RESURRECTION: GOD SAVES
What is Resurrection?
1 Corinthians 15:17 – “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
20 Reasons to Believe in Jesus’ Resurrection
Jesus’ resurrection was prophesied in the Old Testament
1000 B.C. – Psalm 16:10 – “…You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.”
700 B.C. – Isaiah 53:7-11 – “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted…like a lamb that is led to the slaughter…By oppression and judgment he was taken away…he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people…they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death…Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days…Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
Jesus prophesied His resurrection in advance
Mark 8:31 – “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Mark 9:31 – “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
Mark 10:33–34 – “The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Jesus died
Jesus’ tomb location was well known
Jesus’ empty tomb was found by women
Jesus’ disciples were transformed from cowards to courageous
Jesus appeared to crowds upwards of 500 people over 40 days
Jesus’ followers remained loyal to Him
Jesus’ tomb was not enshrined
Jesus’ followers worshipped Him as God
Jesus’ family worshipped Him as God
Jesus’ followers changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday
Jesus’ followers practiced communion and baptism
Jesus’ enemy Paul was converted
Jesus’ resurrection was recorded shortly after it occurred
Jesus’ resurrection is unique in history
Jesus’ resurrection is verified by history
Jesus’ Church has stood the test of time
Jesus is alive and changing lives to this day
Jesus’ resurrection defies any alternate explanation
What are the primary objections to Jesus’ resurrection?
Swoon theory
Spiritual not physical resurrection
Everyone went to the wrong tomb
Jesus’ body was stolen
Jesus had a body double
Jesus’ resurrection was a mass hallucination
The concept of a bodily resurrection was borrowed from pagans
What is the hope of Jesus’ resurrection?
1 Corinthians 15:20-22 – “In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
2 Corinthians 5:8 – “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Philippians 1:21 – “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
