God kind of faith 4
by Ivan Ho
21 April 2019
1. Faith in Christ
Faith in His Resurrection
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Paul the apostle was spot on when he said: “If Christ is not risen, our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain”. Needless to say, all I am writing here is pointless, if Christ was never resurrected. Christianity would be just another religion in which people can choose when and how they want to follow, if they want to follow. And of course, there would be no need of worship and no one to pray to. Jesus would just be another good teacher if he, like all other religious leaders before and after him, died and did not rise from the dead.
However, the fact of the matter is: Praise God, Christ is risen!
Not only is Jesus risen from the dead, he is now seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God the Father, and His Spirit dwells in the bodies of all of us who have given our lives to our Lord! The Spirit of the living God now lives in everyone who are in Christ!
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
Do you have faith in Jesus who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, and three days after, was raised from the dead?
You may say: “Well, I have never seen Jesus… How do I know if Jesus was indeed resurrected?”
That is a valid question and you are not the first one who have this query.
Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:24-29
Thomas was not with the other 12 apostles when Jesus appeared to them soon after his resurrection. When told about the fact that Jesus was risen, Thomas said that he would not believe unless he has seen Jesus with his own eyes. Not only that, he went a step further in wanting to feel and touch the nail marks on the body of Jesus before he would believe. Soon, after Jesus appeared to him and let him feel the nail marks in his hand and his side, Thomas bowed down and said to his master: “my Lord and my God!”. He knew without any more doubt that standing right before him was the risen Lord.
Jesus Christ the Son of God came as a man, died on the cross, was buried and then rose from the dead three days after, the greatest historical event in the entire human history! Our faith is in the risen Lord rather than on some religious teachings and ideologies.
To be honest, I never had Jesus appear to me in the flesh in my living room, or anywhere for that matter. But Jesus has put the evidence of his death and resurrection in my heart (and countless others all over the world) since the time I first put my faith in him!
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Resurrection gives us hope for things to come
When Paul talks about “evidence”, he is not just talking about external evidence, but most importantly, internal evidence in an individual’s heart, evidence that is not seen with the physical eyes.
Unless you know in your heart that Christ has risen and is alive in you, you do not yet have the God kind of faith, and spiritually speaking, you are dead.
Without the evidence of the resurrection of Christ in your heart, neither would you have any substance of things to hope for. The Word must be alive in your heart to give you substance for your faith.
By faith Abraham offered up Isaac, for he had the evidence in his heart that, even his son would die, God would raise him from the dead, and the word of God in his heart gave him the substance to hope for what was promised: “In Isaac your seed shall be called”.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Hebrews 11:17-19
The resurrection of Christ not only proves that Jesus is the Son of God, it also establishes the foundation for our hope for what is to come, as Paul explains:
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
1 Corinthians 15:20-28
To be continued… God kind of faith 5
Historical evidence for the resurrection
Testimony of an ex-Buddhist monk who came back to life
P.S. If you have any questions or comments regarding the above topic, please feel free to drop it in the comments section below and I will address them soonest possible.