Has Faith In The Saving Power Of Jesus’ Resurrection

Has Faith In The Saving Power Of Jesus’ Resurrection

A HERO’S TALE

Usain Bolt can fly.

At the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, the Jamaican superstar proved he was the fastest man on the planet, winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay in world-record times.

Good thing Bolt didn’t live in first-century Palestine, though. He might have lost a footrace to the apostle John, at least on that miraculous Sunday after Jesus died.

That morning, Mary Magdalene and a few other women went to the tomb where their Lord’s body had been placed. But when they arrived, they found the stone at the entrance rolled away and the tomb empty. Mary hurried back to tell Peter and John. Alarmed and confused, the two disciples sprinted to the tomb, but John arrived before Peter. You’ve never seen a man in a tunic and sandals run so fast. Watch out, Usain.

Peter entered the tomb first and saw nothing, except the burial cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus. “Then,” John 20:8 says, “the disciple who had reached the tomb first [John] also went in, and he saw and believed.”

Later that evening, Jesus appeared in person to the disciples. He had truly risen from the dead! Over the next 40 days, John and the disciples saw Jesus many other times before he ascended into heaven.

John had seen and believed. Many years later, he wrote about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in his Gospel “so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:31).

DECODING THE MESSAGE

Jesus was a real, historical person who lived in Palestine in the early part of the first century AD. Many people —even non-Christian religious scholars —admit that. But simply believing Jesus existed isn’t good enough.

The Bible says we must put our faith in the saving power of Jesus’ resurrection. As the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.”

Why is this so important? Because Jesus’ resurrection proved that

• he truly was the Son of God;
• he defeated sin and death forever; and
• God accepted his sacrifice on our behalf.

You can’t truly be a Christian —a follower of Christ —without believing these truths.

John was an eyewitness of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. He wrote his Gospel so you would believe.

Do you?

BATTLE PLAN

Celebrating Jesus’ resurrection isn’t just for Easter. Read one (or all) of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection and praise him for rising to life again!