From the third day after his death, the followers of Jesus began to experience Him with them once more in a transformed and risen way. They became utterly convinced of His resurrection and that He was alive. Jesus ascended back to his Father in Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to be in the world as a source of divine power and life for human beings.
In the thirty years that followed Jesus’ death and resurrection, the world had been transformed. What initially consisted of those closest to Jesus during his short ministry was changed by the action of the Holy Spirit. This small, frightened group grew into a people of faith numbering many thousands, in places far away from first century Palestine, including Rome, the centre of temporal power at that time.
Over the next nineteen centuries the Christian community has grown into billions worldwide. Belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ, made possible by the sacrifice of His life to save us and by His resurrection, changed the world forever – that is the Christian faith.