How strong is your faith? What is your faith based on? Is your faith willing to stand when criticized? Is your faith based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Does the promise of resurrection help you get through tough times? Or are you unsure about the resurrection?
Resurrection is a challenging topic. No one living today has witnessed a resurrection. We may believe that Jesus was resurrected. Yet, for most of us, proving it is difficult to do. We don’t have the archeological data at hand. We do have eyewitness accounts we can rely on.
We know the accounts at the end of each of the gospels and the beginning of the book of Acts. Jesus appeared to His disciples, which included the twelve apostles and several women. The Apostle Paul states that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred at one time in 1 Corinthians 15:6. Paul teaches the resurrection in many of his letters.
How did Paul know Jesus was raised from the dead? He encountered Jesus. Jesus first appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Paul spends time in Arabia before returning to Damascus (Galatians 1:17). He states in Galatians 1:12 that he was taught by Jesus Himself.
But Jesus being resurrected, and the promise of resurrection is not new in the New Testament. As we read many of the Psalms, they speak of spending eternity with God, living in his house forever. We also read in the prophecies of Isaiah of salvation and the visions of Daniel. Finally, the Revelation of John speaks to visions of the followers of Christ being with Him forever.
I pray we all believe the resurrection is real. I pray we know how to respond to questions about the resurrection. I pray each one of us know that our faith is not in vain, and we will be resurrected. Believe in the resurrection. Know that Jesus was resurrected. Believe the eyewitnesses.
1 Corinthians 15:12-14 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.
Marty Pressey 