He is Risen Indeed! posted by John Sorensen on Apr 03, 2015

For many years I was afraid of dying. Well, in truth, “afraid” is too tame a word. Petrified would be more fitting.

I came to fully realize the existence of this fear when my father got sick and later died. I always thought of my dad as a kind and generous, larger-than-life kind of man. And charismatic to a fault. He had given his life in service to God as a pastor and preacher. As a boy, I had been by his side as I heard him counsel people who were dying.

When I was still a young man, my dad was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_myeloma). I watched as this disease took my dad away. And worst, when he came to die, what I witnessed is that he was terribly afraid. Now with a bit of time to offer perspective, I realize that he was on some very powerful pain medications. But as a young man, watching all this transpire had a profound effect.

The bottom line was this: I was scared to death of death! (You can read my testimony at: http://whatsmystory.org/#/jsorensen)

So for me Easter is the most important day we, as Christians, celebrate! For it proves the truth of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. Death is no longer our foe. It no longer has power over us!

“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain… But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  1 Corinthians 15:14, 20

Dr. Kennedy, in his book New Every Morning, reminds us of this wonderful truth:

“Jesus has solved this problem, the most incredible problem humankind has ever faced, generation after generation. Death has endured since humanity’s fall, and people have asked, ‘If a person dies, will he or she rise again?’ By rising from the dead Himself, Jesus gave us irrefutable evidence that the answer is ‘yes.’”

“But people have doubted the truth of Christ’s resurrection. Some of the most brilliant and skeptical minds of the last two thousand years have attempted to disprove it. But all those efforts have yielded nothing but the truth—that Christ rose from the dead. Let’s consider some of the facts that these skeptics have had to address. First, the Christian Church has endured and grown until it has become the largest organization on the planet today. That growth began in the first century, when the apostles began to preach that Jesus had risen from the dead. Next, to disprove the resurrection, skeptics have had to explain the empty tomb; the broken Roman seal (if someone broke a Roman seal, he or she received the death penalty); and the Roman guards, who faced sure death if they left their posts or fell asleep on the job. Most important, skeptics have had to dispute Christ’s appearances after His resurrection. The people saw Him, heard Him, touched Him. He fixed breakfast for his disciples. He ate fish with them. He appeared to five hundred people at one time. Furthermore, the apostles were transformed. One day they huddled in an upper room fearing for their lives, but soon after that they boldly proclaimed Christ’s resurrection in public. And all except John died for what they proclaimed, sealing their testimony in their own blood.”

Thank God for this wonderful reminder that because we know the resurrection really happened, we know Christ has conquered death, and we no longer need to fear it.

If we will but put our trust firmly and only in this Christ of Calvary, then we can know for sure that death has lost its teeth.

“O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:55-57

My prayer for you this Easter is that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ would be your sure and fullest hope.

He is Risen!

Together, in His service,

John

“…the evidence speaks for itself. It says very clearly— CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED.” -Josh McDowell