He's Alive...ALIIIIIVVVEEEE!

I love classic movies and one of the most recognized lines of all times is "It's alive! ALLLIIIIVVEEE!" The black and white screen displays a science lab with a pieced together body lying on a table under a mat. Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his assistant look eagerly on as the creature moves.

It's alive!! So this is what it feels like to be god!

What a great scene! The victory, the insanity, the horror. The reanimation of a being sewn together of parts from various cadavers. Life being given to a lifeless body. A man driven mad by grief and loss strives for a way to bring life to the dead. No wonder it is one of the most well-known classics of all time. If you haven't read the book, you really should.

Well, this morning I woke up with a single thought in my head, something from my college days. "The BODILY Resurrection of Jesus Christ is what distinguishes Christianity from other religions." Now, I realize that may seem sacrilegious starting my blog about resurrection talking about Frankenstein, but that's why it's my blog, and not yours. =)

Dr. Larry Goodrich drilled this single concept into our minds throughout the course of his Cults and Religions class, and this is something that has stayed with me through the last decade of my life. I've taught this truth and shared it on numerous occasions. As we approach Easter I find myself compelled to proclaim this same truth, Jesus is alive! And not just alive spiritually in all of us, but physically, bodily alive!

The so called gods of other religions are dead men, piles of dust in a tomb, cave, box, or tent somewhere. They are idols crafted by human hands, images of the imagination given power by myth and legend. Psalm 135 says, "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths." What a sad state for humanity, to put their trust in lifeless images or dead personages that have no power or effect in their lives. They bring false hope and genuine frustration when you consider their impotence.

The exclamation point to the message of Christianity isn't that Jesus died for our sins, but that He rose from the dead in the same body he died in! He didn't rise spiritually like some claim and you won't find his coffin or tomb somewhere with a pile of dust and bones. I won't go into all the evidence for the suffering He faced on the cross and the fact that He died. The point is that He rose, physically rose! The body that suffered death is the same body that was wrapped and the same body that walked out of that tomb in power. THAT is what sets Christianity apart. If Jesus didn't rise physically and walk out of that tomb, shut the doors to the church and pack up shop, because we're wasting our breath. If His bones can be found somewhere in a tomb, we are still in our sins. All men are destined to die, but the amazing joy and truth of Christianity is that Jesus rose from the dead to conquer sin, Hell, and death, and because of that we are assured eternal life through His resurrection. He has not only taken our sin on Himself, but He rose from the dead, paying our price and providing a way out of the penalty into eternal life. That is the joy of Easter! Not that image of Him on a cross, but of Him in glory.

Catholics utilize the crucifix with Jesus hanging from it for their symbol, but how sad that the focal point is His suffering and death. My Jesus isn't on the cross or in the tomb, but reigns in Heaven and He's making a place for me. If my salvation ends at the cross, how sad is my life? Someone died "in my place", but if the story ends there I'm no better off. Secret Service jump in front of bullets for the President. Parents have given their lives in place of their children, but that is just a temporary sacrifice. Jesus death is only half the equation because the resurrection shows His victory over death and sin and secures His place as deity. Plenty of false messiahs died, but only the true Messiah rose physically from the dead. My Jesus is alive!

He's Alive! ALLIIIIVVVVEEEE!!!!