PLYMOUTH – The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it the believer has no hope for this life or for the life to come. The apostle Paul wrote, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Our belief in this great teaching is not based upon some religious feeling or upon an unfounded idea about what may have happened in the past. Nor are we talking about an isolated rumor, but about a historical fact that is the very foundation and one which our faith finds its support and rest.
A few decades ago, a group of lawyers met in England to discuss the biblical accounts of Jesus' resurrection. They wanted to see if sufficient information was available to make a case that would hold up in an English court of law. When their study was completed, and they published the results of their investigation, they concluded that Christ's resurrection was one of the most well-established facts of history!
For centuries, the unbelievers of this world have tried to discredit and deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father of our nation and a great man, nevertheless, he could not accept the miraculous elements in Scripture. He edited his own special version of the Bible in which all references to the supernatural were deleted. Jefferson, in editing the Gospels, confined himself solely to the moral teachings of Jesus. The closing words of Jefferson's Bible are these: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed." Thank God that is not the way the story really ends!
In his little book, Countdown, G. B. Hardy has given us some thought-provoking questions about the resurrection.
"There are but two essential requirements:
1. Has anyone cheated death and proved it?
2. Is it available to me?
Here is the complete record:
Confucius' tomb -- occupied.
Buddha's tomb -- occupied.
Mohammed's tomb -- occupied.
Jesus' tomb -- empty! Argue as you will, there is no point in following a loser."
This month we celebrate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. The bunny, eggs, baby chicks, and spring flowers can enhance our celebration of new life in Christ or sadly they can become the center of our celebration.
The bunny didn’t rise from the dead and those candy eggs will soon decay. Sorry to be morbid, but as for those baby chicks, they are soon to end up on someone’s dinner plate or as a quick lunch for the family cat. All the beautiful flowers and the striking “Easter Lilies” will fade and fall away. The vast majority of the trappings we use to celebrate Easter will be gone before the months end.
Fables and stories of great leaders will come and go. Worldly saviors will rise to the pinnacle of society, but they will all find their final place in a grave. Rituals, religions, and fanciful tales will be repeated from generation to generation, but the only reality worthy of our wonder and worship is that of the Living Resurrected Savior. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a reality. Countless changed lives testify that it's a fact -- not a fable!
A true story is told about a distinguished man, the only white person buried in a Georgia cemetery reserved exclusively for African Americans. He had lost his mother when he was just a baby. His father, who never married again, hired an African American woman named Mandy to help raise his son. She was a Christian, and she took her task seriously. Seldom has a motherless boy received such warm-hearted attention. One of his earliest memories was of Mandy bending tenderly over him in his upstairs bedroom each day and softly saying, "Wake up--God's mornin' is come.”
As the years passed this devoted woman continued to serve as his surrogate mother. The young man went away to college, but when he would come home on holidays and in the summer, she would still climb the stairs and call him in the same loving way.
One day after he had become a successful statesman, the sad message came: "Mandy is dead. Can you attend her funeral?" As he stood by her grave in the cemetery, he turned to his friends and said, "If I die before Jesus comes, I want to be buried here beside Mandy. I like to think that on Resurrection Day she'll speak to me again and say, 'Wake up, my boy, God's mornin' is come!"'
I am so looking forward to the day my Lord says to me, “Wake up, my boy, God’s mornin’ is come!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Patterson is Executive Director/Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Elected unanimously in May of 2015, Patterson formerly served for 9 years as pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. He also served as trustee chair and national mobilizer for the North American Mission Board.