Today is Resurrection Sunday to all the believers!
Happy Easter
HE IS RISEN!
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*From Paul the Apostle:
(who was once a chief hater & persecutor of Christ-followers, and later to become one of the chief preachers, and a martyr for Jesus the Risen Christ)
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1 Corinthians 15
Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection
1 Now brothers and sisters, let me remind you [once again] of the good news [of salvation] which I preached to you, which you welcomed and accepted and on which you stand [by faith].
2 By this faith you are saved [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain [just superficially and without complete commitment].
3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
4 and that He was buried, and that He was [bodily] raised on the third day according to [that which] the Scriptures [foretold],
5 and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the [a]Twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred (500) brothers and sisters at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep [in death].
7 Then He was seen by James, then by all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to one [b]untimely (prematurely, traumatically) born, He appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
11 So whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed and trusted in and relied on with confidence.
12 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that [c]some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth].
15 We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin].
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied...."
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To summarise, one is left to say that the only rational conclusion is that the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ are witnesses of the highest credibility. If we are unable to accept their histories, why would we accept the histories of any other incident in the human race?
Millions of Christians of all denominations celebrate the events of Easter. They remember time and again the facts surrounding the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. When on Easter Sunday we hear the declaration ringing in our ears once again: ‘The Lord is risen’,
it is comforting to know that on the basis of highly credible evidence, we can confidently respond: ‘He is risen indeed.’
