Napoleon Bonaparte, who by the age of 35 ruled 70% of Europe’s population and landmass, was fascinated with Jesus. Exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena after his defeat at Waterloo, he reflected, “I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. I founded my empire upon force, but Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love – and at this hour millions of men would die for him. I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of Alexander and of Caesar and myself have vanished into thin air, that a Judean peasant – Jesus – should be able to stretch his hands across the centuries and control the destinies of men and nations.”

TV host Larry King, who interviewed three American presidents and scores of movers and shakers, once said: “As a Jew, I have had nothing but the greatest and most profound respect for Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was, after all, Jewish—born Jewish, died Jewish. I think Jesus Christ was the greatest single individual of both millenniums, and He had a more profound effect on mankind than any individual ever born. If there’s one person in history I would like to interview, it would be Jesus.”

No wonder. Jesus—#38 on my alphabetical list of 70 things every man needs to know—is the single most fascinating subject. That’s why nothing we do will ever be as satisfying as meeting with, abiding in, and learning from Jesus.

Christianity is Jesus. It’s all about Jesus. Charles Spurgeon said, “In forty years I have not spent fifteen minutes without thinking of Jesus.” We can all aspire to that! Talk about and engage His identity, purpose, vision, mission, humanity, deity, strategy, determination, holiness, and leadership. Grasp what He did, why He did it, who He did it with, and how He did it. Discuss with others what He thought, believed, wanted, said, and did.

These topics are covered comprehensively in Part 3 of my new apologetics book What If Christianity Is True? Get a copy here, read it, write a review, give it to someone you care about, start a book discussion group together, and let’s work together to help as many people as possible discover (or rediscover) Jesus.

If you’re already leading a group or mentoring men on-on-one, encourage them to let Jesus become their highest and best thought in every situation. Teach them that, yes, we believe in Jesus, but it’s His belief in us that really transforms us.

Transformation into the image of Jesus is the ultimate telos: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). And: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29a, emphasis mine).

Mysterious, right? Allow for mystery as you pursue and contemplate Jesus. He would be a fool who would want a God he can fully understand.

There are only fourteen verses in the Bible to describe the first thirty years of Jesus’s life before His public ministry. God could easily have told us more, but He chose not to. Even more remarkable: The total recorded red-letter words of Jesus only amount to about seven 30-minute sermons. Yet, His teachings touch every aspect of life and faith. The fact that Jesus’ distillation of truth is so exhaustive sends shivers down my spine.

How is it possible that the seven sermons of Jesus have so comprehensively shaped faith and human history for two thousand years? The only reasonable explanation is that Jesus is who He said He was, and Christianity is true. There is no other name under heaven that can liberate us from decay and save our souls.