The Resurrection of Jesus

If you were an eye-witness to the resurrection of Jesus, you would have to conclude that he was in fact who he said he was, the Son of God, sent to provide us all with eternal life and a permanent connection to God through the Holy Spirit.  How could you deny the deity of Jesus after he rose from the dead?  Here in the twenty-first century, a couple of thousand years beyond the event, we have no connection to those who actually witnessed Jesus walk again after being nailed to a cross.  We have the Bible that tells us hundreds of people saw him alive again after his death, but are these stories true fact, or just stories?  Those of us who have trusted Jesus as our Lord and Savior know without question that this story is true because the Holy Spirit has spoken to us from inside our heart; however, before our conversion we were as skeptical as all the other unbelievers.

The Enemy of God

If you’ve taken the opportunity to read the whole Bible, you are aware that God has an enemy known as Satan.  The Bible makes it clear that the enemy of God does not want anyone to believe in Jesus and he works overtime to point us all in the opposite direction.  Before Jesus was crucified, he performed countless miracles that demonstrated that he possessed the power of God.  The religious leaders at that time, denied Jesus had the power of God and instead attributed his power to Satan.  The enemy of God was using the religious leaders to confound all those who witnessed the miracles of Jesus.  There is no end to the deception of the enemy of God.  Jesus made it clear to the religious leaders that their accusation was ridiculous.  The truth is, they denied the deity of Jesus in order to maintain their own power over the people.  When people act out of selfish ambition, they are guided by the enemy of God.  When people act out of love for their neighbor, they are being guided by God.

Rejecting God

The world we live in is a battlefield between good and evil, between God and the enemy of God.  We see it all around us every day.  Those seeking selfish ambition and those acting out of love for their neighbor.  Those who are only looking out for themselves have rejected God.  Those who are looking out for others have made a clear connection to God.  Exactly why some go one way and others go an entirely different way is not precisely spelled out in the Bible; however, it is made clear that Jesus came to help everyone find their way.  By following the teachings of Jesus, we essentially turn our back on the enemy of God and instead focus our lives on love for God and love for our neighbor.  Following the teachings of Jesus is how you circumnavigate the enemy of God and find your way to a direct connection to God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Truth

It doesn’t matter what we think is the truth.  What matters is what actually is the truth.  When we follow the teachings of Jesus, we are guided to a miraculous understanding of the truth.  When we follow the teachings of Jesus, the deception of the enemy becomes evident.  The teachings of Jesus make it possible for us to see beyond our selfish desire and clearly connect with the love that God provides.  Our response to Jesus determines our eternal destiny.  The religious leaders that rejected Jesus for their own personal gain, sending him to the cross in an effort to get rid of him, was not the demise of Jesus.  This was the beginning of the enormous growth of Christianity that has lasted until this day thousands of years later.  That fact alone is reason to believe that Jesus was in fact who he claimed to be – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Resurrection Scripture