There is a sense in which we can do nothing to make Jesus come alive. But there is another sense in which Jesus will not come to life without our assistance.

If those two sentences seem contradictory and therefore nonsense, it is because it is not easy to use words to say anything about Jesus that makes sense. It can be done, but it is not easy. Anybody who thinks it is easy ignores the fact that God required over two million words in the Bible before He finished saying all He had to say about Jesus.

The sense in which we can do nothing to make Jesus come alive is this: He is already alive, seated at the right hand of God in the Heavenlies. We did nothing that contributed to Jesus occupying that position in the present. This is a fact that exists independent of anything we do, think, or feel. Nothing that we can do will alter that fact. His life, in Himself, does not depend on us. In that sense, we can do nothing to make Jesus come to life.

But Jesus will not come to life in other people without our assistance. This is what Paul was telling us in Romans 10:14,15, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'" Our telling other people about Jesus then is the instrument through which Jesus comes to life in those people.

But we have already established that it is not easy to say anything about Jesus that makes sense. What do I mean by "makes sense?" I mean makes people sense the Jesus who is alive in the present, seated at the right hand of God, ruling over this present world. How can we say anything that makes other people sense that Jesus, and through their sensing Him make Him come alive in their lives?

Once again, my answer is going to appear to be contradictory. On the one hand it is easy to get people to sense Jesus: we simply talk about Jesus. God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, does the rest. On the other hand it is extremely difficult to get people to sense Jesus. It is difficult because we have to talk about the same Jesus who is actually seated at the right hand of God in the Heavenlies. If we say anything that does not accurately describe that Jesus, we do nothing to help Jesus come alive; instead we create confusion, making it difficult for the real Jesus to come alive in other people.

For this reason, the Apostle Paul uttered words designed to cause his followers to approach the subject of Jesus with great caution. Galatians 1:6-9 Paul says, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are now turning to a different gospel--which is no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul expressed his concern at how easy the Christians at Corinth had been led away from the Jesus Paul talked about, "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough."

Any person considering talking about Jesus, who gave any credibility to the Apostle Paul, would approach the subject of Jesus with extreme caution, checking each step of the way to be sure that the words chosen to describe Jesus were words in perfect harmony with the words chosen by the Apostle Paul. To follow any other policy could lead the person talking about Jesus to become condemned and accursed.

That said, it should not surprise you that I intend to describe for you exactly the same Jesus perceived by the Apostle Paul. I believe you need to read what I am writing because I do not think you've been told about the Jesus Paul knew.

I know you must think that last statement is utterly presumptuous on my part. How do I know that you haven't been told about the Jesus Paul knew? Pay attention, this gets complicated. If you have read this far, it is because you are a Christian with real and deep insight into what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ. Only such a person would be moved to grapple with the subject spotlighted in the title of this book. Only such a person would understand that the world actually is going to hell, and only such a person would feel moved to participate in stopping the world from going to hell. If I know you are such a person, how can I presume to suggest that you have not heard about the Jesus Paul knew? In fact, how could I possibly presume to say anything about what you've heard about Jesus? Was I there when you studied the Bible? Was I there when you asked questions of your teachers? Was I there when you heard the answers? How can I know what you think about Jesus?

I can know because we've had the same teachers. Or if not exactly the same teachers, teachers who told both of us the same thing about Jesus. Orthodoxy is a word that describes a single message, a message that is understood by all to be an accurate description in words of a present reality. While many parts of the message that is considered orthodox may change from denomination to denomination, the part of the message that concerns Jesus changes little, if at all, between certain Christian denominations. Within Christians denominations who accept and teach the deity of Jesus Christ, the message taught about Jesus is amazingly similar. For this reason, any person who studies the orthodox message about Jesus Christ being presented in those denominations today can know what every mature Christian who is a member of those denominations has been taught about Jesus Christ.

Notice that I raised one qualification: denominations who accept and teach the deity of Jesus Christ. People who consider themselves to be Christians who have not learned that Jesus is God have ignored the teachers who taught me about Jesus, and I do not presume to know anything about the Jesus they know--that is a different Jesus than the one I believe in. But for those who know that Jesus is God, I have studied and learned what your teachers have taught you. And I believe I can prove your teachers have failed to let you see the Jesus that Paul saw.