Jesus Christ: Birth, Purpose, & Achievement

The curse of suffering and death had been brought upon the Earth by Satan. In order to save the Earth, God would have to retrieve it from Satan. His angel – Gabriel – appeared before Mary & Joseph and announced to them that though Mary was a virgin, she would miraculously bear a child who would be the Messiah. Joseph &e Mary travelled to the town of Bethlehem where she gave birth to Jesus, thus fulfilling the prophecy: 'Out of Bethlehem will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel' Three wise men arrived from the east, they had brought with them the choicest of gifts to present to the new-born king and they followed the eastern star that led them to Bethlehem. There they found Jesus with Mary and Joseph and fell on their knees and worshipped him.

Jesus Christ on the cross at calvary

Jesus grew up strong in faith and soon proclaimed that he was the messiah His teaching was powerful and he performed several miracles. He urged his followers to come to him and repent of their sins and thus break the barrier between them and God. He claimed anyone could call God their Father and enjoy an intimate personal relationship with him if they only accepted his son - Jesus as their Christ (meaning Messiah or saviour). Jesus's growing popularity angered the Jewish priests for they thought Jesus was disobeying the Jewish law by proclaiming himself as the Son of God. Even though the Roman governor could not convict him of anything at all, he sentenced him to death by crucifixion.

Thus was fulfilled what ancient prophets had foretold: "He was despised and rejected by men." The night before his arrest, Jesus assured his followers that though he would be put to a merciless death, he would rise again after 3days and appear before them. Jesus was nailed to a cross ✝ to die a slow, painful death of crucifixion. Thus Jesus fulfilled what was written centuries ago, "He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our inequities." 3days after Jesus died the entrance to the tomb was found open, and his body had disappeared. Jesus had risen from the dead! Over the coming days, Jesus appeared once again to all his followers and instructed them to go out into the world and preach the wonderful message of how God had sent his only son to suffer and die for the sins of the world and raised him from the dead, thereby making the ultimate sacrifice that broke all barriers between us and God. This message was spread across the world and is known as the 'gospel' or 'good news.'