There is a vital issue in religious circles. It addresses the degree to which our faith is placed in Jesus Christ. Do we view him as a famous historical figure? Do we see him as a great prophet and teacher? Or, do we see him as the New Testament proclaims him: the only divine, virgin-born Son of God?
There are several reasons why I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here are a few of them. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because his body has never been presented.
When you consider the extent to which his influence reached in his first advent and the degree to which his enemies sought to destroy him, they would have produced a body if it could have been found. They feared his resurrection [Matt. 27:62,63]. They so feared it that they posted their own watch on a sealed tomb [Matt. 27:66]. And, when they heard the report of the miracle of the resurrection, they bribed the guards into telling a story to their own shame: that they had fallen asleep [Matt. 28:13]. If there had been a body to be found, those men would have found it.
I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the skepticism of one of our own. Man`s nature remains constant. A person who is easily excitable remains that way most of his life. Thomas was a skeptic. He had to see it to believe it. Even though his friends of years and companions in crisis had assured him of the physical presence of Jesus Christ in the upper room, Thomas would not believe. "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side," Thomas declared, "I will not believe" [John 20:25].
That next week, on the first day of the month, at evening, Jesus appeared again to the disciples. This time, Thomas was present. What was his reaction to Jesus when he saw him? Thomas said unto him, "My Lord and my God" [John 20:28].
I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the change in the attitude of the apostles, especially Peter. If anyone had reason to keep quiet concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, it would have been Peter. He had cursed, denying the Lord on the night of his trial [Matt. 26:74]. Beyond this personal embarrassment, Peter was afraid of the general public: he was in the upper room "for fear of the Jews" [John 20:19]. Yet, there is a drastic change.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter openly declares that Jesus of Nazareth, though "approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs" they had taken and, by wicked hands, had crucified and slain [Acts 2:23]. Then Peter declares that God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that God`s Holy One should see corruption nor that his soul be left in hell [Acts. 2:27].
I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, known best to us as the Apostle Paul. Here is a man to whom the chief priests entrusted the work of stamping out the Christian faith. Nothing short of what Paul claimed had happened on the Damascus Road could have caused him to make such a change in his life. The testimony of that hour, how the Lord appeared unto Paul [Acts 9:1-9], is maintained by the Apostle throughout his life. How important was the change in Paul`s life? Even after two years of imprisonment, his enemies still sought to take his life [Acts 24:27-25:2].
You may have guessed by now the main reason I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ: the New Testament declares it to be so. "But now is Christ risen from the dead" Paul writes, "and become the firstfruits of them that slept" [I Cor. 15:20]. God has given us this promise: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" [Rom. 10:9]. I believe that.