The Eyewitnesses of Easter
From Sunday Morning
by on April 05, 2015
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty (II Peter 1:16, KJV).
There is an inner desire in everyone to be the person that was there in any event—to be the person that was the main eyewitness, so that we can tell the story. When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, we’ve lost our awe and wonder because we weren’t there. The resurrection has become another story in the Bible. We don’t personally know anyone who saw the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, even though Scripture tells us there were people “to whom also [Jesus] shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” (Acts 1:3, KJV).
Scripture tells us that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again. But, even today, we can be an eyewitness to this experience, because this same story can happen in our life! We can see the resurrection every day: anyone who has peace is experiencing the power of the resurrection. Anyone who has been delivered from addiction is experiencing the power of the resurrection.
When we take a moment and realize the workings of Christ in our life today, we can know that we are true eyewitnesses of the resurrection in present day.
When we become an eyewitness to the resurrection, we become witnesses of hope. Today, there is a spiritual darkness that is trying to pervade over our land. Scripture tells us that in the last days perilous times will come and men will become pleasers of their own selves (II Timothy 3:1–5). Humanity has grown an unquenchable desire to please ourselves rather than pleasing God. This is not what Jesus died for! The resurrection was meant to make a difference in our life and to bring us hope!
Scripture warns us that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy us, but that Jesus came to bring us life and that we may have it more abundantly (John 10:10)! There is hope in the life that Jesus brings us, which is made possible through His resurrection. It is Jesus who changed the course of our life forever when He died and rose again. We have hope in a new life in Him!
When we become an eyewitness to the resurrection, we become witnesses of His power. Paul said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10, KJV). The power referenced in this scripture in the Greek word dunamis, which means miraculous power—inexplicable power that is stronger than anything else.
When Jesus died on the cross, He gave us power, which opened up the potential for all humanity to live above sin! Romans 6:4–5 states:
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection (KJV).
When we repent and die out to sin, and are buried in baptism in the lovely name of Jesus, we have the promise of being filled with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost. It is this Spirit—God’s Spirit—that will quicken us and allow us to be resurrected out of our sinful state to life a life that is different (Romans 8:11). There is power in the Gospel message. It has the power to change us forever, for if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17).
If we’re not sure that we are a true eyewitness to the resurrection, and that we’ve experienced that hope and power in our own life, we can today. God promised in Scripture that in the last days that He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17).
On the day of Pentecost, when the people realized who Jesus was, and His sacrifice on the cross, they were pricked in their hearts. Jesus’s death on the cross needs to become more than a story to us—we need to be able to experience it ourselves! We can follow that same Gospel message: repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus, and filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). It is then we can experience the true power of the resurrection in our life today, and every day for the rest of our lives until Christ returns for His church.
