Everyone has heard of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, his crucifixion on the cross... but was he really the son of God? How is that possible?

Well this bit is complicated...Jesus is God in human form. He is alive, even though he was killed over 2000 years ago. God always had a plan that he would come to earth in human form. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are a lot of prophesies foretelling the time when God would come to earth.

Background

The first four books of the New Testament of the Bible (also called the gospels), are written by four different authors within 50 years of His death. The gospels were written as a record of Jesus' birth, life and death and each present a different view on the same events.

Jesus was born over 2000 years ago (somewhere between 7 and 4 BC) and died about 33 years later. But it is what happened in between that is the most fascinating. If you have never picked up a Bible before, let alone opened it for a read, you could read first about Jesus in the gospel of Luke.

His Birth

An angel visited a virgin girl called Mary, and told her that God's Holy Spirit would create a child within her. Mary was pretty freaked out! But she trusted God. When the baby was about due to be born, Joseph and Mary were returning to their town of origin, Bethlehem, for a massive Roman-coordinated tax census. When they arrived, the town was fully booked out - there was nowhere for them to stay. They were offered a stable to stay in, and Jesus was born that night.

The gospel of Matthew records the story of the three wise men from a different country who followed a new star in the sky to the stable where He was born.

His Life

Little is written of His life before he began His ministry. King Herod heard of the birth of the "King of the Jews", and fearing the loss of his own throne, ordered the execution of all male infants. Joseph, Mary and Jesus escaped to Egypt until Herod's death, when it was safe to return.

His Ministry

At about age 30, Jesus began his ministry as a travelling Rabbi (religious teacher).  He quickly attracted attention through his forthright preaching and miracululous healings of the sick and the crippled.  What impressed his hearers was not the novelty of his teaching, but the authority with which he spoke and the evident intimacy of his relationship with God, whom he addressed as Father.

Like the great Jewish prophets of earlier times, he urged people to honour God with single minded devotion and to treat others with justice and compassion.

He taught that God required right heart attitudes rather than zealous performance of religious ceremonies.

His Death

His Resurrection