Why
I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
A major component of the gospel of
Jesus Christ is his
resurrection from the dead. In order for a sinful man to be saved from
his sins, he must believe it. For the scripture declares: “That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”
(Romans 10:9). Paul reminded the Corinthians of the same gospel he
preached to them: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The
resurrection was a vindication of Jesus' substitutionary death for
sinners inasmuch as death had no claim on him. It was for us and our
sins that he died and rose again.
A belief in
the resurrection of Jesus Christ is rooted in reason as well as
revelation. In other words, any intellectually honest individual should
have no problem believing God can raise the dead. Psalm 19:1 says: “The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork.” A reasonable man, unaided by scripture, can perceive the
majesty of God from the universe he observes. The deeper a man delves
into the wonders of nature, the more glory he beholds. This is true
both macroscopically (vastness of the universe) and microscopically
(genius behind the composition of matter on an atomic level). In
addition, he perceives that he (man) is at the pinnacle of life forms,
being self-aware, having cognitive ability and possessing a conscience.
He now has two options available to explain his existence and that of
the universe: creation or evolution.
An
intellectually honest individual who considers evolution, the humanist
alternative to creation, as a viable explanation for his existence,
will ultimately abandon that theory thanks to what his fellow man has
discovered about physical science. The First and Second Laws of
Thermodynamics, which are two fundamentals of the physical universe,
destroy the theory of evolution. The First Law is the principle of
energy conservation. It states that in a closed mechanical system,
which the universe is, there is a fixed amount of energy. Although
energy is often converted from one form to another, it's neither
created nor destroyed. The Second Law states when energy is converted
from one form to another, it always has the tendency to become less
available for useful work. It's the principle of energy entropy. The
conversions of energy tend toward greater degrees of randomness and
lesser degrees of complexity.
The First
and Second Laws of Thermodynamics enable us to draw two inescapable
conclusions. First, since there is no energy creation taking place in
the universe, there MUST have been a point at which the energy
currently existing within the system was brought into existence by a
greater power outside the system. Secondly, since converted energy
always becomes less orderly, energy evolution from less complex to more
complex forms, an absolute necessity for the evolution of species, is
impossible! That leaves the reasonable man to conclude that creation
alone can explain his existence.
This is admittedly a
rather circuitous route to a belief in the resurrection of Christ. But
the need to make the case for God as Creator is mandatory to any
defense of the resurrection. Resurrection power is an extension of
creative power! If God did not create man in his own image, neither can
he resurrect man! The latter necessitates the former! The most
egregious attacks upon the Godhead focus upon his role as Creator, the
One to whom all men are accountable! Once a man acknowledges God as his
Creator, One who is bigger and wiser than himself, embracing the
concepts of Christ's incarnation (virgin conception and birth),
substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection becomes a logical
progression of thought!
Belief in God as Creator
leads one logically to conclude that God is perfectly able to REVEAL
his mind and will for man to man, and PRESERVE what he
communicates. This belief is entirely reasonable. If God can establish
with absolute precision the trillions of heavenly bodies stretched
across billions of light years, he is well able to get a message to man
and preserve it!
This leads me to believe in
the Bible as the source of divine revelation. The sixty-six books of
the Bible have a unique history. God led Moses to write its first five
books. Over the course of 2,000 or so years, different men with unique
gifts and perspectives penned the historical books, the poetic and
prophetic books, the four gospels and the NT epistles. All sixty-six
books have a common theme: Jesus Christ the Messiah. Despite many
attempts by skeptics to find errors within its pages and disparage its
integrity, the Bible has withstood every attack. While on this earth,
Jesus of Nazareth affirmed the veracity of the scriptures (John 10:35).
His resurrection proves what he said about them was true. The Bible
says Jesus both arose from the dead (Matthew 28:6-7; Mark 16:6) and
appeared to his disciples after he arose. At one point, over five
hundred saw him alive at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). There is just no
way these men would have laid down their lives as martyrs for a dead
leader. Once the eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ were filled
with Holy Ghost power and boldness to bear witness of him, the number
of disciples grew to several thousand in a matter of days.
The
resurrection of Jesus Christ, an integral part of the gospel, is the
power of God to transform the life of a believer (Romans 1:16). Jesus
was raised for our justification (4:25). The perfect righteousness of
God that Jesus embodied in his death is the same righteousness God
imputes to every one that believes in his name. The gospel of grace
forever settles the issue of righteousness for those who believe. It is
so dynamic and transformative that the apostle Paul testified: “Christ
liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). The ability of the resurrected Christ
to transform a life is undeniable and irrefutable. The resurrection of
Christ guarantees that all whom God has resurrected from spiritual
death he will one day resurrect from physical death as well,
accomplishing the total redemption of spirit, soul and body (Romans
8:11, 23; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:14).
The
resurrection of Jesus Christ is believable on the basis of both reason
and revelation. Those who have experienced God's grace in the new
birth, having been resurrected with him, are his children and
joint-heirs with Christ. Eye has not seen nor has ear heard, neither
has entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for them that
love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). All of the glories and blessings God has
in store for believers are due to the fact that death was unable to
contain Jesus in that grave!
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