Did Jesus really resurrect from the dead? The answers vary.
- Christians are supposed to say "yes."
- Atheists say that it doesn't matter because God does not exist.
- Other religions claim that Jesus was a good man, a good teacher, and a good prophet, but do not believe in His death, burial, and resurrection.
The answer to this question is extremely important to me. I profess to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Guess what? I am a fool if Jesus did not rise from the dead. I am a victim of the cruelest April Fool's jokes if I place my eternity in the hands of a man who body has been rotting away for over 2,000 years.
Persecutor Turned Proclaimer
So there was this guy named Saul. Saul was a well-known dude in his country. He was highly educated. He held positions of power and authority. He was a religious leader, and his primary goal was to eliminate (kill) people who followed the latest man that people said may be the Messiah.
Saul was on one of his many trips to kill and imprison people who followed Jesus when he experienced a supernatural encounter with Jesus. A flash of light caused Saul to fall to the ground. And then he heard a voice that asked, "Why are you persecuting me?"
Saul asked who was speaking to him, and the voice replied, "I am Jesus, who you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." Saul arose but was blind. As he was instructed, Saul entered the city where he met a follower of Jesus. Through these experiences, Saul became a follower of Jesus Christ and began sharing the news about Jesus just like the people he had been persecuting.
One of the greatest persecutors of the Christian faith became a prolific proclaimer of the Good News. Talk about an astonishing transformation. This life change was so dramatic that Saul started going by the name Paul.
People have been trying to answer this question for 2 millennium.
Paul really understood the importance of the resurrection of Jesus, both for his own life and in the lives of other people who choose to follow Christ.
Even during Paul's life, people were already asking the question, "Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is the resurrection of Christ really true?"
This is what Paul said about the matter in a book he wrote to believers in the city of Corinth. (I Corinthians 15)
- The Good news of Jesus is that He died, was buried, and rose again. These events were prophesied. (verses 3-4)
- Many people saw Jesus after these events took place (verses 5-8)
He continues to explain 4 realities that are true if the resurrection of Christ never happened.
1. Faith in Jesus Christ is in vain without the resurrection. - There is no reason to believe in Jesus if He was just a good guy who lays rotting in a tomb. His rising back again means that Jesus was not an acceptable sacrifice. It means that Jesus was not who He said He was. It means believing in Jesus has no benefit unless He really did come back to life. (verse 14)
2. Followers of Jesus still live in sin if Jesus did not come back to life. - If Jesus did not overcome death, then we have no hope of being reunited with God. Sin separates us from God because God cannot be with sin. Isn't that the reason that all people try to find God? Don't they want to know how to find forgiveness? Followers of Christ are left out in the cold because their forgiveness depends on Jesus being alive. (verse 17)
3. If Jesus did rise from the dead then His followers will perish. - Perish means to suffer complete ruin. This is a serious concept. Sin brings about death, both physical and spiritual. Spiritual death means being separated from God forever. (verse 18)
4. You should pity Christians if Jesus did rise from the dead. - You should pity me if what I believe is not true. You should feel sorry for me if what I believe is a lie. (verse 19)
On the day that I celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, I understand the magnitude of my decision to be a follower of Christ. I understand the importance of Jesus living, not remaining in a tomb. I realize I am the biggest of all fools if this is one big fairy tale and not a historical event.
But if the resurrection is true, then I would be ashamed of myself not to share with you the Good News that I have come to believe.
@SumatraNate
Image Source: https://pixabay.com/en/clouds-landscape-beyond-sky-rays-2709662/
This is a great post! Way to put it out there! I love how you start it out and show that Saul was persecuting and then became one of the greatest teachers of the Gospel out there. What an amazing transformation went on in his heart and life!! I am thankful for the resurrection of Jesus!! Without that, He would be like any other god out there...dead in a tomb. But my Redeemer LIVES!! Blessings! :)
Thanks for the encouragement. I am trying to find ways to be open about my faith so that we can have dialogues about the important things in life. Saul's transformation was incredible. The beautiful thing to me is that anyone who trusts Jesus is transformed. He indeed lives!
I saw the story of Paul/Saul this past holy week, He was not a believer before and was changed by the appearance of Jesus, It was so amazing to know that most part of the New Testament/Bible came from the save scriptures made by him. Just wondering why Jesus stopped showing himself in this modern times just like in the past?
I love the fact that God takes awful people and gives them new life and purpose in Jesus. I know Jesus still shows Himself to people. In some places people are seeing Jesus through dreams and visions and others through healing. In the United States, it seems that since people do not believe in the supernatural their eyes are closed to what is happening around them.
The third sentence, that convinced me that He still showing to people nowadays.
So well said! Those who claim that Jesus was just a good man or merely a prophet have no idea what they are claiming! A good man or a mere prophet can't claim to be God without also being a BIG LIAR! So we have 2 options: 1. He is the worst liar that ever lived (and there is nothing in any writings anywhere to prove that), or 2. He is who He says He is!
Exactly. He is Liar, Lunatic, or Lord. He claims are too extreme to be just a good man.
I would like to have your expressed permission to post a copy of this to Withoutsin.org website.
Hey @brianminister, you have my permission to repost my article on your website. All I ask is that you say that the article was written by me and include my Steemit blog address so that people can read more of my posts. Thanks for this honor.
https://withoutsin.org/2018/04/03/1st-century-jewish-mans-response-to-what-if-jesus-never-resurrected-from-the-dead/
Minor editing, but otherwise I preserved everything, including the links to this post.
Thank you sir. It is an honor to be on your site.
Keyakinan adalah tujuan utama untuk hidup. Jika kita yakin sama pencipta kita maka kita akan nyaman dengan berbagai kondisi hidup. Namun sebaliknya jika kita tidak merasa tuhan bersama kita maka hidup kita akan selalu ketakutan. Semoga kita semua selalu mendapat hidayah yang baik.
Saya juga harap kita semua bisa mendapat kebenaranNya and ikut jalan lurus yang diberi Tuhan.
saya tidak bisa memberikan komentar apa-apa, karena ini menyangkut keyakinan dan pemahaman seseorang, dan anda punya hak mencari jawaban yang memuaskan tentang apa yang anda yakini, pahamilah keyakinan anda dengan lebih dalam supaya anda bertambah puas atas apa yang anda yakini
Yang paling penting bagiku, aku mau mencari jalan Tuhan karena jalanNya baik dan lurus.
semua kita punya hak untuk yakin dan percaya, karena kepercayaan adalah kodrati setiap manusia, dan kita di beri kebebasanuntuk mencari kebenaran dari apa yang kita yakini...
dengan keyakinan kita bisa sukses
Honestly I dont have any comment for this article my friend @sumatranate, because I dont really the history of Jesus from Christian Perspective, But You must hold tight what you believe, if you want to be with God then you must stand to obey the God. And the most important thing is find your way to the God.
Regard
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate you stopping by and reading my posts even though our faiths are different. I hope that all people can know God's true plan. I believe that plan is Jesus. May we all seek God and find His plan.
It's a great post, I like the way you communicate it.