The preaching of the power of the resurrection of Christ brought the early rain. The same preaching will bring the latter rain and ripen the world's harvest.
When this resurrection power takes possession of the Advent people, the same success that marked the rise of the early church will be witnessed, and even greater accomplishments will be seen. This power will surmount all obstacles and conquer all difficulties. Our most urgent need is to accept by faith "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:19, 20).
One of our grave dangers is to depend too much on organization and a correct interpretation of the prophecies. As necessary as these are, they are powerless unless accompanied by the power of His resurrection. It is participation in this miraculous event rather than the interpretation of intricate prophecies that will lighten the world. Paul knew what this experience was when he stated: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not 1, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). As the resurrected Christ takes up His abode in us, we will join the ranks of witnesses who testily to the power of His resurrection.
Focal Point of Apostolic Preaching
The apostle Paul longed to experience the power of Christ's resurrection. He recognized that without this his ministry would be fruitless. In all of his preaching he gave pre-eminence to the supreme event of Christ's rising from the dead. He states emphatically that had this miracle not occurred, there would be no message of hope for the world. Then Christianity would be a sham and every evangelical preacher a false witness. We would be yet in our sins and "of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:12-19).
The incarnation of Christ, His sinless life, His vicarious suffering, and His substitutionary death on the cross would be powerless and of no avail were it not for His resurrection. A gospel record that ended at the cross would be full of pathos and would cause us to admire such self-sacrificing love, but it would be lacking "the power of an endless life." It is this power that makes efficacious Christ's atoning death. This was the focal point of all apostolic preaching.
Certainty of Christ's Resurrection
The devil did his utmost to keep Christ captive in the grave. Well did he know that should Christ come forth a victor over death, his dominion would be forever lost, and from henceforth he would be a defeated foe. Therefore, every precaution was taken to hold the Saviour fast in Joseph's new tomb. A great stone was rolled before the door and the Roman seal affixed. The guards were increased from sixty to one hundred, and lest they should grow weary at their post, provision was made to change them through the night watches. But with all his well-laid plans, the enemy was powerless to keep a sinless Saviour in his prison house. The very steps taken to keep Him in the tomb served to make the fact of His rising the more miraculous. The power of His resurrection was manifest as the stone was rolled away and the bright light from heaven dazzled the eyes of these strong Roman soldiers. They fell back as dead men as the Son of God came forth to life.
Unbelievers Seek Natural Explanation
Since the day these soldiers were bribed to say that the disciples had stolen away Christ's body, the prince of deceivers has constantly prompted unbelievers to explain away the miracle of Christ's resurrection. "The unburied body theory," "the hallucination theory," "the mistaken women theory," and "the twin theory" are unscholarly and ludicrous attempts to try to explain the resurrection of Christ. No natural explanation is adequate to account for such a supernatural event, and a human supposition only brings into bold relief the mystery of the divine.
Postresurrection Appearances
On twelve different occasions the New Testament writers record the appearance of Christ after His resurrection. It is unlikely that men of such diversity of character to whom Christ made Himself known in postresurrection appearances would all be deceived and deluded. One can hardly imagine Peter becoming delirious, or Thomas hysterical, or the five hundred brethren all synchronously suffering from a hallucination. The educated and logical mind of Saul the Pharisee would not be readily deceived, yet he gave testimony of his meeting the resurrected Lord on the way to Damascus. That meeting changed the entire course of his lfe.
Transforming Power of the Resurrection
It was the resurrection of Christ that transformed the lives of the disciples and empowered them for service. After their Master came from the tomb, their former defeat gave way to an overwhelming victory. Their sorrow was changed into singing, their weakness into power. Peter, who before had been cowardly and fearful, now boldly declared, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2: 36). "This Jesus hath God raised up. . . . Being by the right hand of God exalted, . . . he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (verses 32, 33). When the stupendous fact of Jesus' resurrection and exaltation was set forth, men everywhere repented of their sins and joined the ranks of the Christians.
This was the reason for the success of early Christianity. It was not, as Gibbon suggested, the organizing power of the believers, nor the purity of their ethics, nor the enthusiasm of their adherents. But it was the realization that Jesus who had been crucified was now risen from the dead, and that He had opened up a new and-iving whereby men could be united ,once more in close relationship with God. A new age- began with Christ's resurrection. The world that had been growing darker and darker now suddenly began to see the glorious light gleaming from the throne of God, where sat the resurrected and exalted Christ.
Critics are wont to tell us that this story of Christ's rising is a legend, or myth, that was invented by the young church to give impetus to its message. Rather is the opposite of this true. It was the fact of the resurrection miracle that brought the new church into existence, as James Stewart points out: "It was emphatically not a case of the community creating a supernatural tradition, the church producing the faith it lives by: the truth is the exact reverse. It was a case of the supernatural facts creating the community, and doing it with such irresistible momentum that to this day the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it."—A Faith to Proclaim, pp. 26, 27.
Our message to the world is not to prepare men to die hut to live, and to live forever. Our assurance of that immortal life is found in the fact that Christ rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.
