"He is Alive"

 He is Alive The one doctrine that sets Christianity apart from all other religions and belief systems in the world, is the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is the cardinal doctrine of Christianity. Everything we believe and hold sacred stands or falls on the fact of the resurrection. Let us examine a few truths about this important truth. First off, we will notice how Essential the resurrection is. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we are no better off than the worst sinner! If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the Bible is a lie and we have no hope! If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we have no Gospel to preach and no savior to preach about, we are of all men most miserable, 1 Cor. 15:12-19! If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then He Himself was guilty of deception, because on five separate occasions he said he would rise from the dead. Destroy the resurrection and Jesus is reduced to the status of being an ordinary man, He is no longer God, Rom. 1:4. Destroy the resurrection and you have destroyed the reason of our justification, Rom. 4:25. No wonder the Devil hates the doctrine of the resurrection as no other. If he can convince men that Jesus is dead, then they will never believe unto salvation. Next, we must realize what the resurrection Exhibits. The death of Christ puts on display the passion of  Christ. He loved us so much that He willingly gave His life for our sin; The resurrection of Christ exhibits His person. He arose because of what He is—being the Eternal Son, it is not possible for Him to be holden of death, Acts 2:24; He arose because of who He is—being the Son of David, He must yet sit upon David’s throne, 2 Sam. 7:16; Luke 1:31–33; Acts 2:25–31; Rom. 1:3, 4; He arose to be Head over all things to the Church which is His body, Eph. 1:22, 23; He arose to be the giver of resurrection life, John 12:24; He arose to impart His resurrection power, Matt. 28:18; Rom. 6:4; Eph. 1:19, 20; and He arose that He might appear in Heaven as the pattern, or first-fruits, of all who, being saved and conformed to Him, will yet appear with Him in glory, 1 Cor. 15:20–23; Phil. 3:20, 21. Lastly, let’s examine the Evidence of His resurrection. The evidences that Christ was risen from the grave are many and are very strong and persuasive. The first and most obvious is the fact that the tomb is empty. In Jerusalem there is a debate on where the exact location of the tomb where the Lord was laid. Some hold to the traditional Catholic view that it is located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, while others look to the Garden tomb which was discovered in the late 1800s and better fits the biblical record. Even though these two locations are often debated, the one thing they have in common is that they are both empty. Not only are these tombs empty, but the body of our Lord has never been discovered. Secondly, the grave clothes were undisturbed. When Peter and John visited the tomb, they especially focused upon the grave clothes of Christ (John 20:6–8) which were found undisturbed in the tomb. Christ was simply resurrected through the grave clothes. Thirdly, Christ appeared to his followers at least eleven times before his ascension. Including appearing to over five hundred at once, 1 Cor. 15:6. One last proof I would mention is the martyrdom of the disciples. Many died for their faith. If they weren’t sure that Christ was indeed the resurrected son of God, they would have recanted their faith. 

-Bro. Todd McKeenan