"The Resurrection of Jesus" by Kathryn Kuhlman

whenever i approach the subject of the resurrection as though god were somehow saying take off thy shoes from off thy feet for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground and i bow with uncovered head in the presence of a subject that is so wrapped round about with such divine glory, such majesty, something that is so solemn, so soul -moving that the greatest minds that the world has ever known has never been able to fathom it. its full depth. The glorious resurrection of the very Son of the living God. And remember, everything hinges on the personal resurrection of Jesus Christ. For the Bible says, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is vain. But believe me, beloved, I give you the fact upon the authority of God's word. Jesus did come forth from out of that tomb. God did raise him from the dead. All we want to know today is why did God raise him? For what purpose? What was the reason? Consider with me the first. He did it to make good the word of his blessed son. Jesus said that he would come forth again. If they crucified him, he would come forth alive. He would be raised from the dead. And God had to raise him from the dead to make good the word. of His precious Son, and to establish once and for all, and beyond all doubt, to establish the truth of His glorious divinity. Read it in Romans, the first chapter, the fourth verse. Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. If, as the English poet says, the Syrian stars look down every night upon his grave, how are you going to explain his repeated claim that he would rise on the third day except that he was a liar or a lunatic? If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, he would have been a liar. He would have been considered a lunatic. hub to raise him from the dead, to make good his precious word. He asked the Jews why they were stoning him. And they replied, Because you being a man claim to be God, and you're a blasphemer. He did claim it. And if he was in his right mind, it was either so, or it was the very rankest of all blasphemy. And Jesus said He would prove it by His resurrection. And God had to raise Him to make good His Word and so prove Him to be exactly what He claimed that He was, the very Son of the living God. And His resurrection proved that beyond a shade of a doubt. Secondly, He did it to furnish every believer the God -given assurance that that believer is justified in Christ Jesus. That's what the word means when it says in the fourth chapter of Romans that Jesus was raised for our justification, your justification, and my justification. You know, Jesus said, He came to offer his life as a ransom for many. That he would die to make atonement, and he did. But if God had not raised him from the dead, we never would have known that the atonement was accepted. And so, he was raised for our justification. And it doesn't make any difference how much you have sinned in the past. You may have broken every commandment. You may have broken every law. You may be the greatest sinner in the whole world this very hour. God will count you righteous for Christ's sake if you want him to. But there's no way to escape the damnation of hell. If you turn your back on Jesus Christ, for your justification must be in Jesus Christ, the very Son of the living God. There is no other justification. There is no other forgiveness for your sin. Therefore, God had to raise Jesus from the dead to furnish every believer the God -given assurance that He is justified in Christ Jesus. Let's go a little further. He did it to let men know that there isn't any doubt about the judgment to come. It was Paul who wrote, God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by Christ Jesus, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. had to raise Jesus from the dead to let men know that there isn't any doubt whatsoever about the judgment to come. You know, Jesus said the hour was coming when the dead would hear his voice and rise. They that had done good unto the resurrection of life and they that had done evil unto the resurrection of judgment. Ah, they laughed. They called him a fool. And God put his own seal on the claim by raising his son from the dead. There's nothing more certain in God's universe today than that there is is a judgment day ahead. That is one reason why God had to raise His Son from the dead to do away with all doubt in the minds of any human being about the judgment to come. Let's go one step further. He did it so that everyone united to Christ Jesus by faith may know that they also are going to be raised from the dead. Oh, to me, that's thrilling. Easter means something that's glorious. I cannot begin to tell you what I feel this very hour. I wouldn't exchange what I have in my heart this moment for a title deed to the whole world. I mean that. I know beyond a shade of a doubt that because Christ was raised from the dead, that I too shall live one day beyond the grave. The grave is not the end. The death of this old physical body is not the end. When my old heart will take its last beat, that will not be the end. It's only the end of chapter one. The rest of the book is written beyond the grave. My future is bright. My future is glorious. The future of God's children living today is marvelous. And believe me when I tell you, in this day, the only person living who has a glorious future, who has a bright future, is the man or the woman who is God's child who has had that new birth experience. Do you remember what Paul said regarding the resurrection? Christ the first fruits. Afterwards, they that are Christ at his coming. Do you want to know something? Everything depends on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything. That's the cornerstone upon which the whole superstructure of Christianity rises. Undermine it and the whole business drops. The bottom just falls out. It's the keystone of the arch. Knock it out and the whole thing falls with a crash. And it's just like that. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, how do I know that he is the way, the truth, and the life? How do I know that he that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved? How do I know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin? How do I know? that he has gone to prepare a place for me and that he will come again and receive me unto himself. How do I know that death has lost its sting and the grave has been swallowed up in victory? How do I know that the Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken my mortal body? How do I know? that when he shall appear I shall be like him. How do I know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in me? How do that the promises of this book are worth any more than the ink that it took to print them or the paper that it takes to hold them. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then I have nothing to do but to take a chisel and a hammer and go out to the grave of my loved ones and chisel away the beautiful words, I am the resurrection and the life. and cut in their place the cold, icy, and heartbreaking words, I do not know. I have no way to tell. If Christ be not risen, Paul says, our preaching is in vain, and your faith is vain also. And of all men are we most miserable. he did rise they sealed his tomb but it couldn't hold him he lay there cold and dead in the grave all earth had given up hope but all heaven knew better i think gabriel must have said to the great celestial choir hold your breath a minute now just a minute you'll need it And as the minutes of the world's mightiest miracle ticked off, the breath of God swept through the sleeping clay, and like a flash of light, his glorious sun was on his feet again, while heaven's angelic choir rose tear upon tear and row upon row and shouted, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen. The Son of God is alive.