I'm just going to say this about that and nothing further. It isn't worth my energy. It isn't worth my time.

Eyewitness testimony bears out the proof of the resurrection. And the commitment of those eyewitnesses to that truth is unparalleled. Eyewitness testimony. "I was there. This is what I saw."

Jewish law required the testimony of two or three eyewitnesses in order to prove a matter.

Two or three.

In Scripture, Paul mentions more than 500, naming names and including his own testimony from his encounter with the risen Christ as he went down the road to Damascus. Thomas touches the Christ, thrusting his hands into the wounds that save us yet today.

And then there's Peter. Oh, Peter knows. Peter surely knows. Peter, who had days before denied Christ, heard from the risen Christ, "Feed my sheep." Dead men don't talk. And if they did, they wouldn't talk about hungry sheep. Nor do dead men cook breakfast for their friends. But that's what Jesus was doing the morning Peter answered the Lord's repeated question, "Do you love me?" (John 21:8-17)

Laying all of that to one side, I too have personal testimony. Jesus lives. Today. With a fully functioning perfect body. He is as alive as I am, more so, in fact, for he is ageless and I am not.

You either get that, or you don't. If you don't, walk out of the door of your church, sell your Bible, and quit wasting your time and mine. Jesus lives.

Look for Noah's Ark. Look for the Ark of the Covenant. Look at the shroud of Turin. Look at the ossuary inscribed with the name Jesus. Look all you like. Evidence of Christ's resurrection or lack thereof is not found in archeology and though evidence of our Creator God does exist therein, it exists in every layer, every fossil, every breath, not in some artifact, but rather, in all artifacts. Those who will seek the Lord God with their whole hearts will surely find him. Those who seek only to disprove him will earn his disdain and more.

 

Consider the depth of the promises. A sparrow doesn't fall without our Father's knowledge. How many hairs grow out of your head? You don't know? You haven't counted them? God has.

If you feel he is far from you, consider this: He hasn't moved. Perhaps you have. Perhaps you have entertained the lies, and they are Legion. Perhaps you have fashioned a God-shaped box that you slide under your bed each morning so that no one else can see him, thinking faith a private matter. Perhaps you have fashioned God in your own image, and recognizing your flaws and shortcomings, have attributed them to him.

 

Perhaps you have taken the bumper sticker from a few years back to heart and have relegated the Creator of the universe to the co-pilot's seat of your life. Co-pilot? God? Ridiculous.

 

Or perhaps you believe that God is the same as the red-handled alarm box found in easily accessed places on the walls of our public buildings -- you know, the one marked "In case of emergency."

 

If so, your God is too small.

 

Life is hard. It throws curveball after curveball at you. Faithless spouses. Sick children. Financial ruin. Hunger. Thirst. Injury. Death. Destruction. Everyone's path is strewn with sharp rocks, the road is always uphill, every step is an exercise in futility, because nothing here can satisfy the longing in each man's heart.

And that doesn't even begin to take into account the problem of sin, the disease that infects us all.

I don't know about you, but I need more than a Santa Claus God. I need more than God in a box. I need more than an emergency handle, and I certainly cannot pilot my own journey with any hope of successfully arriving at my desired destination. I need a God who says, "Let there be light," and light replaces the darkness before the last consonant sounds. I need a God who laughs at death. Who sees great trials and overcomes them. I need a God who is able to save to the uttermost all those that call upon his name. I need a God who isn't dependent on my belief to exist, but One who has always existed and always will.

"And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, 'Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.'" Revelation 1:17, 18 (KJV)

Things you won't see in heaven: The Discovery Channel