From The Pastor's Desk....April,2006
By Hal Polk, BraceBeagling 
April 03, 2006

All comparisons of and arguments about the relative value of the religions of the world boil down to a single question: "Did Jesus of Nazareth rise from the dead?"

Centuries before He was born, Isaiah said that He would. All four Gospel writers claim that He did. The Apostles made His Resurrection the foundation of their personal faith and their public preaching. Jesus Himself made His victory over death the proof of all else that He said.

If one concludes that the Resurrection of Christ is a myth or a fiction, then the entire Christian religion is eaten with worms and worthy only of derision. If Christ did not rise, Christianity is not only not true but deceptive. A person sincerely looking for a truth and a relationship with God must look elsewhere.

But if one considers the many claims made about Christ's great victory; and studies the evidence available regarding the credibility of those claims; and concludes that the most reasonable view is that Jesus did, indeed, rise from the grave; then he must believe everything else that Jesus taught about Himself and about the salvation He said He had come to purchase on the cross.

As we approach Easter, please understand how very critical the event it marks is to us and to all other people.

It is a watershed of truth. If the stories we have believed about the Resurrection are not true, then Christ is not God, the religion that bears His Name is false, and we are without hope in the world.

But if it is true, then all else that we have believed is true as well. Because it is true that He lives; we, too, shall live!

May out hope be sure and our joy great as we come near to that day on which the Angels asked, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, just as He said!"