Jesus is alive - Fact or Fantasy?

In this article, I want to share with you five reasons I believe Jesus' resurrection actually took place. 

You can remember these five reasons with the acronym:

R.I.S.E.N.

The first reason I believe Jesus' resurrection is a fact of history is… 

1. The RISE of Christianity in Jerusalem

It is an accepted historical fact that the Christian faith (a religion built upon the preaching of the resurrection of its leader) originated in approximately A.D. 32 right in the very city of Jerusalem where Jesus had been publicly crucified and buried. This has been verified by historical sources outside the Bible. Now, this in itself is a good piece of evidence that the resurrection actually occurred. Why?

Resurrection Day

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational for Christianity. If He had not risen from the dead then we could not be saved. What great hope we have knowing that Jesus Christ is alive today. A man in heaven who one day we will see!

Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15 that if Christ is not risen then our faith is in vain. He goes on to say that we would be of all men most miserable. The resurrection is at the root of all that we believe. Christianity is unique in this. Religion boasts in its dead leaders. They cannot take you to an empty tomb and say He is not here but is risen.

Belief in the resurrection is vital for salvation. Rom 10:9 tells us ‘that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Great efforts were made to ensure that the body of Jesus could not be taken away by his disciples. A large stone with a seal and Roman guard however could not keep the Lord in the tomb. The stone was rolled away and the guards became as dead men at the sight of the angel. Of course it was only rolled away to show that the tomb was empty. No doubt rumours of the resurrection spread and the soldiers were paid to lie. Those rumours could have easily been stopped. All the authorities needed to do was to show the His body. But they did not because they could not because He had risen.

 No one has ever been able to disprove the resurrection. The evidence to support it far outweighs the contrary. What hope and joy we have because HE IS ALIVE!

Life's most important question!

Life's most important questions - Is Jesus alive?

The Lord Jesus Christ is no ordinary person. I make this statement in the present tense because the Lord Jesus is not just a figure of history but he is, today, still alive in heaven. I don't mean alive in the way we might think about a relative who has died and hope is now in heaven. As a Christian I believe people who have turned from their sin and accepted Jesus as their Saviour will be in heaven when they die but this is not my point at the moment. I mean that Jesus is alive, physically in heaven. 

Your response might be - impossible and unbelievable! 

Can you believe everything that you read?

I once read an article in the Independant Newspaper by a very intelligent man who had become very cynical and opposed to Christianity. The position he took was that there was no truth or logic in the Christian viewpoint. I have reprinted my reply in this blog post. Hopefully it will make you think and bring you to the point where you take the claims of the Bible seriously.

'My imagination was engaged as I started to read your piece on "The Bible Society’s debt to Arthur C Clarke?" You had obviously carried out some good research about the society and highlighted some key statistics which would be very interesting to a number of people. I was then quite amazed that you chose to so violently misrepresent the teaching of the very book that the society has spent so long translating and making available to the world. For example you chose to ignore that the Bible and Christianity has developed more education programs, opened more hospitals and changed more societies for the good than the current world atheistic belief system has ever done. People who have been successful, in theory, in establishing atheistic states have generally produced societies which have been just as corrupt as capitalist ones. Incidentally they have ultimately been unsuccessful because of the corrupt heart of humanity. All of this however only looks at the outcomes of the opposing world views without actually discussing the validity or plausibility of their views.

A sensational storyline!

Take one....

About ten years ago Titanic film director, James Cameron, claimed to have discovered the burial casket of Jesus on a Jewish building site [time,bbc]. Furthermore, he also said that he had caskets for Mary Magdelene and a supposed child of Jesus and Mary. This was supposed to back up the anti-Bible propaganda that had been spread by the Da Vinci Code. As usual, Bible skeptics jumped aboard the bandwagon, claiming that this archaeological find undermined the authority of the Biblical narrative entirely.

Jesus is alive! - The Resurrection - Fact or Fantasy - Episode 1

Today's Scripture - Ephesians 1:19-21

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Did Jesus really come back to life - this is the key question of the Christian faith!!

Jesus Christ - Risen from the dead!

Matthew 27:57 - 28:20

Jesus Is Buried

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.