He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed
Our faith is built on a person and one historical event.
If there is no historical resurrection of Jesus there should be no Christians
1 Cor. 15:13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless… And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
1 Cor. 15:1- Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you… I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive,
“Christus, the founder of the name was put to death by Pontius Pilate.” – Cornelius Tacitus, (Annals, XV.44)
How did this faith in the resurrection spread so quickly?
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 11 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years?” Chuck Colson
How did belief in Jesus’ Resurrection spread?
The miraculous eyewitnesses
The miraculous changed lives: Matthew, Paul, James
Eph. 1:13-14 And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.
Remember that you are a witness to the miraculous