God’s Not Dead

VIDEO: Jesus is the King

INTRO:

Jesus Christ…The Messiah…IS NOT DEAD! He is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven making intercession for you and I even now!!

God’s NOT Dead!

Happy Easter; Happy Resurrection Sunday Friends!

Skeptics have tried to deny the existence of God and discredit the resurrection for centuries…

They have tried to say that Jesus was not the Messiah

That He didn’t die on that cross

That the disciples must have went to the wrong tomb

The His body was stolen

Even Liberal Theologians during the “Age of enlightenment” popularized the argument that the resurrection didn’t happen.

Many are still asking today, “Why is the resurrection so important anyway?”

The Resurrection is Paramount to Christianity

1 Corinthians 15:12–20 NLT

12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

“The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity. It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions.” - Dr. Adrian Rogers

If It’s That Important…Is There Evidence Of A Resurrection?

Great men of God over the years have tackled this topic in depth

Lee Strobel

Kenneth Samples has researched this topic extensively.

Josh McDowell has invested 700 hours of research on this topic.

He was a skeptic prior to his conversion to Christianity.

1. THE BROKEN ROMAN SEAL

The seal was a sign that the tomb was occupied and the power and authority of Rome stood behind the seal.

Anyone tampering with something sealed by the Romans meant being crucified upside down.

The disciples already denied Him and scattered…would they have the nerve to tamper with the Roman seal or trained Roman Guards?

2. THE EMPTY TOMB

The Disciples went back to Jerusalem to preach the gospel

If the tomb wasn’t proven empty that would not have been permitted for a single hour and no one would have believed them!

Both Roman and Jewish tradition admitted to an empty tomb

Dr. Paul Maier call this, “Positive evidence from a hostile source, which is the strongest kind of historical evidence.”

Gamaliel (a pharisee) suggested that the rise of the Christian movement might be God’s doing. That doesn’t sound like something an adversary would say about a dead man who claimed to be a Savior. (Acts 5:38-40)

Sounds like an empty tomb due to resurrection.

“If all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in the literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement.” - Dr. Paul Maier

3. THE LARGE STONE WAS MOVED

All the gospel writers reference the 1.5 - 2 Ton stone that was moved from it’s original spot

In front of tombs was a carved out track for the stones to be rolled down an incline in front of the entrance

They used levers and gravity

It was removed in a way that appeared to have been picked up and carried away.

How could that happen without notice from the Roman guards?

SEE PICS OF

STONE

GRAVE

4. THE ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL

The Roman Guards Fled

I think the Angel scared them; Every time angels were seen in the NT people were freaked out!

The offense required the death penalty for a Roman Soldier not taking responsibility.

They stripped their clothes off the soldier and used them to start a fire and burned them alive

“Fear of punishment produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches.” - Dr. George Currie (a student of Roman military discipline)

5. THE GRAVE CLOTHES LEFT BEHIND

The disciples were deeply impacted when they found the grave linens empty, undisturbed, and still retaining the shape of Jesus’ body.

It was like His body just vanished from the grave clothes.

John 20:7 NLT

7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings.

Cloth (Napkin - KJV, burial cloth - NIV, handkerchief - NKJV, face-cloth - NASB)

Folded (Rolled up - NASB, Wrapped together - KJV)

There is rumor that there is significance found in the folding of the cloth. In Jewish custom if a person folds the napkin and leaves the table it communicated to the servant that he intends on returning to the table; signifying the return of Jesus

6. JESUS APPEARED TO MANY EYE WITNESSES

Jesus appeared alive to the same people who witnessed His death and burial.

Mary Magdalene - first proclaimer of the gospel was a women

Peter - a denier and traitor

Thomas - the doubter

James - Jesus’ brother who was very skeptical and critical of Jesus’ claims of being Messiah)

Saul of Tarsus - Persecutor of Christians who was hardly a convert or follower of Jesus. But later became Apostle Paul one of the greatest witnesses of the resurrection. (Gal. 1:11-15)

Jesus was seen by over 500 people over a 40 day period of time (1 Cor. 15:1-11)

But Wait There’s More…

7. Short Time Frame Between Actual Events and Eyewitness Claims

8. The Greatest Religious Conversion Ever

9. Historic Dominance of the Christian Church

10. Day of Worship Switched From the Sabbath to Sunday

In celebration of the risen Christ

Orthodox Jews still honor the Sabbath as the day of worship because they have denied Jesus as the Messiah

11. Many References to the Resurrection in the Apostle’s Letters

12. No Tomb Was Ever Venerated as the Burial Place of Jesus

Burial places of famous people were customarily respected and honored. Yet there is no tomb or grave for arguably the most famous man in history.

13. A Crucified Messiah Would Have Been Viewed by Jewish Christians as Cursed by God.

The resurrection that followed turned Jesus’s crucifixion into a divine atonement.

14. All the Alternative Naturalistic Explanations for the Resurrection of Jesus Prove False

The wrong tomb theory presented by Kirsopp Lake (the women, the apostles, and the Romans got the wrong tomb?)

Hallucinations explain the appearances of Jesus. (Where’s the body?)

Swoon Theory

(Popularized by Venturini stated several centuries ago that Jesus fainted and later woke up in the grave)

(Hard to maneuver when they wrapped His body in linens coated with 100 lbs of aromatic spices mixed with a gummy substance.)

(Removed the 1.5 - 2 ton stone placed with levers and escaped without notice of the Roman guards to seek medical attention)

The Body Stolen

(The cowering disciples struck up the nerve to take on a detail of Roman soldiers and steal the body without recourse from Roman authorities. They would have been jailed vs preaching publically)

(If the Romans or Jews stole the body they would have produced the body as soon as the preaching of a resurrected Messiah began to gain traction as it did in the Roman Empire.)

Matthew 28:13 Bribe between Jewish Elders and the guards to spread a rumor that Jesus’ body was stolen away while they slept.

15. Sources Outside of the Bible Confirm That Jesus Was At Least Executed

16. The Reliability of the NT

Manuscripts written before 80AD and could have been refuted by first person eye witnesses.

Sir William Ramsay spent 15 years attempting to undermine Luke’s credentials as a historian and his account of Jesus’ events

He finally concluded, “Luke is a historian of the first rank…This author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.”

From an academic perspective… F.F. Bruce said…

“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)

17. The Transformation of the Apostles

What caused them to go everywhere telling the message of the risen Christ?

Had there been any visible benefits accrued to them from their efforts—prestige, wealth, increased social status or material benefits—we might logically attempt to account for their actions, for their whole-hearted and total allegiance to this "risen Christ ."

As a reward for their efforts, however, those early Christians were beaten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and crucified. Every conceivable method was used to stop them from talking.

Yet, they laid down their lives as the ultimate proof of their complete confidence in the truth of their message.

CONCLUSION:

Is JESUS Dead To You?

If not what do you do with Jesus?

John 14:6 NLT

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

On the basis of all the evidence for Christ's resurrection,

Considering the fact that Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and an eternal relationship with God,

Who would be so fool-hearted to reject Him?

Christ is alive! He is living today