{"id":1099,"date":"2013-08-30T02:11:45","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T02:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/?page_id=1099"},"modified":"2015-05-25T13:41:45","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T13:41:45","slug":"jesus-lives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/orangevillechurch.ca\/?page_id=1099","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jesus<\/a><\/p>\n

Many aspects of the Christian message are hard to accept because they defy human logic.\u00a0 Take the claim in the Apostle’s Creed about Jesus that “on the third day he arose from the dead.”<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 \u00a0At the Orangeville<\/i><\/b> Canadian Reformed Church<\/i><\/b> <\/i>we believe that this is true.<\/p>\n

Evidence:\u00a0 A shoddy cover-up<\/b><\/p>\n

As Christians, we have only one way of proving what we believe.\u00a0 We prove things from the Bible, for our starting point is always that the Bible is the true and reliable Word of God.<\/p>\n

In the Bible it states clearly that Jesus was crucified on a Friday and died.\u00a0 He was put into a tomb, as was the custom at that time.\u00a0 The leaders of Israel remembered that Jesus had said during his life that “after three days I will rise again.”<\/i>\u00a0 That is why they asked that soldiers be put by the tomb to guard it (Matthew 27:62-66).<\/p>\n

All these precautions did not help much.\u00a0 On the following Sunday morning, two angels came down from heaven.\u00a0 The soldiers all ran away.\u00a0 The angels rolled away the large stone that covered the tomb, showing it was empty.\u00a0 Jesus had risen!<\/p>\n

In order to keep this news from spreading, the soldiers were bribed to say that Jesus\u2019 \u201cdisciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep\u201d <\/i>(Matthew 28:13).\u00a0\u00a0 Clearly this was a cover-up!\u00a0 If it was true that Jesus’ body had been stolen while the soldiers slept, the soldiers would have been put to death for neglecting their duty.<\/p>\n

More Evidence:\u00a0 Appearances of Jesus<\/b><\/p>\n

All the gospel accounts all tell of various appearances of Jesus.\u00a0 He was seen first by some women who came to visit the tomb early on that Sunday morning.\u00a0 On that very same day he then appeared to the disciples.\u00a0\u00a0 In Luke 24 we read an extensive story of how the Lord Jesus began to walk alongside two men travelling home from Jerusalem.\u00a0 They were sad because Jesus had died.\u00a0 Only after a long conversation with them, did they realize they had been speaking with the risen Jesus!\u00a0 In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul sums up the times Jesus showed himself to his disciples, mentioning that at one time he appeared to more than five hundred people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:4-8).<\/p>\n

Does it make a difference?<\/b><\/p>\n

It seems incredible that a dead person would rise from the dead.\u00a0 Would the Christian message not gain more credibility if this part was toned down?\u00a0 The apostle Paul, however, stressed that the whole Christian faith stands or falls with the truth of Jesus rising from the dead.\u00a0 He wrote that “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith<\/i>” (I Corinthians 15:14).\u00a0 A little further he wrote that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins”<\/i> (I Cor. 15:17).<\/p>\n

You see, if you do away with Christ being raised from the dead, you have no Christian faith anymore.\u00a0 Then Jesus Christ will become just like so many other religious teachers.\u00a0 These teachers have gained many followers, but, they are just that, teachers, and dead teachers at that.\u00a0 Everyone who follows those teachers also dies sooner or later.\u00a0 Jesus did not just come to be a great teacher.\u00a0 He came to make payment for sins, so that those who believe in him might escape death.\u00a0 It is exactly by becoming alive again that Jesus showed he had made payment, that he conquered death, and that those who believe in him also will escape death.<\/p>\n

Here we touch on one key aspect of the Christian hope:\u00a0 being raised from the dead just as Jesus was raised from the dead!\u00a0 The Christian idea of salvation is not escape from the body but the full restoration of life, which includes the undoing of death.\u00a0 By rising from the dead, Jesus showed he has brought restoration of life through his victory over the grave.<\/p>\n

The Living Saviour and Worship<\/b><\/p>\n

It is not hard to understand that you have a different relationship with someone who is dead than with someone who is alive.\u00a0 You may have fond memories of someone who is dead, but there is no interaction anymore.\u00a0 With someone who is alive, there can be vibrant communication.\u00a0 So it is for the Christian.\u00a0 Christians don’t speak about a Lord Jesus who was<\/i><\/b>, but about their Lord Jesus who is<\/i><\/b> a present reality!\u00a0 As living Saviour, he can be approached in prayer.\u00a0 There is an intensely personal aspect to knowing Jesus as Lord.<\/p>\n

This fact also shapes the worship of the Christian congregation.\u00a0 It comes together not so much to remember past events or wise sayings. Believers reflect on what is written in the Bible in the awareness that these are the actions and words of a living God.\u00a0 That means in personal devotions, there is personal communication.\u00a0 Further, in the weekly worship where the believers come together, there is a dynamic relationship between the believers and the living Lord.\u00a0 The Christian faith is not merely about a set of ideas, but it is about a living Saviour, given by a living God.\u00a0 In worship, that living Lord communicates through his Word especially as it is preached, and the believers communicate through their songs and prayers.<\/p>\n

Invitation<\/b><\/p>\n

As members of the Orangeville Canadian Reformed Church<\/i>,<\/b> it is our greatest joy to begin each week worshiping our living Lord.\u00a0 As has been the practice for many centuries, we come together on the very day the Lord Jesus arose from the dead, the Sunday.\u00a0 In the weekly worship services the voice of the living Lord Jesus Christ continues to be heard through the preaching of the gospel. Every burdened, troubled, contrite heart that comes to hear will not go home disappointed for through the preaching they hear that they are at peace with God through the living Lord Jesus. We invite you to come and join us in the worship of the living Lord.<\/p>\n

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