I heard this the other day from a friend in the faith whom I’ve grown to trust. He said this… “Sometimes, all I can believe is that Jesus is dead.” He took another brief pause and continued… “If all I can believe is that the God of the universe came and put on flesh in human form, lived and taught as he did, and got killed for it - yeah, that would make sense. And at times, that’s enough.”
Herman - thanks for speaking up here. I get what you're saying and fully agree (and I assure you that my professor also agrees) that the resurrection is the key to the whole thing. He was just talking about the human experience and that sometimes it's impossible to cognitively 'believe' in more than what he stated (the crucifixion). As you can likely attest to, resurrection is not something that is easily or readily believable - especially when going through the low valleys of life. Much like grace, resurrection is something that God springs upon us when we least expect it. It is an event that restores us when all we can see is the dark of night. I hope this adds some nuance to my short tome yesterday. (Again, these short daily posts never allow me to fully say all the things I want to say about the thing I'm saying:))
My dearly beloved wife of 40 years passed away at exactly midnight in the morning of 16 June this year. Her last words were "I love you".
I wasn't there, but my eldest daughter was.
When she told me what happened, I knew in my heart that her beloved Lord Jesus had come to take her home. She saw him and the words were directed to him.
The reason I know is because she often said those words to Jesus, and our home language is Afrikaans.
The amazing thing is that about 2 hours before her passing God had filled my heart with a total peace beyond all understanding.
Without the belief in resurrection neither of us would have had that amazing certainty.
I'm sorry, but all I can say to that is "Nope!"
I can understand that some people may feel like that.
But even scripture says that without the resurrection our hopes are futile. Only in an eternally alive Jesus Christ can we be saved and live with him.
Herman - thanks for speaking up here. I get what you're saying and fully agree (and I assure you that my professor also agrees) that the resurrection is the key to the whole thing. He was just talking about the human experience and that sometimes it's impossible to cognitively 'believe' in more than what he stated (the crucifixion). As you can likely attest to, resurrection is not something that is easily or readily believable - especially when going through the low valleys of life. Much like grace, resurrection is something that God springs upon us when we least expect it. It is an event that restores us when all we can see is the dark of night. I hope this adds some nuance to my short tome yesterday. (Again, these short daily posts never allow me to fully say all the things I want to say about the thing I'm saying:))
My dearly beloved wife of 40 years passed away at exactly midnight in the morning of 16 June this year. Her last words were "I love you".
I wasn't there, but my eldest daughter was.
When she told me what happened, I knew in my heart that her beloved Lord Jesus had come to take her home. She saw him and the words were directed to him.
The reason I know is because she often said those words to Jesus, and our home language is Afrikaans.
The amazing thing is that about 2 hours before her passing God had filled my heart with a total peace beyond all understanding.
Without the belief in resurrection neither of us would have had that amazing certainty.
Wow.