History: 

The history of Christianity really goes back before the birth of Jesus into the Old Testament and ancient Jewish prophesies. Christians believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, a leader and savior whose coming was predicted by Jewish scriptures (the Christian Old Testament) centuries before His birth. "Christ" is the Greek word for Messiah, which is why Jesus is also called Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus or simply Christ. This is where the term "Christian" came from, to identify a person who followed Jesus.

Christianity began as an offshoot of Judaism for those Jewish believers who accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah and their Savior. God's promise of the Messiah was always meant to be a blessing for the entire world and not just the Jewish people. In the same promise God made to Abraham, the father of the Jews, about creating a Jewish nation through him, God also states that the Jewish lineage would bring a blessing to the whole world. Christians believe that Jesus is that blessing that was promised to Abraham and everyone else. Jesus commanded that the good news of His sacrificial death, resurrection and redemption should be shared with the whole world. The early Christian church leaders soon realized that Christianity was not just for Jews and began spreading the word to Gentiles (non-Jews) as well.