'Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring…

'Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man.'

The Bible speaks internationally when it says there is one mediator between God and man. No other religion presents a mediator. All say that humans can achieve acceptance with God. Why is a mediator so vital? How did Christ carry out His role?

Paul, walking alone through the streets of Athens, is moved by the spiritual confusion around him. Summoned to speak to philosophers and the public at Mars Hill, he gives his earnest demolition of the outlook that people still cling to — in modern atheism.

'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'

The Holy Spirit works in the mind and conscience to show us a) the disaster of ignoring Christ, b) the gift of righteousness secured for us by Christ, and c) the failed and condemned condition of this present world order.

We all know much about people we have never met. It is empty religion to have only head knowledge of Christ. To be able to say you have met with Him, and that you know his power and love - this is the greatest objective in life.

Christ's (almost) last words, 'It is finished', refer directly to His agonising atoning death, but also to things that His atonement brought to an end in the lives of all who trust in Him, such as guilt, fear of death, alienation from God, and other consequences of being 'lost'.

What point was Christ making when He said that a grain of corn must be buried before it could yield a harvest? And what did He mean when He said whoever loves his life will lose it, while whoever hates it will have life eternal?

'And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.'