Why the Resurrection Matters

Having celebrated Christ's resurrection yesterday, many folks still have little or no understanding of why it's important. What most Christians don't comprehend is that we would have no hope if Christ stayed in Joseph's tomb and rotted.

The Apostle Paul explained why the resurrection is crucial to us in 1 Corinthians 15:19 (BBE) when he wrote, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most unhappy."

According to Revelation 20:5 and 6 (BBE), we who place our lives in Christ's hand and believe in him will be resurrected, never to die or suffer again. "The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead. Happy and holy is he who has a part in this first coming: over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will be ruling with him a thousand years."

The resurrection of the dead isn't exclusively a New Testament doctrine. Job 19:26 (KJV) shows how even that ancient believer knew it. "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

We also read in Scripture that the Pharisees and Sadducees argued continually about whether we would rise from the dead. Paul used this truth to his advantage in Acts 23:6 and 7 (BBE). "But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.' And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting."

And as we read in 1 Peter 1:21 (BBE), Christ's resurrection sustains our faith. "Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God."

Since Christ's resurrection is the foundation of our faith, I'll stress it in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Without it, Christianity would be like all other pointless belief systems.

Unless our Lord Returns before Thursday, I hope to post about why Christ was called the Lamb of God.

Why is it More Blessed to Believe Without Seeing?

I mentioned Thomas in a previous post and how Jesus didn't chastise him for his doubts. Our Lord knows our hearts and how we have gaps in our understanding of his providential care of us.

One gap certain believers have is the meaning of faith. They believe it's some sort of spiritual power and we can generate enough of it to trip the solenoid of God's blessing. What errant nonsense!

Faith has two meanings in Scripture. One definition is the truth given to us by God. Jude 1:3 (KJV) explains, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

The other meaning of faith is our trust in God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1:21 (KJV) teaches us, "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."

Furthermore, John 20:29 (KJV) contains the answer to this question of being more blessed though we haven't seen our Lord face to face. "Jesus saith unto him, 'Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.'"

Our trust in the invisible Trinity is what sets us apart from adherents to other belief systems. And those who doubt God's existence do so because they don't want to acknowledge his claim on their lives. As Jesus explained in John 3:19 (KJV), "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

Implicit trust is what our Lord requires of all who follow him. I'll be writing in detail about it in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Unbelief is what will send many millions to hell, even if those folks call it doubt or rationalism.