Is Christ really risen?

How do you know that Jesus is alive?

Can you prove it?

Are you sure you were not lied to?

Depending on who you ask those questions, you are going to get some really different answers. I, for one, would answer the questions very subjectively, I tend to be that simple.  But others might give you a more logical explanation. In fact some people demand a more rational approach. I would like to offer both, objective and subjective answers to those questions in this post. Well, please don’t expect a really deep philosophical explanation, I’m not really cut out that way. So, in my own weak way, here is what I came up with:

Let’s start with answers for all the Columbo/ Peter Falk types of the world

It is funny to me that after trying for more than 2,000 years to refute Christ’s resurrection, the enemy of our faith is still trying to come up with new lies, new ways to discredit our claims about the resurrection. The gospel accounts have increasingly come under attack and intense scrutiny. However, the evidence is overwhelmingly strong. And objectively, they present proofs beyond the shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is no longer in the grave.

Check these out:

• Historical eye-witness testimonies… not just one, but many…
• The life and ministry of the apostle Paul… a Jew who really hated Jesus and his crew… did everything to stop them…
• The empty tomb…
• The disciples were very much aware about he danger of bearing false witness about God. They were devout Jews
• The testimony of women. If they really wanted to make up the resurrection, men were going to be in the forefront
• Jewish propaganda. Jewish authorities paid the guards to spread lies about the resurrection.
• They could not produce the body to silence the believers…
• There is no veneration of the tomb… that’s because there was not need to do so… he wasn’t there…
• The testimony of a non christian historian bares witness to the resurrection
• Biblical records show a unified account about the resurrection appearances
• That they would die for believing in His resurrection is amazing
• Why will they go with a message that was hard to sell. Hard for the Jews believe and foolishness to Greeks
• Yet the church was booming among Jews and Gentiles
• All other explanation out there lack credibility

It is very hard to argue with these different points. In fact many modern scholars agree that there is overwhelming proof that support the resurrection.

Let’s end with Answers for the Average Joe/ I was blind but now I see

After all these years as a christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, I still believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m glad that we can make the case objectively and intellectually about Jesus’ resurrection, but our subjective experiences also make for a great testimony that Jesus is alive.

Check these out:

• Miracle, Signs, Wonders
• Spirit’s Regeneration, Spirit’s Outpouring
• The Local Church: spiritual guidance and development, fellowship, family – church growth and expansion…
• Christian Mission: Church growth, social justice, serving the poor, caring for the least of these
• Faith, Hope, Love
• Joy of my salvation
• Once a sinner now a saint
• Selfish now Selfless
• Takers now Givers
• Prideful now Humble
• Love God, love truth, love others, love the world, hate sin
• hope of eternal life
• “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
• I was lost but know I am found
• I was bound but now I am free
• Sin is no longer my master

You asked me how I know he lives – He Lives Within my Heart. Talk about “Breaking Bad”- no self-help book or pop psych could help me. No one could fix me until I met Jesus the risen Lord. Before getting to know Him, there was a law at work in me – the law of sin and death. But now, there is another law in me – the law of spirit and life. Before getting to know him, I contemplated ways of ending my life. I felt hopeless, I felt a void deep inside. But I have found peace in him. I know Him. I feel Him. I talk to Him, I did this morning. He talks to me. He guides me. We’re connected in a deep spiritual and mystical way. My God is not dead he’s surely alive, living on the inside roaring like a lion.