Many of us grew up in church. And even if you did not, there is a high probability you at least attended church on special occasions. New Years. Easter. Christmas.
All year the church pews can be empty, but I have found even those skeptical of the Christian faith are more likely to accept an invitation during Easter services.
I’ve often wondered why? Christmas, I understood. After all, we were celebrating the birth of Baby Jesus. Everyone could at least agree that Jesus was actually born, but Easter commemorates the time of Jesus’s death on the cross and His resurrection three days later.
Resurrection. As in, He died and rose from the grave. I can understand the skepticism for many, especially if someone did not grow up in a Christian home being taught about Jesus. I grew up in church, but Easter was never really more to me than hiding eggs and having to wear some ugly polyester dress from K-mart.
I don’t ever recall thinking the resurrection of Jesus to be rubbish, not even in my brief stint I claimed to be an atheist. I simply did not think about the importance of the resurrection. In fact, I don’t think many of us really do if we are honest. And I am fairly certain the hows and whys of the resurrection are being brushed over in the Christian homes.
And I am no scholar when it comes to this topic. In fact, I don’t feel like I am adequately equipped to discuss this with you. But here are a few things I see that are important parts of the resurrection story and must be addressed in our homes if our children (and us) are ever going to understand the importance of Jesus’s death and resurrection in the Christian faith.
If Jesus had simply died and had not conquered death, then all we have is a good man/teacher who died preaching a good message. Jesus would be just like every other religion’s god. But He wasn’t, because He did just as He said He would:
“Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Matthew 20:17-19
I was watching the movie Case for Christ yesterday and one of the comments made in the movie really stuck out to me.
The actor playing Lee Strobel was talking to a fellow co-worker who was a Christian. Lee’s wife had recently converted to Christianity and Lee wanted to talk some sense into her before she got all radical. Strobel asked his co-worker where would he start if he wanted to debunk Christianity. His co-worker confidently told him to start with the resurrection of Jesus. If the resurrection was proven to be a hoax, then the entire faith was much like a house of cards. Christianity could not stand.
And even without watching the movie, you can come to guess Lee Strobel never did debunk the faith. In fact, it was because all the evidence pointed to the truth of the resurrection that he became a believer!
(Another post for this particular topic area! Coming soon)
“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” Colossians 1:18
I still refer to myself as a baby in my faith. (Though I really really want to be a big girl one day!!) One of the things I have come to understand, through awesome mentors (Thanks Mr.D and Ms. P) is eternal life is not just about living forever with God in Heaven. Eternal life is knowing the Father and the One He sent right now.
John 17:3 states:
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
And here lies another reason for understanding the importance of the resurrection. If Jesus had simply died, we could not have eternal life. He had to be the first to conquer death. No other god has claimed to have done this! He secured our inheritance by dying and rising from the dead on the third day. And because of this, we can know the Father NOW and FOREVER.
In order for us to understand the significance of the resurrection, I think we must start here:
#1 The resurrection of Jesus is foundational to the Christian faith
#2 Eternal life would not be possible without Jesus’s resurrection.
Is there more to explaining the importance and validity of the resurrection? Absolutely, but sometimes we need to get back to the basics before we examine anything deeper. And I cannot think of a better place to start than at the foot of the cross.
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