How do I know He is real?

Does anyone doubt the existence of historical figures like George Washington, Plato, or King Tut? Evidence abounds concerning them and much has been written about them. Yet when it comes to Jesus Christ, I’ve heard people say that He was not a real person, and that the Bible is fiction.

Today’s devotional reading gives four other records concerning Jesus. For instance, a Roman historian named Tacitus wrote that the founder of the Christian religion, Jesus Christ, was put to death by Pontius Pilate in the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (Annals 15.44, dated about A.D. 114). A letter from Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan is about Christ and Christians (Letters 10.96-97).

The more well-known Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote a short biographical note on Jesus in A.D. 90. He said, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ” (Antiquities 18.63). The Jewish Talmud also refers to Jesus of Nazareth.

Further, when evidence is given in a court case, eyewitnesses are important even if their testimonies differ on the details, yet the eyewitness evidence in Scripture for Jesus, given with incredible unity from many who saw Him, is tossed out as not credible. I find this very interesting.

How do I know that Jesus is real? In one way, something like I know that other historical figures were real; I believe the eyewitnesses and their written accounts. Yet in the case of Jesus, there is something that is subjective, something that happens to people who not only believe He existed but put their faith in Him for salvation from sin and eternal life. We have the testimony, as it were, that He does for us what He said He would do, even two thousand years after His appearance on earth; Jesus Christ changes our lives.

For me, this was instant and is still happening. I’ve written before about my attitude toward others in my pre-Christian life. I didn’t know much about God and really didn’t like people. Then one fall day, Jesus Christ came into my life. I can still remember sitting on my front step in the sunshine and realizing that my attitude toward people had suddenly changed. It was a marvel to me, no effort on my part, but there it was. Of course that change is ongoing and being polished by the Holy Spirit, yet it was God doing the impossible and proving to me that Jesus is real. 1 John 4:8-9 says:

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

Since then, and often with some reluctance on my part, God works to reveal my need to change, not only my attitudes, but also the way I talk and act. Before Christ, I would try for self-improvement with selfish reasons. Now the old nature, my sin nature, resists change, but the new nature God has given me, that life of Christ, is a real and actual force that cannot be denied. My destiny is change and growth; He is transforming me into the image of this real Person who was sent by God into the world so that all this could happen to me. He came that I might live.

Change is a continual process. I’m nearly 67 years old, and after more than 35 years of knowing Jesus, one might think there is a limit to the need for it, but not so. He keeps showing me where I am sinful, selfish, and not like Him. He also keeps pouring out His love and grace that I might be changed.

The historical records are interesting. The Scriptures are essential (the Word of God is very powerful to change lives; it is the Bread of life), yet it is those changes that put the butter on my bread. God daily verifies to me that without any doubt, Jesus Christ is a real person.