Visit www.TheRealStoryofJesus.com. See the story of God’s free gift of salvation through His only Son Jesus in The Real Story of Jesus, an iBIBLE special episode.
A production of RevelationMedia, The Real Story of Jesus presents the true narrative of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, from Genesis to Revelation. This visual and audio presentation of God’s story of salvation reveals mankind’s fall into sin, their inability to save themselves, and God’s plan to redeem and restore mankind. The salvation won by Jesus on the cross for us is the Gospel message that must be shared to all people. Will you, in faith, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, accept His gift of salvation, and become a child of God? A production of RevelationMedia, iBIBLE brings God’s Word to life in a format that people all over the world can engage with. Through dramatic audio and vibrant animation, people of all ages, all backgrounds, and with all abilities can learn the Divine Narrative—the one cohesive story of Scripture. iBIBLE will be available for free to translate into any of the world’s 7,000+ languages. Join the movement today and help bring the true story of God’s Word to the nations for free!
To learn more, visit www.i.BIBLE. Director:
Steve Cleary
MAX LUCADO
UpWords Ministries and MaxLucado.com exist to help people take one step closer to Jesus.
God’s story is one of love and redemption. The message that most clearly shows this redemptive love is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 John 3:16). Paul says this message is of “first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). As God reveals his nature through the stories of the Bible, the following teachings emerge as the central core doctrines.
Untying Knots
Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. Tightening shoes by wrapping strings together? Nothing easy about that. Who came up with the idea of shoes anyway?
My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench watching kids gather and play at the bus stop. One day a little fellow struggled to board the bus, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment. All of a sudden it was too late. The bus door closed. With tear-filled eyes he looked at Roy on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”
We never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” And when we do, who shows up? Jesus, our next-door Savior. Go ahead, ask him: “Do you untie knots?” “Yes,” he will say.
As We Behold Him
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness…” As we behold him, we become like him.
It’s a principle I experienced first-hand when an opera singer visited our church. He sat right behind me. He tried to contain himself, but how can a tuba hide in a room of piccolos? I was startled. Inspired. Emboldened by his volume. I lifted mine. Did I sing better? No. But did I try harder? No doubt. His power brought the best of me.
Could your world use a little music? If so, invite heaven’s baritone—Jesus Christ—to cut loose. Who knows? A few songs with him might change the way you sing!
Christ Is the Reward
Do you visit the Grand Canyon for the T-shirt or the snow globe? No. The reward of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon. The wide-eyed realization you’re part of something ancient, splendid, powerful and greater than you.
The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a better self-image. The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowship with him. Walking with him. Pondering him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you’re part of something endless, unstoppable, unfathomable! And that he, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, thinks you’re worth his death on Roman timber. Christ is the reward of Christianity.
All God All Man
“Who do you say I am?” Jesus asks of Peter. “I, uh, I believe…um, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Maybe he wasn’t that hesitant. But if he was, you can hardly fault him. How many times do you call a callous-handed nail bender from a one-camel town the Son of God?
You remember the drawings with the question, “What’s wrong with this picture?” We’d look closely for something that didn’t fit—like an astronaut on the moon with a pay phone in the background. Pay phones aren’t found on the moon, and God doesn’t chum with common folk or snooze in fishing boats. But Colossians 2:9 says he did: “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body.” All God, all man. Don’t we need a God-man Savior?
Seize the Opportunity
On the wall of a concentration camp, a prisoner carved the following words:
I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine.
I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown.
I believe in God, even when he doesn’t speak.
What hand could have cut such a conviction? What eyes could have seen good in such horror? There’s only one answer: eyes that chose to see the unseen. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NCV), “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will only last a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.” We can see either the hurt or the Healer.
Mark it down. God knows you and I are blind. He knows living by faith and not by sight doesn’t come naturally. He will help us. Accept his help. Either live by the facts or see by faith!
See the Unseen
On the wall of a concentration camp, a prisoner carved the following words:
I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine.
I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown.
I believe in God, even when he doesn’t speak.
What hand could have cut such a conviction? What eyes could have seen good in such horror? There’s only one answer: eyes that chose to see the unseen. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NCV), “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will only last a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.” We can see either the hurt or the Healer.
Mark it down. God knows you and I are blind. He knows living by faith and not by sight doesn’t come naturally. He will help us. Accept his help. Either live by the facts or see by faith!
