Our Reasons to Believe Scripture Passage for today is 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. It reads, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
Our Reasons to Believe quote for today is from Kathryn Kuhlman. She said, “The validity of the Christian Faith rests on one supreme Miracle: the cornerstone upon which the whole superstructure of Christianity rises or falls, depends on the truth of this Miracle – the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Our Reason to Believe powerpoint today is titled “The Resurrection, Part 1” from “The Handbook of Christian Apologetics” by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli.
The authors begin with the first part of this chapter subtitled, “The importance of the Resurrection.”
Every sermon preached by every Christian in the New Testament centers on the resurrection. The gospel or “good news” means essentially the news of Christ’s resurrection. The message that flashed across the ancient world, set hearts on fire, changed lives and turned the world upside down was not “love your neighbor.” Every morally sane person already knew that; it was not news. The news was that a man who claimed to be the Son of God and Savior of the world had risen from the dead.
When Paul preached the gospel to the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens, they thought he was preaching two new gods, Jesus and Anastasis (Greek for “resurrection”; Acts 7:18)—that’s how important the resurrection was. (And that’s how muddled the philosophers and scholars were. Nothing changes.)
A reasonable challenge to the skeptics is this: If it can be proved that Jesus really rose from the dead, will you believe in him? For if he really rose, that validates his claim to be divine and not merely human, for resurrection from death is beyond human power; and his divinity validates the truth of everything else he said, for God cannot lie.
Rudolph Bultmann, “the father of demythologizing,” said that “if the bones of the dead Jesus were discovered tomorrow in a Palestinian tomb, all the essentials of Christianity would remain unchanged.” Paul disagreed. He said that “if Christ has not been raised, then
1. our proclamation has been in vain
2. and your faith has been in vain.
3. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ-whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised….
4. If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile
5. and you are still in your sins.
6. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished.
7. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-19)
Now who is more likely to know what Christianity is, what its essentials are and whether these essentials would remain unchanged if Christ’s corpse were to turn up tomorrow—the apostle or the skeptic? One of the religion’s first-century founders or one of its twentieth-century subverters? A Jew who knew Christ or a German scholar who knew books?
Lord willing, we will continue this topic in our next episode.
—PRAYER—
Now, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time, my friend, please keep in mind these reasons to believe. God bless!
BCNN1 WP 