years has also changed the lives of countless numbers of people who have opened their hearts to Him, and received Him as their personal Savior. While He is great and wonderful, He is also loving, intimate, and very personal. We urge you to open your heart to Him right now in prayer and allow Him to change your personal history. Pray the following prayer from your heart: