I do not feel over-the-top happy, nor can I truly say that I
am always full of deep love for others nor can I honestly admit that I never
grow sad or have doubts. But I must
admit, I am compelled to share that more often than not I do indeed experience
joy, more often than not I do indeed feel love and more often than not I do
indeed live in an abiding hope. The
reason is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Before my conversion to Christianity, or more aptly put, my
realization of who Jesus really is, I was not often joyful, I had little love
for myself or others and I felt despair more than I felt hope. Jesus made the difference. I came to a small country church in Northern
California a young man full of doubt and anger on Easter Sunrise 1980. I had not been to church in years, and though
confirmed a Roman Catholic, had decided Christianity - and all religion - was
fairly worthless. I went to church at
the insistence of a friend, and only because she offered to drive the 60 miles
it would it take to get me to that ridiculous (in my mind) place.
Once there I heard it. The resurrection story. I had heard
it before, but this was the first time it occurred to me – and it occurred with
a power I had never experienced before – that it might be true. The pastor said (he didn’t shout, jump and
down, or use other silly histrionics that I loved to mock), “Jesus is alive. He
rose from the dead. Buddha remains in
his grave. Confucius remains in his
grave. Mohamed remains in his grave.
Even Moses remains in his grave.
But Jesus left his tomb, he is alive.”
It struck me then, and it still does, that if indeed Jesus
rose from the dead, then He is who claimed to be - the “Son of God”, whatever that really meant. I felt thunderstruck. Literally, I felt
electricity-like charges flow through my body (weird, huh?), and I knew it . .
. I just really knew it to be true.
Jesus rose from the dead. My life was
forever changed. I have been following
Jesus as best as I know how, which mostly means relying upon God’s grace with a
deep and humble understanding that no really has any sense of God’s true grandeur
or power or grace. And as a result a man
who used to very much distrust and dislike most
people now mostly loves people, and can receive their love; a man who used to
sense depression and discouragement (despite being, for that time, fairly
“successful” and “popular”) now senses mostly hope, gratitude and faith.
For me, the resurrection is the lynchpin of the Christian
faith. The risen Jesus is indeed demonstrated to be the “Lord of All” and the
“Son of God” and the “Savior” because of the resurrection. Not just another
prophet/martyr/philosopher/guru. The Lord. My Lord.
Following my conversion, several years into my new life as a
Christian, I doubted again. What if the
resurrection is a fairy tale? My goal
was truth, and if there is a God, surely God wanted truth. And if the truth led to the possibility that
there is no God (the assumption I had before my conversion) then, well, truth
must be truth. What is real is always,
in my opinion, better than what is pleasant but illusory.
Researching the resurrection led me down many paths, for
this is a topic that has had considerable debate of course, throughout the 2000
year Christian era. I do not here have
time to trace out the path of years of examining this core tenant of what led
me to experience a life-change. But I
can say that I am convinced that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is an
historic fact. The resurrection of Jesus
was not a hallucination, a resuscitation, confabulation or a conspiracy. The resurrection of Jesus is simply a fact of
history.
Cro-Magnon painted nicely on walls in France. Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh
Akhenaten. Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees
with elephants and troops. Jesus rose
from the dead. Abraham Lincoln was
president of the United States during the Civil War. Americans walked on the moon.
I am a Christian because God changed my heart and because I have become convinced intellectually
that Jesus died on a cross and rose from dead.
Many historical events have global impact today despite their occurrence
long ago (the first stone tool used by ancient humans, the Magna Carta,
Hiroshima, etc.). History’s zenith is
the resurrection. God gave tangible,
clear, powerful evidence of His existence and intimate, compassionate,
effective love for all humankind. Jesus
is that evidence. The resurrection seals
it.
My heart is strangely warmed.
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