Resurrection

Jesus is Lord!!!

It is interesting the reactions from those who refuse the resurrection of Jesus.  The simplest is that the resurrection was fabricated, that the body was stolen, or to the extreme that the disciples were hallucinating.  Some say that Jesus never died in the first place.  But the Bible, with thousands of ancient documents as evidence, refutes any theory aside from Jesus death and resurrection as described in the New Testament.

Jesus is here… alive forever!  And we are alive forever in him.

Paul knew of the crucified Jesus, but he was not expecting to meet a living.  If Jesus has not raised from the dead, then what we do is useless.  We would be stupid to wake up early on Sundays and head to a place to move through some preset motions.  As Matt Chandler would say, church would be the most lame hobby we could have.

But even more than useless, we would be liars!  We would be lying to ourselves, those arounds us, and anyone who we share the gospel with. In addition, it takes the coupling of the death on the cross AND the resurrection of Jesus to provide salvation.  The sacrifice is an offering for our sins. The resurrection is the answer of life.

Just as the serpent had to be lifted up in the wilderness to save Moses and the Israelites, so to was Jesus lifted up for us to look at.  If all we think is that this life is all we get, we are to be pitied!  Because there is no way we could find satisfaction.  There would only be something else, a better home, a better city, a better family… But in our faith in the completed work in Jesus, we find a new truth in the benefits of eternity.

But in Jesus’ resurrection, we can bank on the fact of his example.  We see him as the first person of all those who died in faith and will be resurrected in new bodies.

It is finished.  That was Jesus’ last words gives us confidence in his promise, and his resurrection gives us evidence.  I hope today that your faith is renewed in the finished work of Jesus.