Luke 24:43
He kept His word, fulfilled His promise!
Jesus can be trusted!
That's the message of Easter!
The Apostle Paul writes:
Now if the rising of Christ from the dead is the very heart of our message, how can some of you deny that there is any resurrection? For if there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ was never raised. And if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all. Further it would mean that we are lying...for we have given our solemn testimony that he did raise up Christ—and that is utterly false if it should be true that the dead do not, in fact, rise again!
For if the dead do not rise neither did Christ rise, and if Christ did not rise your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven. Moreover, those who have died believing in Christ are utterly dead and gone. Truly, if our hope in Christ were limited to this life only, we should, of all mankind be the most to be pitied!
But the glorious fact is that Christ did rise from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20 – PHILLIPS)
This means our faith is firm, grounded in the character of the One in whom we place our trust. It means those who have gone before us are indeed raised to life, and one day, we will there will be a great reunion. It means our hope is not only in this life, but secure for all eternity. It means, Jesus' words to Martha is also true: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die." (John 11:25-26)
My friends at Valley, I ask you the same question, Jesus asked of Martha, "Do you believe this?" (John 11:26)
Your sins are forgiven and heaven awaits!