He
is alive!
It
is upon this belief that Jesus was victorious over death, that the entire
Christian faith depends. It is because of this pivotal importance that the
reality of that is questioned, attacked, and belittled, especially in the last
100 years. If it is not true, our passage for today tells us our faith is
futile. We may as well close the doors and say good-bye to one another. There
is no reason for us to meet. Every Bible believing preacher is a liar, if Jesus
was not raised. If that is the case, they are not only preaching a lie, but
also encouraging you to base your life on a lie. If there is no resurrection,
there is no solution to sin. There is no way to remove the inevitable guilt
that weighs down the human heart. And because the way of Christ calls us to
death of self, because it forfeits worldly pleasure now for eternal pleasure
with God, if there is no resurrection, then we are to be pitied.
The arguments against resurrection change over the years. As each opposing theory is debunked, new ones are created. They all begin with the same premise, miracles do not happen. The same researchers and scientists will tell us that in every other field of research and experimentation, we must be very careful not to approach our field with foregone conclusions. Yet, those very same doctors of science will begin examining the resurrection with the foregone conclusion that there is no God and therefore miracles do not happen. Then they proceed to search for alternate explanations. Rather than accept the account of eyewitnesses and the proof of amazingly transformed lives, they would rather try to search for a convenient alternative explanation 2000 years after the fact.
Let
me share one last verse that sums up what I would love you to take home and
apply to your life. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is
living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans
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