HE IS RISEN!

Date: Sun Apr 15 21:51:47 2007

The pundits express their doubts as the presses roll. ìJesusí bones have been found!î Jesus died and was buried with his wife Mary Magdalene and his son Judah in a tomb in Jerusalem. Christianity has been rocked to its foundations! At least so people heard on the Today Show and in any number of articles. Simcha Jacobovici and James Cameron claimed the evidence including DNA was conclusive and those who seem to glory in anything that seeks to destroy Christianity were smitten. On more careful examination however, this claim, which actually has been around for awhile, is just another unjustified conclusion based upon the assumptions and presuppositions of enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. In formal logic, if the assumption is false, the conclusion is meaningless, even if perfect logicî was followed the whole way through. A similar problem has developed in terms of how scientists evaluate the same data on a number of critical issues. If one assumes that things have always existed as they have since the beginning, as Peter states men do in 2 Peter 3:4, in other words, ìuniformitarianismî, evolutionary interpretations are given to the data we have. However, if one starts with the assumptions that God created our world and there was a global catastrophe in the time of Noah, entirely different interpretations are given to the data. The same is true concerning the current hotbed issue of global warming. Those who are man-centered attribute it to manís activities. Those who are God-centered attribute it to natural cycles solely under the province of God. Since there is strong evidence that Mars is warming as well, one wonders if Al Gore is going to make a movie to show the irresponsible Martians! The Bible says that the earth is going to be destroyed by fire. Perhaps God is lighting the match as the end draws near. There is much information available on all of these subjects ñ an especially good article dissecting the claims of Jacobovici and Cameron is posted on AnswersRadio.com, the Answers in Genesis website linked to our own.

In 1785, the deist James Hutton, commonly acknowledged as the ìfather of modern geologyî, wrote in ìTheory of the Earthî that ëthe past history of our globe must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now Ö No powers are to be employed that are not natural to the globe, no action to be admitted except those of which we know the principleí. Charles Lyell and William Whewell and others built on Huttonís unbelief which set the stage for Darwin. These men not only didnít believe the Bible, they refused to even allow for the possibility that the data were explainable by the Bible. God holds views like these in contempt, and so must we.

The same spirit of this world refuses to acknowledge the supernatural in terms of miracles and especially in terms of the resurrection. People talk about a ìspiritual resurrectionî. But what would that mean? That the Spirit of Jesus died? When Jesus yielded his Spirit to the Father while hanging on the cross, did his Spirit actually die? Of course not! He committed his Spirit to God. The Spirit cannot die! Whether good or evil, spirits are here for eternity. That is what makes spiritual separation from God such a supreme punishment. Those who teach a ìSpiritual Resurrectionî have to believe that the Spirit of Jesus died, and that the spirits of the unsaved do not get resurrected, all foolish beliefs in the light of Godís unchanging word.

Many have outlined the consequences of there not being a real and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rev. Edrick Corban Banksí version is as followsî

1) We have nothing to preach

2) We have nothing to believe

3) We are lying about God

4) Our faith is a delusion

5) We are still lost in our sins

6) Our hope is for this world only

7) We deserve more pity than anyone else in the world

Likewise, many have easily refuted all the common lies that persist to this day that seek to explain away the resurrection of Christ ñ we deal with many of these lies in our Kingdom Gospel Drama ñ ìHeís Risen! Now What!î (April 13, 2007, 11:30 am on WTMR, 800am). The simple fact is that there is no viable interpretation of the facts other than that Jesus arose physically from the dead just as he said he would.

The simple fact also is that those of us who know Christ personally through faith, who have experienced the forgiveness of sin, know that Christ is alive because they have the power of the resurrection in their lives. We have experienced a very real cleansing of sin from our lives and from our consciences. We have a clear conscience before God. We have a clear, open line of communication with God the father that was not possible before the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.

Easter Sunday celebrated the day when Jesus was found risen from the dead. Jesus has been alive ever since, interceding with the Father in heaven on behalf of people. Yes, the Lord Jesus wants people to not only come into an initial relationship with God, he wants them to be saved, sanctified, purified, and changed from the inside out. Because Christ was raised, we can also be raised to newness of life.

So, you might ask, ìHow should our lives be different because of the resurrection?î Good question. The answer ñ totally different! First of all, our previous lives are over! Every hope, every ambition, every practice, every desire that we had is now crucified with Christ! It is not only sin that is gone! It is our entire past life! God makes ALL THINGS new! So many Christians want to get rid of sin ñ except maybe one pet sin they want to hold onto for a while ñ but then simply add Christ to their life. They want to keep everything they had but have Christ make it all better. Not a plan. Paul says that he counted everything he was and all of his own ìrighteousnessesî as filthy rags. He gave up all in order to win Christ. Sounds rather radical, huh? But that in a nutshell is the gospel message. God wants new creations who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. This will happen only if ìit so be that the spirit of Christ dwell in youî.

The message of Easter is that because Jesus Christ experienced real victory over death, and the Father accepted his atonement for sin, we too can have newness of life. We can have redeemed souls now, and glorified bodies like Christ when we die. The world doubts that a person can have new life in Christ. In a church we visited yesterday, Lighthouse of Deliverance in Lindenwold, NJ, a man came to the front of the sanctuary and turned around, pointing to the congregation. He said again and again words to the effect, ìI was a crack addict. Jesus set me free. He is real.î Another man 65 years old walked slowly up the center aisle. Pastor Tony Harley looked at him, placed his hand on his head, and prayed in tongues over him. The man opened his mouth and praised God. The manís 87 year old mother happened to be sitting directly in front of me. She turned around startled. ìMy Son!î she exclaimed. He had a stroke five years ago after drug use and had not spoken since! They moved the chairs so she could come to the altar to dance before God. At 87! Another of her sons who had been in a coma had previously come out of it. There were other miracles in the same service. And this was just one gathering of Godís people. Those whose lives have been resurrected by Christ and seen others who have met Christ have no doubts. He is Risen!