Christ's resurrection: The most important event in history

The ten most important events in human history:

World War II

World War I

Industrial Revolution

Cold War

Holocaust

French Revolution

American Revolution

Invention of the Printing Press

Medical Revolution

Atomic Bomb

I respectfully disagree. The single most important event in history is none of the above. Neither is it the invention of electricity, computers or the cell phone. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is by far the most important historical event that ever occurred. Here are six reasons why.

1. The Resurrection proved Jesus' claim to be God in the flesh. God has given PROOF! Acts 17:31 “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, We want to hear you again on this subject.”

As magnificent as the life of Jesus was, it wasn't His life alone that made Him so special. His resurrection from the grave validated His unique claim to be God. If Jesus hadn't risen from the grave, history would have dismissed Him as a dangerous egomaniac who was sadly self-deluded.

Jesus made some self-assertions that were outlandish if they had not been true. "If you've seen me you've seen the Father."- John 14:9, “I and the Father are one."- John 10:30, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me." - Matt 28:19, ”No one comes to the Father except through me."- John 14:6, ”Before Abraham was, I am."- John 8:58

When on trial for His life, Jesus was asked by the High Priest, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Mark 14:61-62, That's a blasphemous claim…unless it is true.

On several occasions, Jesus predicted that He was going to be crucified but then be raised from the dead on the third day. Baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean once said, "It ain't braggin' if you do it." Jesus did exactly what He said He would do. When He came out of the tomb , it validated everything Jesus claimed about Himself.

Indeed, Jesus came to this earth, was crucified and now raised from the dead!

2. The resurrection conquered man's most vicious and relentless enemy - death.

‘We’ll be living and working to 120 – and it will start within a decade’ says doctor to the stars, Dr. Ernst von Schwarz. Physicians and scientists have worked feverishly for centuries trying to defy death, which the Bible calls, "the last enemy to be defeated." In spite of all the medical and technological advances, the death rate is still 100 percent. But Jesus Christ conquered death! In doing so, He crushed the head of Satan and shattered the enemy's most dreaded weapon. Since Jesus' tomb is empty, "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54).

3. The resurrection proves there is also life after death for us. Life beyond the grave is not mere speculation; it's an undeniable demonstration. Jesus promised, John 14:19 “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” The Bible assures us, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you" (Romans 8:11).

We have the assurance that the best is yet to be. Eternity awaits us. There will be ecstatic reunions, unspeakable joy, and endless praise.

"When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun; we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we've first begun." Amazing Grace by John Newton. The Greyhound thrashed about in the north Atlantic storm for over a week. Its canvas sails were ripped, and the wood on one side of the ship had been torn away and splintered. The sailors had little hope of survival, but they mechanically worked the pumps, trying to keep the vessel afloat. On the eleventh day of the storm, sailor John Newton was too exhausted to pump, so he was tied to the helm and tried to hold the ship to its course. From one o'clock until midnight he was at the helm.

With the storm raging fiercely, Newton had time to think. His life seemed as ruined and wrecked as the battered ship he was trying to steer through the storm. Since the age of eleven, he had lived a life at sea. Sailors were not noted for the refinement of their manners, but Newton had a reputation for profanity, coarseness, and debauchery which even shocked many a sailor.

John Newton had rejected his mother's teachings and had led other sailors into unbelief. Certainly, he was beyond hope and beyond saving, even if the Scriptures were true. Yet, Newton's thoughts began to turn to Christ. He found a New Testament and began to read. Luke 11:13 seemed to assure him that God might still hear him: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."

That day at the helm, March 21, 1748, was a day Newton remembered ever after: "On that day the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of deep waters." Many years later, as an old man, Newton wrote in his diary of March 21, 1805: "Not well able to write; but I endeavor to observe the return of this day with humiliation, prayer, and praise." Only God's amazing grace could and would take a rude, profane, slave-trading sailor and transform him into a child of God. Newton never ceased to stand in awe of God's work in his life. ~Used with permission from John Newton Discovered Amazing Grace @Christianity.com

4. The resurrection establishes an absolute standard for truth. Many in the postmodern world suggest there is no definitive right and wrong. One person's truth claims are just as valid as another. One religion is just as good as another. One culture's values are just as legitimate as another.

The Apostle Paul informed the intellectual elite in Athens about his encounter with the one true God. He concluded, "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

God will not judge us by majority opinion, personal feelings, or legal decrees. He will judge us by the perfect standard of Jesus Christ who insisted, "I am the truth." John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

No wonder God makes belief in Jesus' resurrection the ultimate requirement for salvation. "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

5. The resurrection has positively transformed millions of lives. The disciples became so convinced that Jesus was alive again that they were dramatically transformed from fearful deserters to courageous martyrs. Down through the centuries, born-again believers from Saul of Tarsus to John Newton to you and I - we have been remarkably transformed by the resurrected Jesus. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

6. The resurrection provides a daily purpose for our lives. The Apostle Paul reasoned, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:17, 19).

If there is no resurrection, this life is absolutely meaningless, and those who are completely self-absorbed and even those who commit suicide to escape suffering are doing the rational thing.

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…For as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22).

One of my favorite songs expresses it well,

"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because He lives."

Closing: Colossians 3:1–2 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

We are heavenward bound because Jesus Christ conquered death and nailed our sins to the cross!

The victory is ours! Praise be to God through His Son Jesus Christ!