Hillsong NYC's Pastor Joel Houston has lauded the faith-based drama A.D. The Bible Continues by producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, saying that it is "God's plan for helping people understand who Jesus is."

In an interview with the Christian Post, right before he appeared in the companion show Beyond A.D., Houston said that A.D. The Bible Continues really fits God's plan to teach people about Jesus.

"It's God's plan for helping people understand who Jesus is and why to follow Him," he said. "There are universal aspects of searching for love, searching for value, searching for security, for freedom — all this stuff in its purest form — that's what the Gospel fulfills and what the church is all about."

During its Easter Sunday premiere, a whopping 13.1 million people tuned in to watch the show, and Houston said that this is because the world is desperate for the truth and is "crying out for something real."

"I just think it's phenomenal that this story gets to run on such a public platform," said Houston. "Showing the New Testament — I've read those passages of Scripture my whole life, when you play it out on the screen, there are so many parallels to the world we are living in right now."

He also believes that people can learn so much from the series, and looking at the lives of Christians then and now, Houston said that we actually have it "pretty easy" compared to them.

"Every aspect of the story has so much application to today's culture — the journey that we are taking, what it means to be building a different kingdom, all the tensions that go with that," he said. "There aren't answers to questions right away, we are playing it out like the apostles did and disciples did, days, months, and years after Jesus died and rose again. I find it really encouraging."