Art, and the Story of the Resurrection

3-03-08
Hello, Art,
You remarked about the story of Jonah in the Bible. And yes, indeed, it is a great story. Very interesting, but also heartening when you think of how God gave His servant Jonah a second opportunity to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach God’s message there. Very encouraging, too, with respect to a large population repenting and turning to God, upon hearing the preaching of God’s servant, no matter how reluctant he was at first! Besides that, it’s simply great to know that God cares about people everywhere and wants them to love Him and follow His plan for their lives. Isn’t that so?

I take the Book of Jonah in the Bible very seriously because of these factors. But in addition, it’s because our Savior referred to Jonah in His teachings recorded in the Four Gospels of the N.T. He used the story of Jonah spending three days in the interior of the great fish to illustrate His own burial, and rising again from the dead on the third day.

Soon we will be celebrating Resurrection Sunday once again (Easter), re-telling the fantastic and wonderful record in the Bible of Jesus our Lord rising from the dead. One of the greatest hymns about this, I think, is “Christ Arose,” by Robert Lowry. Dating back to the year 1874, it clearly and simply relates, in a very singable musical setting, the triumph that Christ experienced over death and all His foes, when He arose from the dead nearly two thousand years ago!

Art, if this interests you, my recommendation is to read the fifteenth chapter of one of the Apostle Paul’s letters, the one we call 1 Corinthians. In that chapter, Paul states clearly that if Christ did not rise from the dead as the evidence states so forcefully, then we who are His followers are most to be pitied of all people. And he goes so far as to say that if Christ did not rise, then we are still in sin, i.e. we have no hope for a marvelous future with the Lord someday when we finish our earthly journey!

But the Bible does promise that everyone who receives Christ as Savior and believes in Him can know for sure NOW that he or she will be in God’s family forever. And that’s not through any amount of good works that you and I might do (or anyone else do, either). Instead, it’s entirely because God loves us each one, and gave His Son to be our Redeemer by His death on the Cross and His resurrection on that first Easter Sunday.

Now that’s not just a “nice story,” Art. I dare say that it is the best-attested story in history, -- that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures!

Art, if you’ve never given much thought to this tremendous theme of the Bible, the “Greatest Book Ever Written,” then I hope you will do so soon. And let me know what you think. I’ll be praying that this year will mark a turning point in your life, a turning point that is directly related to Christ’s death and resurrection.

Wishing you all the best, -- PapaPops