Posted on 04/21/2018 5:42:33 AM PDT by metmom
Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said (Matthew 28:5-6).
The fact of Jesus resurrection is the culmination of redemptive history and the essential basis of the Christian faith.
Without the Resurrection, our Christian faith would just be a lot of wishful thinking, no better than human philosophies and speculative religions. In fact, the noted seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke, some of whose ideas were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence, wrote, Our Saviours resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity, so great that His being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it.
From its very early accounts, Scripture has contained the message of resurrection hope. Death has never been the end for the believer, but simply a gateway to eternal life in Heaven. Abraham was ready to sacrifice his only son Isaac because in faith he considered that God is able to raise men from the dead (Heb. 11:19). The Lord assured Daniel that believers will awake . . . to everlasting life (Dan. 12:2).
The Resurrection was the focal point of Christs teaching to the disciples about His sufferings and death: The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31). It is therefore completely understandable that Matthew and the other three Gospel writers all included an historical account of Jesus resurrection in their narratives.
Paul knew that without the Resurrection our salvation could not have been possible. He was also convinced that the truth of the Resurrection must be believed or else salvation cannot be received: If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom. 10:9).
Its no wonder that Paul, the other apostles, and every leader in the early church continually proclaimed Christs resurrection as the culmination of His ministry. Those men were so captivated by the significance of the Resurrection that they could not help but preach it. And that should be our attitude today.
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for the truth of John 11:25, which gives us the hope of resurrection in Jesus own words.
For Further Study
Read Acts 2:14-36 or 3:12-26.
What is the focal point of Peters evangelistic sermons? How does he prove his theme?
Studying God’s Word ping
Thank you.
So simple, so short, yet so deep and meaningful. This is perhaps the most important of John MacArthur’s writings.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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