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The Trail of the Resurrection from Genesis

As many know, the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is vitally important to Christianity. While others reject the truth, many Christians have only a superficial knowledge of the Resurrection. There is depth to it that can be traced throughout Scripture. An old expression often found in found in Western stories is  cutting sign . It is used today as well. Basically, it means to look for evidence of an animal or a person and follow their trail. Christians can cut sign beginning in Genesis. Empty tomb,  Free Christian Illustrations The Bible is such that much of it can be understood by us reg'lar folk, but we can keep learning throughout our lives. It certainly keeps theologians busy mining truths. An important procedure is to interpret Scripture with Scripture. We can follow the trail in the Old Testament for the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Working backward, the New Testament tells us that he is our Creator (Col. 1:16, John 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2-3). God the Son came to

God Did Not Use Death to Create

There are some professing Christians that believe God used evolution for his method of creation, but that view is fundamentally flawed. If you study on it, one simple problem with that idea is how we react to suffering and death. While we know that everyone eventually dies, we are not passive about it. Credit: Freeimages /  V Fouche From the standpoint of atheistic naturalism, there is no hope. As I have stated before, my oldest brother had Down Syndrome. He lived much longer than expected, finally passing away at age 64. My father had dementia, Alzheimer's, and (I think) Parkinson's, and didn't know who I was — or who he was — at the end. Not too long after he died, my mother was taken by a malignant glioma. There are many other people I could mention who have lost loved ones and even suffer under conditions right now. However, we have that hope based on promises in the Bible for a grand reunion when everyone will be whole again. According to Scripture, death is an enemy

Answering Good Friday and Easter Questions

Many events occurred during what many Christians call Holy Week , leading up to the Crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and his bodily Resurrection on Sunday. Some professing Christians are confused, annoyed, and even judgmental about our celebrations of Easter, and misotheists join in the attacks. Credit: Free Christian Illustrations One of the questions people have is when they count on their fingers, they believe that Jesus could not have been crucified on Friday and rise from the dead on Sunday. This comes from shoehorning modern counting methods into ancient Jewish reckoning. We do  want to be honest with the text, don't we?  Another problem some people have is the claim that Easter is based on pagan traditions. Unfortunately, this nonsense is spread by modern church traditions and ill-informed pastors. Ignorance of history and languages are not excuses for Pecksniffian attitudes of religious people who look down on those of us who choose to celebrate Easter.  If you get up o

Appearances of the Creator in the Old Testament

On Resurrection Sunday, most Christians celebrate the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead. While the man Jesus began his earthly life in Bethlehem, God the Son has always existed. He made himself known in several places in the Old Testament. These are called theophanies . Abraham Receiving the Three Angels by Bartolome Esteban Murillo, 1667 There is disagreement among scholars about the nature of theophanies. In the broadest sense, they were encounters with God. There is some debate about the identity of the angel of the Lord (although the text indicates that this was the preincarnate Christ ). God was active in human history before he (our Creator) took the form of a man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day. This is one of many reasons to humble ourselves and rejoice. As Easter approaches, we tend to focus our reflections on the life, death, and glorious resurrection of Christ. We even mark the timeline of history

Evidence for the Resurrection without the Bible?

It is a fair question to ask if there is evidence for Jesus, especially his Resurrection, from non-biblical sources. Is there corroborating evidence from various historical accounts? Maybe some forensic evidence? However, such questions can often an attempt to demand evidence but the inquirer is not interested in biblical information. US Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo (Usage does not imply endorsement of site contents by the US Department of Defense) Some folks don't seem to ponder on some things, and forget that almost instantaneous satellite news didn't exist back then. We're talking about an event that happened over 2,000 years ago. Another is that Jerusalem was a jerkwater town in the Roman empire. Other information may have existed, but it's turned to dust by now. More than those details, however, is that the Bible is historically reliable. We get names, dates, details, eyewitness accounts, and more. People don't seem to have felt a need

Creation and Other Miracles

Christians must necessarily presuppose not only the existence of God, but also that miracles have happened. Creation itself was a miracle. Other miraculous events, such as the Genesis Flood, involve God using what already exists but still transcending the usual workings of nature. The power of God was shown when he bodily raised Jesus from the dead. Credit: Freeimages / Robert Linder Unfortunately, the word miracle  is vastly overused and cheapened. "I rode my horse all the way into town and he didn't go lame, it's a miracle!" No, it's not. "The boss miraculously kept the meeting to the allotted time". No miracle there either, pal. Dr. John MacArthur is much more specific: What is a miracle? Let me give you a simple definition. A miracle is an interference with nature by a supernatural power. A miracle is something outside our box invading our little box, something outside our world coming into our world and making waves and ripples. Miracles ar

Creation and Crucifixion

A day called Good Friday is observed to some extent by most professing Christians around the world. Unbelievers ignore or even hate this day because there is no camouflaging it; no candy rabbits, baskets with shredded plastic grass, egg hunts , ham dinners or any other trappings like people do with Easter. The crucifixion of Jesus is plainly on display for all to see. Credit: Pixabay / congerdesign The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead followed on a Sunday. He defeated death to reconcile those who believe with God the Father, and enemies of God don't rightly cotton to hearing about that none too much. They also dislike being reminded that Jesus is the Creator (John 1:1-4, Colossians 1:16), and that both the crucifixion and resurrection were prophesied centuries before those events happened. Further, the first prophesy about redemption after sin was in Genesis 3:15. For those who belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12, Revelation 21:3

The Resurrection and Our Broken Planet

Even though there is a great deal of beauty in the world, the fact is, it's broken. We have no concept of what it was like just after creation. More than that, the world is broken in other ways. We have natural disasters, diseases, the origins myth of evolution foisted on the public as "science", false religions, profiteering pretend Christians, man's inhumanity to man, and much more. Some folks reckon that bad things happening is a sign that God doesn't care, can't do anything, or doesn't even exist. Some even say he's evil. (Interesting, they don't use evil in the world as evidence for the existence of Satan, who is a liar and destroyer.) Such "bad God" ideas are simplistic, springing from looking for excuses to rebel against him. When these excuses are examined, they cannot withstand scrutiny. The problem of our broken planet goes all the way back go Genesis. And that's where we begin to learn about the solution and final

A Song for Easter

Many Christians around the world are celebrating Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He defeated death that we may live. Here is a music video, and two links for your edification. First, " The Argument from Easter " for God and the Christian worldview. Next, " What Does the Resurrection of Jesus Have to Do With Creation? "

One of These Tombs Is Not Like the Other