The Cross And The Resurrection

In modern Christianity we hear many different things proclaimed to us.  Much of what we hear is self help, positive thinking, how to have a happy life, and general feel good messages.  Unfortunately we often do no get actual Christianity.  We are given a man centered message instead of a God centered message.  We are told to reach up to God when in reality it is God who reaches down to us.  

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,"  (ESV)




True, Biblical Christianity focuses on the cross and resurrection of Christ, it is the very heart of the matter.  Adam sinned (Genesis 3) and we all inherited a fallen, sinful nature from him.  We are all born sinners in rebellion against God.  Sin brings about death, both physical and spiritual.  Sin makes us enemies of God and we incur his wrath because of it.  God is holy, he cannot tolerate sin, he hates it.  

But God loved us and sent his Son to save his people from their sins.  Jesus lived a perfect life without sin and died on the cross to pay for the sins of his people.  He took God's wrath on himself in our place.  Believers have the righteousness of Christ credited to them.  Salvation is totally by the grace of God, we can do nothing to earn it.  We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.  

Jesus was raised from the dead victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  He was vindicated when God the Father accepted his sacrifice for our sins.  The resurrection also proves that Jesus is God.  If there was no resurrection there would be no Christianity.  That is why people are skeptical and attack the doctrine so intensely.  

Jesus appeared to over 500 people after he was raised from the dead.  It is not likely that all these people would have the same dream or be delusional.   All the early opponents of Christianity had to do was produce the body of Jesus.  If the body could have been produced, Christianity would have been shown to be a hoax.  But they could not produce the body because it was not there.  Many of the early Christians died for their belief in the resurrection of Christ.  People do not usually die for something they know is not true.  Most of all we can believe the resurrection of Christ because the Bible tells us it occurred.  The Bible is reliable, inerrant, and infallible.  The most plausible explanation is that Jesus really did rise from the dead.  Since the resurrection is true, Christianity is true.