Who is this Man? – part 3 The Resurrection

1 Peter 1:3–5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (ESV)

“If Jesus is risen, it changes everything!”

I’m guilty of taking a “leap of faith”. Actually, many Christians are. I don’t begrudge the fact that as a child I readily accepted to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Most of us are so familiar with the phrase that it doesn’t hit us with the force it deserves. Read it slowly and think about how it would sound to adult ears who has never heard it before: Jesus rose from the dead.

Dead people don’t come back to life. It doesn’t matter what century you were born in, what part of the world, what ethnic group or what financial class you belong to, dead people don’t come back to life. Until He did.

It’s a fantastic and absurd claim, unless it’s true. If it is indeed true, then it is the hope of the world! “If Jesus rose again, it changes everything!”

I am so thankful to be introduced to the risen Lord at a young age, without a lot of questions or skepticisms. I wish everyone had that same opportunity. However, just because I believed it as a child, doesn’t mean that I’ve always been secure in my belief.

I remember teaching youth group one Wednesday night several years ago. I heard the biblical truths I was teaching coming out of my mouth, but I had these thoughts creeping throughout my mind, “do you really believe that?” “Is this what you believe or is this what you were told to believe?”

Wow! I was a bit freaked out. I finished up the lesson and youth group for that night, but I was troubled. I was guilty of not asking the tough questions earlier and I wasn’t comfortable doubting. I didn’t know that it’s ok to doubt and question. Doubts and questions provide the opportunity for growth and refinement. It’s important that we learn to question the right way and learn how to find real answers to tough questions.

I tell you this, because when it comes to someone coming back from the dead, it takes faith. But the Christian faith is not just a “leap of faith”, even if that is how you started. The Bible gives us the foundation for an evidentiary faith, a rational faith. God has recorded historical events, people, promises and fulfillments of prophecy to point us to the truth. When we doubt, we should look to the evidence.

Don’t be afraid to question the resurrection, if it leads you into an honest pursuit of truth. We shouldn’t be afraid because the evidence for it is overwhelming to those who come to it open to receiving truth. I’ve already mentioned writers like Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, and C.S. Lewis who were skeptics, and antagonistic to the truth, but found the evidence so overwhelming they could no longer deny it.

My professor at Liberty University, Dr. Gary Habermas, is a leading scholar in regards to the resurrection. I remember him sharing about the most difficult time of his life when his wife passed away and how coming to confidence in the resurrection brought him comfort and assurance (you can read his article here).

Dr. Habermas demonstrated for me the importance of honest questions and rigorous pursuit of the truth. He also showed that there is an overwhelming amount of evidences for the validity of Scripture.

So, we will look at some of those evidences for why we believe in the resurrection. There is an empty tomb, there is several accounts of His appearances, there is dramatic life change of the disciples, there is the birth of the Church, and there is so much more.

“If Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the whole world” N.T. Wright

If the resurrection is true, then those who believe have been born again into a living hope! A hope that starts today and last forever! Look at the evidence, read the biblical accounts, see the lives powerfully changed for the glory of God and ask yourself “do I believe”?