------------------
The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
--------------------
May 18, 2014
--------------------
Contents:
1) The Resurrection of Christ (Thaxter Dickey)
2) News & Notes
--------------------
-1-
The Resurrection of Christ
by Thaxter Dickey
Introduction
I am a Christian because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
Some, even among Christians, might find that statement dogmatic; but
I am in good company. It was on this basis that Thomas called
Jesus "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). It is to this fact
that the early preaching of the apostles pointed (Acts 2:24;
3:14-15; 4:10, 33; 17:18, 32; Rom. 1:4; 2 Tim. 2:8). And Paul
says that if it is not true then his preaching is in vain and our
faith is also vain (I Cor. 15:14).
The resurrection is the central fact of Scripture. It is the
uniqueness of Christianity. This is illustrated in the oft
told, perhaps apocryphal, story of a Moslem and a Christian
discussing the relative value of Mohammed and Jesus as
prophets. The Moslem said, "We can make a journey to Mecca to
view the grave of our prophet. All you Christian's have is an
empty tomb." The Christian's reply: "Exactly." Exactly, this
empty tomb has changed the world.
Consequences and Meaning of the Resurrection
The resurrection shows God's approval of Jesus and his life.
God said, "This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." Time
and time again God showed his approval of his only begotten Son in
words and signs; but the resurrection is the ultimate stamp of
approval (Acts 2:22-24).
The resurrection gave meaning to Christ's death. Lots of men
die for what they believe. Many are even good men. But none
has had the same power over the lives of others. Auguste
Comte, the French philosopher, was discussing the future with Thomas
Carlyle, the Scottish essayist. He said that he was going to
start a new religion that would supplant the religion of
Christ. "Very good, Mr. Comte," Carlyle replied, "very
good. All you will need to do will be to speak as never a man
spake, and live as never a man lived, and be crucified, and rise
again the third day, and get the world to believe that you are still
alive. Then your religion will have a chance to get on."
The power of the gospel message of the atonement of the cross is in
the resurrection.
The resurrection makes his promises certain and teachings
authoritative. How could we believe Jesus' promises if he had
died just as any other man. When Peter says it was impossible for
death to hold him (Acts 2:32-36), we say amen and every knee must
bow and every tongue must confess that he is Lord. If he had
been wrong about this, our confidence in him would be undermined but
instead with his resurrection we are brought to believe all that he
said.
The resurrection gives meaning to his promise to return. At
his ascension the angels said he will return as you've seen him
leave (Acts 1:6-11). Death was not the end of his life as with
other men. Death was but a pause before his victorious resurrection
and triumphant return to the Father. And we know that if he
ascended, then he comes again.
It was the resurrection that gave the disciples the boldness to
preach. They were a dispirited and scattered band after the
crucifixion until he came to them and said "peace." Read again of
the disciples who were leaving Jerusalem in discouragement but whose
hearts burned within them as they returned to Jerusalem after
witnessing the resurrected Lord (Luke 24:13-53).
The resurrection of Christ testifies of the certainty of our own
resurrection. It thus frees us of the power of the fear of
death (Heb. 2:14-15). Where else but in the resurrection of
Jesus do we learn of the hope of which Paul speaks in 1
Thessalonians 4:13,14 with which we are to comfort one another in
times of loss?
It gives a reason to live righteously for it gives reality to the
concept of a final judgment. One of Plato's thought puzzles in
the Republic was the story of a man who found a ring that made him
invisible so that he could do whatever he wanted and avoid
punishment. The question he was considering was whether a man
will live righteously if he can escape punishment. Many ask
that question today, thinking that punishment does not reduce crime;
but for many the threat of punishment is the only means of securing
right behavior. It is true that we should be transformed by
the renewing of our minds so that we are holy as he is holy; but
ultimately without the certainty of an eternal judgment, which is
made possible by the concept of the general resurrection which is
made possible by the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there
is no fairness, no justice, no motivation to live righteously.
Thus the enemies of the cross rightly see the resurrection as the
crux of the matter. If they can cause men to doubt it, then
the life and death of Jesus has no power. In fact Paul says,
"If Jesus be not raised then our preaching is in vain." If he
is not raised, then his teachings are not trustworthy; the atoning
power of his death is a fiction; we have no more authoritative word
about the resurrection than that of charlatans,
pseudo-spiritualists, and mediums and there is no reason not to be
pragmatic and selfish. But if he was raised, then every knee
must bow and every tongue must proclaim him as Lord. And so the
Devil has exerted all his wiles to bemuse the minds of men and a
number of objections have been raised by the enemies of Christ.
Objections to the Resurrection
Veracity of Scripture. Obviously any challenge to the
resurrection is a challenge to Scripture since Scripture so clearly
teaches that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. Many
will argue that the Scriptures are not historical documents, merely
human fabrications, and thus the resurrection of Jesus is also mere
fiction. But any discussion of this topic is beyond the scope
of this article. Instead our attention will be directed to
those theories that give some credence to the Bible accounts and
still attempt to deny the resurrection.
The Body is Still in the Tomb Theories
Mistaken tomb theory. Some argue that the Bible accounts of
the resurrection are based on a simple mistake: the women went to
the wrong tomb. After all, the argument goes, it was late in
the evening when they saw the tomb and they had only seen it at a
distance. I think this poor sense of direction and these poor powers
of observation are a modern and a scholarly overlay on the ancient
stories. It is we moderns (and scholars especially) who pay little
personal attention to the location or appearance of a location
important to us and instead depend upon official maps to arrive
where we intend. Besides what about the guard? Were they
at the wrong tomb too? Why did they report the same thing to
the chief priests? And if the women went to the wrong tomb,
why did it have the stone rolled away and grave clothes left
inside? And how improbable that Mary would meet a gardener at
exactly that time who said such ambiguous things as to confuse her
into thinking him the resurrected Christ. These
improbabilities are preferable to the miracle of the resurrection
only to those who refuse to accept miracles as a matter of their
materialist assumptions.
Spiritual resurrection theory. Others argue that the tomb
wasn't empty; that what occurred was a spiritual resurrection -- a
resurrected hope in the minds of the disciples. The major
problem with this alternative theory is that it is not consistent
with the psychology of men. It could only be seriously
considered in a time in which we have so lost touch with human
nature that we believe bizarre theories of the human mind and have
an excessive and misplaced faith in the power of subjective
experience over objective facts. It is a theory that could
have currency only among people who are factually challenged (to use
the phrase that Cal Thomas used in a recent article in reference to
politics), who, as many today do, believe their own pet theories so
that they will abandon facts (the very thing that they accuse
Christians of). For example, in the area of politics and history
some say the holocaust never happened; some say that America was the
aggressor in WWII; some say that Egyptians were blacks. Just so in
religion some say that the resurrection was a spiritual one.
Factually challenged indeed or living in a virtual reality (to use
Thomas Sowell's expression) where facts are never allowed to
interfere with political or social theories.
Empty Tomb Theories
Swoon theory. According to this theory, Jesus was not really
dead. He was merely in a swoon and was revived by the coolness
of the tomb and made his own way from the grave, later to die a
natural death somewhere else. This was a favorite explanation
of the rationalists of the 19th century, but it is ludicrous to
consider it. It requires more faith to believe this than to
believe in the resurrection. It is impossible that a man would
survive the cross and the spear in the side, be considered dead by
the two men who carried him to a tomb, and then revive and have
enough strength to remove his grave clothes and roll back a stone
(which five women doubted they could move (Mark 16:3; Luke 24:10)
and then either overpower the guards or sneak past them and
disappear without another trace. This would be miraculous
indeed except that it did not happen. The miracle that did
occur was the resurrection as described in the Scriptures.
The body was stolen by enemies. The silence of the Jews is as
eloquent as the speech of Peter on the day of Pentecost. If
the Jews had stolen Jesus' body away, they would have come forward
to dispute Peter's claim of a resurrection which occurred just seven
weeks later in the same city. They didn't come forward because
it was a known fact. He had appeared to many on numerous
occasions (1 Cor 15:3-8).
The body was stolen by friends. This was the lie told that
very day by the Jews because they knew the significance of the
resurrection. But look at the foolishness of that idea. What
happened to hearten the frighten disciples to make them think they
could carry off such a lie? What kind of men were they to do
such a thing? Men may die for what they believe to be true
even if it is false; however, few will suffer persecution and die
for a lie they themselves have conceived. Nor can we imagine
how they thought to succeed. How did they even come up with so
bold an idea and where did they get the boldness to carry it off?
The picture we have of them before the resurrection is that of a
frighten scattered band (Matt 26:56; John 20:19). What changed
that? A lie? Nonsense! But if Jesus was raised from the
dead then it all makes sense.
Conclusion
Christ is risen! His teachings are true. God's stamp of
approval is on him. His death is the atonement for our sins
and we too can know the power that seized the apostles and turned
the world upside down. He is raised and because he is raised
we are faced with the certainty that we will be raised in the last
day and face the judgment and so we know that we ought to live
soberly and righteously in the present world. We are compelled
by the resurrection to accept his claim to authority in all things
(Matt. 28:18; Acts 2:24-38).
-- Via Guardian of Truth XL: 1 p. 13-14 January 4, 1996:
http://www.truthmagazine.com/ archives/volume40/GOT040006.html
--------------------
-2-
News & Notes
Steve Jackson (Jackson Moon's grandfather) is undergoing
tests for sleep apnea. Let those of us who are Christians be
praying that all will go well for him.
Let us also continue in prayer for the following:
Bob Tate (Ken Robertson's brother-in-law) has been in the
hospital undergoing tests to determine what has been causing his
poor health. Lately, he has not been feeling well, has lost
much weight, and has been experiencing various symptoms.
Steve Wolfgang's surgery on May 20 to prevent further
nerve damage to his back went well, though there has been the normal
need for pain medication.
Norma Burton, who is in her early 90s, continues to receive
physical therapy, due to having fallen several weeks ago and
breaking her hip, with the goal of helping her to be able to walk
again.
Richard Crews no longer needs to wear the brace, due to his
surgery for his rotator cuff, bicep, and ligaments; but will need to
continue with physical therapy for a few more weeks.
Let us also continue praying for the health of Virginia
Fontenot, Shirley Young, Cheryl Crews, Peggy Lefort and Terry
and Pam MacDonald.
--------------------
The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21)
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
--------------------
Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)