Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Life would suck!...if there be no Resurrection! Gleanings from 1 Corithians 15: 12-20

It is recorded in the New Testament that Christ Jesus appeared at the least...11 times after His death at the Cross...for each of us. One writer of  the New Testament said there wouldn't be enough "paper" in the whole world to write about Christ and His activities here on earth...after He arose from the dead!
 Here are 11 recorded entries:

1. Mary Magdalene was quoted she had seen Him...at His tomb (John 20:11-18).
    Note: In those times, a woman's perspective was not considered very reliable by the males of
    that day, in fact men often "blew off" or didn't believe what a woman might have said or seen. 
    So, 
    what does Jesus do for "opening ceremonies" to let the world know He is Alive?....He appears
    to a woman!..
2. He appears...to other women...like the "other Mary" in Matthew 28:1-10
3. He appears to Simon Peter alone in Luke 24:34
4. He appears to 2 disciples on the "Road to Emmaus" in Luke 24:13-35
5.He appears to 10 of His disciples (Thomas was absent), along with others...in Jerusalem in John 20: 19-24
6. He appears to His disciples again, this time Thomas being with them in Mark 16:14-18.
7. He cooked breakfast for the disciples at the Sea of Galilee (there were 7 disciples there), in John 21: 1-23.
8. He appears to the "Original 11" and to 500 others!...at an appointed place in Galilee...in Matthew 28:16-20 and I Corinthians 15:6.
9. He appears to James in 1 Corinthians 15:7
10. He appears to the "Original 11" shortly before His Ascension...in fact they accompanied Him from Jerusalem to Mt. Olivet...and saw Him ascend, in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-52, and Acts 1:4-10.
11. Paul sees Him while traveling to Damascus in Acts 9:3-9...after the Ascension.

 So, at least 11 times it is recorded He is seen...and He has 11 "Original" disciples...I just thought I would "throw that in there".....as Forest Gump would say: "For no apparent reason..."
  Jesus conversed with people...face to face, the disciples touched Him, and He ate bread with them.
 What is unusual is the fact in a matter of 50 days, the "Original 11" went from a frightened bunch of guys (meeting behind locked doors)...to bold and daring men...preaching the Gospel without fear or concern for their personal safety. Now, you can draw your own conclusions from that...but...something happened!

                                                    Gleanings from 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

 " Now, since we do believe, and know in our own hearts...in fact there are quite a few of us that have actually seen Him...after His death at the Cross, and know that Yes! He is Alive! We do confirm: He has Risen from the grips of Death itself!
 Yet, there are those of you who still say: "Hogwash!"

 Allow me to make this as clear as I can for you...if there be no Resurrection, and if God the Father did not raise Christ Jesus from Death, and if Christ Jesus is not alive...right now!, then you are right, our message is :"hogwash!"
 In fact, we would be telling you things that are entirely useless, that have no meaning, totally imaginary, having no positive results, ....just a flat lie! All of our preaching is just "smoke and mirrors."
 What would make this even worse is we are making up lies about God...and where do you think that would get us? And how about all those folks who have already died and put their hope in a "Messiah"?...won't they be in for a surprise! Just imagine, you have died...and now you find out the Messiah has beat you to it...He is already dead!
 To be perfectly honest with you, I think the worst thing in life, the most miserable life a person could ever have...is to spend your entire life believing in "a God who is already dead"...and you just didn't know it. Spending your entire life studying and putting to heart His Commands...only to find out...it meant nothing! If there is no power from on High, to guide man to His Destiny...."it all sucks". And I don't buy that "you do it for the good of your fellow man"...I do have some experience on the nature of "my fellow man"...and he is a "beast"!...and that's on his "good days".

 Rather, let me clue you in on this thought...and you can cling to your "hogwash" attitude all you want.
 Here are some real facts: Christ Jesus has been raised...from the grips of Death...Death could not contain Him, Death could not control Him...Death did not have the power to kill Him(Christ gave His life up voluntarily)...nor could Death hold Him from rising to Life again!
 You who think this is all nonsense: think about this. You have no problem believing Death is real...then why could there not be Life...after Death?
 One more thing: Jesus, our Living Messiah...He is only the First...now, because of Him...Death cannot hold anyone back who have staked their lives with Him....we are all being raised....from Death...to be with Him!"

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