How has your faith in the Resurrection been built up over this week?

In the earliest days of Christianity, an “apostle” was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eyewitness of the Resurrection … to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection. —C. S. Lewis

“Never doubt in the dark what God showed you in the light” is a reminder that Prestonwood Baptist Church Senior Pastor Jack Graham regularly shares with his congregation. He also puts it another way, “Never trade what you do know for what you don’t.” These are great truths to live by, and they parallel the teaching of Moses:

The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law. —Deuteronomy 29:29

The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. The truth of this passage reminds us we are not accountable for what we do not know, the things God has not revealed to us. But we are responsible for all that God has revealed to us. This is why the New Testament – its teaching, theology, and practical steps for Christian living – focuses on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A staggering 300 verses in the New Testament address the Resurrection across its 260 chapters. Author and former atheist Lee Strobel often says, “Every single shred of evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is also evidence for my eventual resurrection.” And in a death-defeating promise, Jesus guarantees the believer’s resurrection: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). In a radical comparison, Paul challenges Christians, saying if the historical fact of Jesus’ Resurrection is false, they should “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). In other words, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we should live however we please with no margins or guardrails.

How does the Resurrection of Jesus influence your belief in Him?

How is the Resurrection of Jesus building your hope and trust in Him?

History tells us something happened to Jesus on that early Sunday morning – something that changed the lives of those who witnessed it. (See Mark 16:14; Luke 24:34–43; John 20:19–31; and Acts 1:3–4; 9:3–6 for some post-Resurrection appearances.) On Friday night, the day of the Crucifixion, the disciples were running scared. A few days later, they were more than willing to endure ridicule, imprisonment, mistreatment and even death. And in the book of Acts, we see they told the Sanhedrin (or council of religious leaders), “We are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20; see also 4:1–3,18–20). Jesus’ Resurrection power became real, and they boldly proclaimed their faith in it as a historical reality.

Christianity is essentially a resurrection religion. Without the Resurrection of Jesus, there is no Christianity. Yet, is it possible that just one morning could have changed the world? Could most, if not all, of life’s problems be addressed by an unusual occurrence on a Sunday morning so long ago? Could it be that God’s answer to the injustice in our world is precisely what came to us over a 39-hour period at a Jewish criminal’s borrowed tomb in a Roman outpost? Could it be so simple? In a word, yes. This is the promise of God’s glorious Word.

As we close this week’s study, let’s pause and thank God for what we do know: Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and we will rise with Him in glory (John 14:19)!