[Elmer G. White]

Praise Jesus! He is Risen! Praise God!

John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

It is Easter. Resurrection Day! After a short rest Jesus rose from the death to Save us from the Hellfire (Revelation 20:15) designed for those who fail to Believe in Him (John 3:18)! This is all logical and rational, but because of the heavy influence Satan has on Earth due to his seduction into sodomy and emancipation, many atheists fail to see the inevitable nature of Jesus' miraculous Return from Death immediately. Today we celebrate God and His Son who are One (John 10:30) but we must also face opposition: the vile atheist, the repulsive Catholic Cultist, the Joo, the Hindoo Confusionist, the Methodist, the Lutheran, the Pentecostalist. For them, we must be able to explain in plain American why a) Resurrection was necessary and b) how it can be proven without any doubt, reasonable or other.

1. Why Resurrection

Here we have two separate issues that made the Incarnation and Suffering of God as Jesus Necessary.

a) As the Author of the Old Testament, Jesus was well aware of the many prophecies that foresaw His own Death and Resurrection. It was thus necessary to fulfill these prophecies to keep the Scriptures coherent and reliable. Had Jesus not fulfilled His own predictions, the Bible would have become unreliable. The most important, widely accepted and detailed ones among these many prophecies are in the Psalms:

Psalms 16:10 (see also all the verses 8-11)
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Jesus was not left in Hell. He is also the Holy One. This had to be realized. In addition, it is common knowledge that Psalm 22, transmitted via the Holy Spirit and King David, describes in intricate detail our Lord hanging on the cross and how the people mocked Christ.

Psalms 22:7-8
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Please, remember also how Jonah was three days (this is an extraordinary coincidence!) in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 1:17), which is one of the best and clearest evidences of Christ in the Prophets' Books. Glory! When the New Testament was later delivered by Jesus through the hands of the evangelists to the common people, Jesus was adamant to mention all the fulfilled prophecies. Thus, it was necessary to Sacrifice Him to keep the records straight. As Jesus authored also the Gospels, it was an easy task for Him to return to the predictions of crucifixion in the Old Testament and Cross-Reference them.

Luke 24:46
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:



b) There is also a Spiritual necessity for Crucifixion and Resurrection, that of SIN! Many atheists ask why the Suffering was pivotal to Save True Christians™ from the Wrath of God and punishment by Jesus. Why did not God just forgive the sins in a simpler manner, as He is omnipotent (Revelation 19:6)?

Of course God could have had the easy way out, but SIN is a serious matter. If it is simply forgiven and people made to live without sinning, then no-one would understand that the wages of sin is Death (Romans 6:23). God is Holy (Revelation 15:4) and Righteous (Genesis 30:33) and He could not leave the many sins of mankind unpunished (2 Peter 2:9). But He is Merciful (Exodus 34:6), so He punished Himself instead. This is understandable as He Created the World and the Seduction leading to the Fall (Genesis 3:6). After that, anyone who sinned could be forgiven if they Trusted Jesus (John 3:16). Before Jesus' Death and Resurrection, no-one had this chance (John 3:18). Now there are a few of us who have chosen to follow Jesus and accept God's Love (Matthew 7:14), which is a much better situation than before Crucifixion (John 3:18). This makes perfect sense and now atheists will also accept it and choose Jesus! God could have chosen other methods to Redeem us, easier methods, such as skipping the Crucifixion; or harder ways, such as making the agony of Jesus longer as it was for many victims of Roman execution those days; but He decided that the way Jesus died was just the way it was supposed to be. God decides (Exodus 3:14).



2. The evidence

Obviously, the best evidence for the Resurrection is the Bible, but for many atheists it is not enough. This is preposterous but we still have to be able provide them with hard-core proof. Fortunately, it is available as eyewitness accounts! To make things even better, these eyewitness testimonials are in the Book that contains no mistakes, the KJV Bible! Glory!

Please, let the atheists read the following verses:

• Jesus was corporeally dead to begin with (John 19:40).
• Mary Magdalene saw Him alive (Mark 16:9). This was obviously not adequate, as Mary Magdalene was a mere woman of ill reputation. (N=1).
• He walked with two other eyewitnesses (Mark 16:12; N=3).
• Peter saw Christ (Luke 24:34; N=4).
• 10 more Disciples saw Jesus (John 20:19-20; N=14).
• Thomas also saw Christ (John 20:26-28; N=15)
• Then we have some repeated sightings that do not add to the count.
• Then the Big One: 500 eyewitnesses! 500 for God's Sake (1 Corinthians 15:6; N=515)!!
• Please do not forget Paul and Stephen later on (1 Corinthians 15:8; N=a respectable number).

These eyewitness numbers are staggering if you consider the low numbers of world population at that time. Please compare those to the numbers of people who actually saw Moon landing with there own eyes. Televisor and newspapers do not count. There aren't any, right? Still billions choose to believe in the "moon landing" and dismiss the much better documented Resurrection of Jesus.

Let us Rejoice Today but let us not forget our task of bringing the Gospel to the unbelieving scum. Let us serve Jesus with gladness on this Glorious Day of His Resurrection!

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Matthew 28:6

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Yours in Christ,

Elmer