THE IMPORTANCE AND PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION

1. INTRODUCTION.

Josh McDowell mentioned that the resurrection of Christ and Christianity stand or fall together. Jesus has three basic credentials for His time on earth:

*The impact of His life upon history.
*Fulfilled prophecy in His life, and
*His resurrection.

We know our faith as the whole rests upon the fact that "Christ is risen from the dead" if not than our faith, our preaching, our ministry, our life are all in vain and worst we are still in sins. The deity and divinity of Christ is the guarantee proof in His resurrection because He was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). His integrity as a human being reveals His sublime divine person not like most of us and His style of life and teaching alone are sufficient to establish Him as a great teacher or an educator in this modern world. He claimed to be the way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). All these proof teaches us that God does exits. His sovereignty depends upon His resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Romans 14:9). And not forgetting our justification that is the choice blessing of our covenant is based on His triumphant victory over death, why because "He was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). His existence is enough to indicate His stability, assurance and adherence to his purpose far above the ordinary.

2. THE PURPOSE OF THE RESURRECTION

Before I get into the importance of the resurrection of Christ. It is very crucial if I give reason for the purpose of the resurrection of Christ. In every importunacy, there is a purpose and what I have gathered is given in four points, which are:

*Resurrection activates the Gospel, without it there would not be a Gospel because there is nothing to teach or preach about the death, burial and resurrection. The authenticity of the Scriptures through the resurrection.
*Resurrection authenticates our faith because it gives hope; peace and surety of power to live the next live with our Father in heaven.
*Resurrection arranges our justification because all our sins have been fully paid through the blood of Jesus Christ when we put our faith in Him.
*Resurrection anticipates our future because it was guarantee through Jesus' life. We are reconciled back to our Father.

3. IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

The very first thing about the facts of Christ's resurrection that it is a presentation of the gospel to unbelievers (1 Corinthians. 15:1-4) that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. We are no more under the old testament of redemption. The understanding of the resurrection is necessary as a believer begins to learn basic doctrines. The doctrines are four categories:

*Evidential that the resurrection is the atoning power for man through the death of Christ, and of His Deity and divine exaltation (Romans 1:4)
*Evangelistic that the primitive gospel which has the testimony of His resurrection as one of its characteristic features, thereby proving and ensuring readers or the hearers the assurance of the divine redemption Christ has for us. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 4:25)
*Spiritual that the resurrection is considered as the source and standard of the holiness of those that believe and accept Him as savior. We now belong to Him and live according to His will until death do we part (Romans 6)
*Eschatological that the resurrection is the guaranty that Christian never face death because our savior live ((1 Corinthians 15).

The above doctrine of the resurrection is the indication of our Christian faith and that in everything or in every aspect of Christianity depends on the fact of the resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. Without such doctrine all our apostolic preaching and teaching is worthless. Without the resurrection our faith is without substance and our hope is just an empty and most of all no way can we be reconciled to God because we are still under the Mosaic Law. The resurrection in all ways is related to salvation as mentioned in Romans 10:9,10. The resurrection completed the mystery of our salvation and redemption because His death freed us from sin, and by His Resurrection He restored to us back to God. It indicates the justice of God as Christ exalted Himself when He humbled Himself unto death. We acknowledge Him as the immortal God and through Him; He gives us a new life of grace forever.

4. THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION

It is important to talk about how Jesus was when He was resurrected. Whatever information on this matter can be gathered from the Bible and from the Web. This is what I can find:

*Jesus rose literally from the grave (John 20:27; Luke 24:37)
*Jesus rose with a brand new body with flesh and bones and it is touchable (Luke 24:36-43, John 20:20).
*His body bore the marks of nail's print (John 20:24-29).
*Jesus ate and drank with His disciples after the resurrection (Acts 10:41).
*He could disappeared whenever He wishes (John 20:19)
*His body cannot taste no more death (Romans 6:9-10).
*Christ's resurrection was the first fruits. (I Corinthians 15:20).

The fact of Christ's Resurrection above is attested by more than 500 eyewitnesses and incapable to be invented. Why did I say so, it is because He appeared before the list people found in the Bible listed below:

*Five other women found in Matthew 28:9-10
*Eleven disciples on a mountain near Galilee found Matthew 28:16-20
*Mary Magdalene found in John 20:15-17; Mark 16:9-11
*The believers at the Ascension found in Acts 1:3-11
*Stephen (after the Ascension) found in Acts 7:55,56
*Peter in the afternoon of the resurrection found in 1 Corinthians 15:5
*Two Christians on the road to Emmaus (Cleophas and Mary) found in Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12
*Ten disciples found in John 20:19-25
*Eleven disciples (including Thomas) found in John 20:26-29; Mark 16:14
*Seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee found John 21:1,2
*Five hundred Christians found 1 Corinthians 15:6
*Jesus' half-brother James, who had been an unbeliever until the resurrection found in 1 Corinthians 15:7; John 7:3; Acts 1:14
*Apostle Paul on several occasions after the Ascension found in Acts 9:1-8; 18:9; 22:17; 23:11; 27:23; 1 Corinthians 15:8; Galatians 1:12-17.
*John on the Island of Patmos found in Revelation 1:12-20; 22:20.

How do we know that Christ was really physically dead when He was taken down from the cross as some critics have claimed the "swoon" theory? First we found the soldiers declared Him dead because the soldiers themselves inflicted the severe punishment making sure any prisoner was dead before removed from the cross as found in Mark 15:45 and John 19:33. According to McDowell, the blood and water flowing from His side is a medical indication of physical death. After being taken from the cross, He was burial in a locked tomb to eliminate all the possibility of receiving medical attention or taken away by His followers. The women that came to the tomb to prepare anointment of a dead body found in 16:1. All these description are the solid facts of His resurrection. What more could we need to proof?

5. THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION

There are so many opposing theories found through the resurrection of Christ like the Swoon theory, imposition theory, vision theory and the latest modernist views. All these have been proven to be inadequate because it was just a theories which are incompatible to the nature of Christ’s manifestations, the length of time of Christ’s appearance, the eyewitnesses' faith and the overall record-of information about the Resurrection: Matthew and John, separate eyewitnesses; Mark from Peter; and Luke from Paul from other eyewitnesses. Let me list out the proofs of what I have gathered from my studies.

The Life of Jesus

While Christ was alive, He lived a divine or perfect life but in the end - He went through a cruel and shameful death. We know that He lived at a time when He did not deceive anybody and nothing to gain in life but everything to lose for man. This intimate conviction of the objective truth was for man to reconcile to God. He related His plan for man and never once sidetracked by questions put forwards by the Jews like the Sabbath obligations (Luke 13:15), He demonstrated His kindness to people e.g. sinful woman at Simon's house in Luke 7:37-50, He demonstrated the Father love for His on where it is about human relations in the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-31 and many more magnificent incident and miracles that He had performed to convince man of His deity or divinity. His life was all for man and this is enough to convince us what a type of person He was.

The Empty Grave

There is theory that His body was stolen and it was left empty. Imagine how a huge stone was rolled before the tomb, sealed in the first place and guarded by Romans soldier could steal the body away. If this is the case then the body must have been taken out by a superhuman power in order to explain this theory. If the emptiness of the tomb was ever been mentioned in history as true than all Christ's opposition will never put the testimony of the Gospel to rest. Instead the resurrection was the most fast-spreading history of all times until today. Scripture has clearly stated that when Peter and John came to check the emptiness of the tomb, they discovered that the grave clothes were all neatly laid aside. Peter "observed the wrappings on the ground and saw the piece of cloth which had covered the head not lying with the wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself" (John 20:6-7). All these are hard evidence and first hand eye evidence valid in any court of law today.

Transformation of the Disciples

In the history of man and even people of today. We are selfish people in many ways. We do not simply put our faith in anything or even to put our life into it. Are you willing to die for something, we are not sure or not seem. Are you prepared to believe in the appearance of a spirit? Instead, We learned that before Jesus was taken for crucifixion, all His disciples run away and were in hiding. After, His resurrection and seeing Him - did all these disciples live were changed. They took the gospel throughout every corner of the world and willing to lay down their lives, which they all did.

Existence of the Early Church

After the resurrection, history has shown that Jesus' believer begun to gather together to hear preaching of their leaders and always the substance of the preaching was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles until today.

The Witness of Paul

Paul's personal testimony to his own conversion was the most reliable information because he was against Christian. He went around prosecuting Christian the best he could but in the midst of all these he became a strong believer of Christ where he laid down in life for Christ.

The Gospel Record

Examining the record of the Gospels and the early Fathers have proven any particular theory of the origin and the relation of the Gospels have never affected the reliability of the gospel.

Archaeology.

Recently, discovery that tries to dispute the Bible all end up proofing the reliability and the inerrancy of the Bible.


6. CONCLUSION.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the very proof of all our Christianity faiths. Everything that was mentioned or done by Christ inclusive of His Apostles, no matter how important and great, is just secondary to the actual resurrection of Christ. If the resurrection did not really take place than our faith or religion that we stand for is just another false religion and whatever we have worked for in the name of Christ is just in vain. How discouraging or disappointing we could be. On the other hand, if Christ really resurrected as mentioned in the Bible than Christian faith is absolute truth and Christ is God as He has claimed. Death has He claimed victory and we know that even if we are put into the grave and turn into dust but of all these, we know that will also be resurrected like Him to be with our Father in heaven. Whatever I have written here is not a waste and knowing what we stand for is just what Christ has worked for till His very end - we are all conqueror in Him!