All of Christianity rests on the answer to this single question. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:
1Corinthians 15:14-20
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up…
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
If Jesus did not raise from the dead as He promised that He would, then trusting in Jesus Christ is a colossal waste of time.
Is there a way that we can know for sure that Jesus did raise from the dead and that all of His claims and promises are true? Yes, we can know for sure and test whether or not the resurrection happened, in the same way we test any other historical event that happened.
How do you know that George Washington was a real man, that he was the first president of the United States of America, and that all the things that are claimed about Him are true?
Funny isn’t it that we just take for granted what is written in the history books, or when a teacher or professor tells us facts concerning George Washington, we naturally assume them to be true. The Question is, have you verified that these facts are true for yourself? I would imagine that most people “assume” that the facts about George Washington, or any other historical figure, are true and come from reliable sources.
How do we know that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened? We look at the Historical record. We examine the eye witness testimony of those who were there and determine if their account is accurate and reliable.
In 1833, Dr. Simon Greeleaf was appointed to the Royal professorship and Dane professor at Harvard University. Dr Greenleaf contributed extensively to the development of Harvard Law School and was the chief counsel in the Supreme court case Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge in 1837.
In 1848, Dr Greeleaf retired from his active duties and became a full time professor of law. Dr. Greeleaf was an Atheist who did not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and was challenged by one of his students to try and disprove the Resurrection from the historical record.
Upon examination of the historical record and eye witness testimony of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Dr. Greenleaf came to the concussion that Jesus Christ did exist in history, was crucified on a Roman Cross, died and was laid in a tomb, then raised from the dead three days later.
Dr Greenleaf wrote the books “The Testimony of the Evangelists” and “A Treatise on the Laws of Evidence”, the former in three volumes from 1842-1853. A Treatise on the Laws of Evidence is a standard textbook used in American Law through the nineteenth Century. The basis for this college textbook, was the importance in determining how eyewitness testimony is examined for truthfulness, reliability and could be admitted in a court of law.
Upon applying these strict rules for evidence to the eyewitness testimony of those who wrote that they had seen Jesus Crucified and raised from the dead, Dr. Greenleaf said that the events described in the four gospels of the New Testament are not just Religious documents of faith, but are historical eye witness accounts of an actual event that actually took place.
Dr. Greenleaf further determined that the testimony in the four gospels are historical events, by credible eye witneses and that the reliability of these acoounts was so overwhelmingly accurate that they should be admitted in any court of law as credible testimony.
In conclusion, Dr Greeleaf determined that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ actually took place and that the testimony given in the gosepels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are both credible and reliable. As a result of Dr. Greenleaf’s extensive work examining the facts of the Resurrection, he became a believer and follower of Jesus Christ.
There you go, from the historical record, from the facts of recorded history, Jesus Christ lived, died and rose from the dead.
Now, what about the claims of Jesus? He claimed that He is the eternal God who created all things and that He is the only way to Heaven.
Colossians 1:16
For by Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
If what Jesus said concerning His resurrection is true, then what He said concerning who He is and That “No one come to the Father, except through Him, is also True.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
I recently read that Hollywood actor Brad Pitt said that he is 80 percent Atheist and 20 percent Agnostic because he does not believe that we can really know for sure that God exists.
God does exist, and He sent His only Son to die on a Roman Cross to pay for the sins of every human being that has ever lived on the earth. Then as proof that Jesus is God and the Only Savior of the world, He raised Him from the dead three days later.
This is an undisputabel matter of recorded history. The real question now is, what will Brad Pitt and every other person who will live upon the earth do with Jesus Christ and the facts of His resurrection and claims that He is the only way to Heaven?
