I want you to know that I post what I post because I love people, not because I hate them.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2005
(1 Corinthians 15)
Why the exposure of Watergate's "deepthroat" is important to a Christian. For political and history buffs, the identity of the infamous "deepthroat," that mysterious high level anonymous source of inside information about the early '70s scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, has been one of the best kept secrets ever. Over the past 3 decades, there has been tremendous speculation who "deepthroat" was, with only a handful of people knowing the answer to that great mystery. Last week, Mark Felt, the former number two man at the FBI during the early '70s admitted to being "deepthroat." As I watched the news coverage unfold over the past week, I couldn't help but to think how this one isolated event in American history strengthened the case for the Christian faith.
Every person comes to faith in Christ in a different way, for different reasons. Once you are saved, as you grow and mature in your faith there is usually some point in that maturation process that you can look back on and say, "that is the moment that I knew, that I knew, that I knew it was all true. Jesus is who He says He is and God's Word is the Truth." Again, that happens in different ways, at different times for each person. For me, it actually happened as I was going through my seminary education during a course on the resurrection. It hit me like a ton of bricks that if the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened, it was all true.
The reason the resurrection of Jesus is the greatest historical event is because it is the absolute key to our faith. Paul said in his first letter to the church at Corinth in the 15th chapter, that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are still dead in our sin and most vain of all. However, if He did rise from the dead, then we have the assurance that our sins are forgiven and of everlasting life. You see, Jesus is either the biggest fraud in the history of mankind or He
is exactly who He claims to be...the Son of God. The resurrection is the key event.
The historical evidence of Christ's resurrection is irrefutable. The fact that He died on a Roman cross, the claims of His followers seeing the risen Lord, evidence of the empty tomb, the inability of the Jewish leaders to disprove the resurrection claims in the very city Jesus died and was buried, and the radical transformation in the lives of His disciples are all well documented. You also have Jesus' own predictions of His resurrection as well as the fact that soon after was the birth of the Christian church that started meeting on Sunday. That is significant since these were monotheistic Jews who were used to worshipping on Saturday.
I want to use the story of Watergate's "deepthroat" to zero in on one of the arguments people make to try and prove the resurrection never really happened. One explanation given by those who reject the reality of Christ's resurrection is that His disciples stole His body and disposed of it somehow. That sounds like a reasonable theory to explain the FACT that Christ's body was no longer in the tomb where He was buried.
Just out of curiosity, how many times have you ever been to a cemetery and seen guards at someone's gravesite? The reason there were guards at the tomb of Jesus was because the Jewish leaders were afraid that His disciples or followers would steal His body and then claim that He had been resurrected. Don't forget, they knew that Christ had prophesied His resurrection and they wanted to make sure nobody would come to steal His body so His prophecy would appear to come true.
For the sake of argument, let's say that those sympathetic to Jesus did somehow manage to steal His body. This means there would have been a certain number of people who knew that He did not rise from the dead as He had said He would, and that for them to claim He did was an outright lie. It would have meant those who really knew the truth would have had to keep their mouths shut and never tell anyone what really happened. My friend, conspiracies like this never work. At some point they unravel, the truth always comes out.
There is no way those who would have been part of this conspiracy, those who knew the truth would have been able to keep this secret for very long, especially due to the fact people were dying because of their belief that Christ had indeed risen from the dead. PEOPLE WILL LIVE FOR A KNOWN LIE, BUT PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE FOR A KNOWN LIE! These very people who would have been part of this conspiracy would be literally giving their very life for what they knew to be a lie. Again, people will live for a known lie, but they aren't going to die for a known lie!
Lastly, look at the lives of the men who followed Jesus. These men were transformed from meek followers of our Lord who when it really counted, ran out of fear for their lives, to some of the most bold and powerful leaders of the faith the world has ever seen. Each one of these men came to a place where they were martyred for their faith in Christ. These men who abandoned the Lord in the Garden to save their own life, would not have later died for His sake had the resurrection simply been a great hoax. I submit to you today that these men could never have been so transformed by a lie, but were transformed by the truth and reality of the risen Savior.
I love you and care about you so very much. My friend, the Christian faith has never meant to be a blind leap in the dark. God never asked His children to just believe without any evidence of what we believe in. He has given us plenty of tangible historical evidence to help us know without a doubt that what is in His inspired, inerrant Word is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Absolute truth that you can stake your very life on.
Of course, once we get to the point we accept the resurrection as a fact, and we accept His Word as TRUTH, it then demands that we totally and unconditionally surrender our very life to Him. That becomes the logical conclusion of this spiritual journey. Because you see, it is not our life any longer, it belongs to Him. Our purpose is to simply serve and glorify Him with our lives.
I pray that today you will recommit your life to Jesus. We can all do better. None of us have given it ALL to Him...we can give Him more. Make this day the day that you realize that Jesus rose from the dead, to insure that you will live for eternity with Him if you have accepted Him into your heart and life by faith. May you be richly blessed as we stand together to proclaim to this hurting and dying world that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. HE IS RISEN INDEED!
In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller
If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com