Want to know God?

Shiloh Baptist Church, Ralph

Have you considered today’s high school students are too young to remember 9/11? An event seared into our memories as adults is literally “history” for an entire generation. They believe in 9/11 solely from the evidence. Suppose you were talking with some high school students and they said, “Actually because 2001 was so long ago we really question whether 9/11 even took place.” How would you react? Most likely you would counter, “But it did happen. Just look at all the evidence. And I am a witness.” If the students maintained their disbelief you would know they had a fundamental flaw in their reasoning; namely, they err in believing truth cannot be sustained over time.

In this light what is your belief concerning the resurrection of Jesus? Perhaps you are approaching the evidence for the resurrection with flawed reasoning. The preservation of such a monumental event as the resurrection across two millennia is not only possible but it’s also fundamentally unrelated to the length of time that has transpired since it took place.

The entire basis of the Christian faith is predicated on the historical truth claim that Jesus died and came back to life. At the point of the crucifixion Jesus’ disciples failed to understand that the Old Testament prophets had clearly predicted the sacrificial death of the Messiah (Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26). The disciples were shocked to see Jesus alive again. However, after touching Him, talking to Him and absolutely confirming Jesus was indeed alive they radically changed. Soon after Christ was crucified, Peter and John publicly declared Jesus was “the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). The resurrection validates the death of Jesus as a sacrifice for your sin. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:9).