Romans 6:4
“…just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Atheist-turned-Christian, Lee Strobel was the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune newspaper. He is a New York Times best-selling author of more than forty books including “The Case for Christ” and “The Case for Faith.”
Strobel writes, “Even as an atheist, I understood one thing about Christianity: it rises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus. After all, anyone can claim to be divine, as Jesus did directly and indirectly. Yet if Jesus predicted he would die and rise again three days later—and then did it—that would be pretty good evidence he was telling the truth about his identity. In other words, Easter is the ballgame.”
In his research that eventually pushed Strobel to have faith in Jesus, he discovered four major truths as evidence of the resurrection. Looking at all the historical documents he could find, he discovered:
- Jesus was actually executed. Jesus was truly dead. He didn’t fake His death.
- There are incredibly early accounts that He actually resurrected. This was not a legend that developed over time. There is a creed that dates so far back to the early church; scholars believe it was written and adopted by the church just months after Jesus died.
- There was an empty tomb. Even the enemies of Jesus said the disciples stole the body. That’s admitting there was an empty tomb; they were just trying to explain it away. It’s like saying the dog ate your homework. You’re admitting you don’t have your homework.
- There were eyewitnesses to the resurrection, those who saw him and interacted with him after it happened. Of all people, these eyewitnesses knew the truth. This goes beyond just what they thought and believed. They knew the truth of the resurrection and were willing to die for that truth. They knew Jesus was the Son of God who resurrected on the third day.
Now…it’s our turn. While we can’t experience the resurrection in the way those eyewitnesses did, we experience the resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit. We experience the resurrection when we come to faith in Jesus and have the burden of sin and shame lifted from us. We experience the resurrection when we say in our hearts, “God, I need you today.”
The power of the resurrection is not just an Easter celebration. It’s a daily celebration we can choose to make with the way we live our lives. Let’s be the Easter people.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for Easter; for the opportunity to celebrate Jesus’ life, death on a cross, and resurrection. Help us to live as Easter people. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, Amen.