Because He Lives

Because He Lives

Do you believe this?
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

All fear is gone! We can face death!

When Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better - His PEACE!
--- Matthew Henry

Because He Lives

• I can face the future
• I can live today
• I can walk in victory
• I can live in hope

No Other Message of Hope

• All of man’s religions are his attempts to reach up to God or to become a god or part of god.
• Christianity is the only revelation of good news: the God of all creation has reached down to man.

The Mystery of Death

• Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of conquering death!
• It will be completed in the final judgment.
• It was the beginning of the end!
• The resurrection is at the heart of Christianity
• We do not need to fear death!
• I Corinthians 15:50-58
• God intends to remove the veil of mystery
• God has eliminated the fear of death
• Jesus had entered through the “veil” and gone before us.

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.

Faith for Life!

• This hope of resurrection, this hope of conquering death, is at the heart of Christianity.
• Jesus is Lord over life’s question marks
  • Over uncertainties
  • Over seasons of confusion and disorientation
  • Over ignorance about where I’m headed
• All these piled up clouds of anxiety are scattered to the winds by the wild, sweet cry of joy that echoes through the centuries:
  • He is alive! He is risen as He said!

Anyone who can descend into death, conquer hell and the devil, touch bases with the earth and earthlings, and then spring heavenward into the glorious rule at the right hand of All Power on high deserves my vote of confidence about handling my future – and whatever it holds.
--- Jack Hayford

Victorious!

• Revelation 6:2 “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
  • The power of sin
  • The strength of satan
  • The enmity with God
  • The fear and power of death
• Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it Acts 2:23-24

Evidence for Resurrection

• Living Witnesses
• The writers of the four Gospels either had themselves been witnesses or else were relating the accounts of eyewitnesses of the actual events.

I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history . . .
--- E. M. Blaiklock
Professor of Classics Auckland University

There exists no document from the ancient world, witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies . . . Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias.
--- Clark Pinnock
Mcmaster University

If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.
--- F. F. Bruce
Manchester University

If you see God as creator,
you will admire Him.
If you see God as wisdom,
you will learn from Him.
If you discover God’s strength,
you will rely on Him.
But when He saves you,
you will worship Him!
--- Unknown