For a lot of people Easter means bunnies, colored eggs and spring break in a southern resort city. But what is Easter all about? The following is from Charles Swindoll's book "The Darkness and the Dawn."
"If I were to distill the Easter message into one sentence, it would be this: Jesus came back to life after He died. I could even put that message into one word: "resurrection."
"Resurrection" comes from "resurge" or "resurgence", in the sense of "coming back" or "rising up." In other words, Jesus Christ, who was once down, dead, laid aside, crucified, later stood up miraculously and bodily. He "resurged." He came back to life, never to die again.
Most religions, and the world is filled with them, are built on philosophies. The four major world religions, however, are built on personalities, and of those four, only Christianity claims that its founder is still alive, having been resurrected from the dead.
Judaism, the oldest of the four, teaches that its founder was Abraham, and that is true. But historians tell us - in fact, the Biblical record states, and the Jews agree - that Abraham is dead. Around 1900 B.C., he died "a ripe old age" and was buried by his sons, Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 25). Abraham is still dead.
Buddhism was founded by Buddha himself. The most ancient reliable piece of literature I could find regarding Buddhism says this of his death: "When Buddha died it was with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind." That pretty well seals the deal. No disciple of Buddha can declare, "I've seen the founder. He's been raised from the dead. I've spoken with him. He has appeared," Why? Because he is dead. Buddha is still dead.
Islam is founded on Mohammad and his teachings. Professor Childers, who has written a classic work on the subject of Islam entitled "The Light of Asia and the Light of the world", writes this: "There is no trace of this founder having existed after his death or appearing to his disciples. Mohammed was born about A.D. 571 and died in A.D. 632 at the age of 61, at Medina, where his tomb is annually visited by thousands of devout Mohammedans." Not one follower of Islam could declare with proof that he has seen the risen Mohammed. Why? Because Mohammed died. He is still dead.
Unlike the founders of those three major world religions, the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ is alive...and is still alive. His tomb is empty. He is risen. He is risen indeed!
His life was the watershed of history. His death and resurrection are the cornerstone of Christianity.
Wilbur Smith says, "The central tenant of the church is Christ's resurrection."
Robertson Nicoll writes, "The empty tomb of Christ has been the cradle of the church."
Michael Green, in his book "Man Alive", states "Without faith in the resurrection there would be no Christianity at all. The Christian church would never have begun; the Jesus movement would have fizzled like a damp squib with His execution. You see, Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. Once disprove it, and you have disposed of Christianity."
What Bethlehem was to Jesus of Nazareth, the empty tomb is to Christianity. it's the keystone, the capstone, the foundation of our faith. If He were still dead, we would have no living Savior, no living message. we would have only a series of dogma. But He is risen indeed.
After the horror of that crucifixion afternoon, darkness must have descended upon the hearts of the disciples as it had descended around the cross at Golgotha. Darkness, disillusionment, and great sorrow. Even the thought of a dawn of new hope seemed an eternity away to those depressed and confused disciples."
But the darkness did not last long. In a few days, on what we call Easter Sunday, the greatest miracle of all time occurred. Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, an event that was witnessed by over 500 people, and triggered the birth of Christianity.
By George Konig
March 26, 2006
www.georgekonig.org
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