THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

God is a God of order; it is heaven’s first law. It is as true of the “law of Christ” as it is of the “law of nature.” Many were created in the image of God—according to a definite plan. God’s purposes as revealed in His word are according to a systematic plan—God’s eternal purpose. The Old Testament anticipates the fulfillment of that plan, and the New Testament describes it. The plan unfolds around a Man—Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. The first three narratives of the New Testament are referred to as the snynoptics. They tell the story of the life of Jesus of Nazareth—his birth, his life, his ministry, his death, his resurrection and his ascension back to heaven. The meaning of life is discovered in the combining of these events in the mind of man to the point of leading him to faithful obedience. Christ, then becomes all in all—the Alpha and Omega, A to Z, the beginning and the end. We obey not simply a cold law but a loving person who is the personification of the word.

This is all the proof we need to put our complete trust in Him. This proof is portrayed in different ways to ensure each one that Jesus Christ is the Divine Leader and Saviour the Bible claims Him to be. We do not believe that Jesus is the Divine Saviour simply because the Bible commands us to do so. This is not the type of faith upon which man gives unreserved obedience. Man wants to know for certain that this is truth, not some cunningly devised fable or mere imagining. How can he know for certain—experiential knowledge?

John’s gospel is not a story of the life of Christ but a book of signs and wonders that prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Jn. 20:30,31). In this book, John relates the slowness of Thomas to believe in Jesus as the Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, that just about did it for Thomas. His cup of doubt was full. But when Jesus arose from the dead, one of the first things he did when he entered the upper room where the disciples has assembled, was to call Thomas to Him and say: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God. Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (Jn. 20:27-29). This was not a gradual acknowledgment of facts presented, but an immediate acceptance of what he saw as proof. To those of us today, we do not need another visual event. Jesus says, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is living proof—living through the word—for the word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12).

But how am I to know that this account is all true? Take a variety of events: Jesus speaking the Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of the four thousand, the feeding of the five thousand, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the raising of the widow’s son and Lazarus of Bethany. My faith becomes the result of a continuous examination of each one of the details of these events. These events, and many more, all happened to one Person—Jesus, the subject of our examination. As we begin our investigation, we soon recognize that all of it centers or depends upon the proof of the Resurrection. So let us pause and examine that event in detail.

-Gene A. Ellmore-