Text: John 20:1-31

There is a popular saying ‘seeing is believing’. This implies that until you see, you cannot believe. In Christianity, it is very wrong. If you must see before you believe, then it is no longer faith, you are walking by sight. The true order is that you believe and then you will see. Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”. Mark 9:23. Believing must therefore come before seeing. We are not to walk by sight; we are expected to walk by faith. If you must see before believing, it is no longer faith and anything not borne out of faith is sin. Have there been times in your life when you behaved like doubting Thomas who needed to put his finger into Jesus’ wounds in order to believe that Jesus has resurrected? Repent.

There was so much contention over the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why? If you remove resurrection, Christianity will be a dead thing and that was why the devil started fighting his resurrection right from the onset. Anyone who doubts the resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be a Christian. God has a programme, Jesus is part of that programme and part of that programme is that he must die a painful death on the cross and that on the third day, he must resurrect and thereafter, he must ascend. That programme is still on. He has come, he has died, was buried and on the third day, he arose and he did ascend. The programme is still on and part of that programme is that he is coming again. This is the beauty of Christianity. You don’t accept one and drop the others; it is all flowing.

One of the remarkable things about the word of God is the consistency of Biblical prophecies. If you read about the trial and crucifixion of Christ from the book of Matthew, you will notice the phrase “that it might be fulfilled”. It is a well thought out programme of God that is very detailed. When Jesus said, “I thirst” and they gave him vinegar to drink, he said, “it is finished”. That also was part of the programme. Everything that was necessary as required by the law and the prophets was fulfilled on the cross. Jesus Christ, therefore, is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets.

What are the Implications of Christ’s Resurrection

1. His resurrection validates his divinity. Jesus was both God and man while on earth. He came as a man to save man, he came as a man to die for man but only as God could he lay down his life and take it back just as he said he would. He was in charge. Not even death could have dominion over him.

2. His resurrection is a strategic victory over death. He proved this when he raised Lazarus from the dead; he proved that there was a power in him that has dominion over the spirit of death. But for him to die and resurrect, it means that he himself is life. The power of life is superior to the power of death. Jesus said the reason why he came is so that you “might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly”. Anyone who is truly connected to Christ is a carrier of the river of life. And anywhere you have a perfect connection, there will be a flow. If you want the life of Christ to flow through you, connect perfectly to Jesus. Dominion over death is only through Christ. Jesus proved it. As children of God, if we connect the way we should, the river of life will flow through us to raise the dead. It takes having comprehensive faith in the blood of Jesus for you to have comprehensive dominion over death. The leviathan head of death is the most dreaded today. The fear of death is one of the things that drive people to seek for help where help does not come; it is this fear that drives people to enter into evil covenants with occultic groups. A child of God who has comprehensive faith in the blood of Jesus and who is perfectly connected to Jesus has the supernatural impartation that terminates death.

3. It is the fact of his resurrection that has established Christianity a living faith. We are serving a Living God and our hope is alive; our faith is alive. A departing soul leaves with only one thing, hope. It is your connection that determines whether your hope will be a dead hope or a lively hope. When you connect properly to Jesus Christ, there is the flow of life and that flow imparts life even on your hope. That is why Christianity is not religion but relationship; Christianity is connecting to God, a loving Father through his Son, Jesus Christ. Christianity is restoration of that relationship that man lost in Eden. Christianity is God’s programme of life; it is God’s lifeline. It is every second relationship with God through Christ. An example of someone who placed so much value of this relationship is Mary Magdalene. After Jesus cast out seven demons out of her, she fell in love with Christ. It is the love of Christ that propelled her to his presence. You cannot love and be passive. The love of God must necessarily propel you to his presence. You need to disconnect from some connections in order to make the right connection.

4. Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrected sons. Jesus arose so that we might arise. If death could not hold him captive, then death has lost its sting. The fear of death should not be the beginning of wisdom for a child of God; it is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. God is not only a master planter; he is also a master planner. God had a Son but he wanted sons; he wanted a family, so he had to plant his Son, he gave his Son. You cannot be a Christian until you know how to plant. No seed, no harvest. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” John 3:16. His love motivated him to give. Love is a giver, if you don’t love, you cannot give. Remember, that anything that is attacking your giving is actually attacking your harvest. Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you”. Luke 6:38^A. There is so much poverty in the world today, unfortunately, the devil is bent on increasing poverty particularly among Christians and that is why he has generated so much controversy over the issue of tithing. When you stop paying the tithe of obedience to Christ, you will start paying the tithe of disobedience to the devil. You cannot be a true Christian if you are not a giver. If you want to change your level forever, become a giver. It is one hundred percent scriptural. The greatest thing you can give is not even your money; the greatest thing you can give is your life but if you cannot give your money, how can you give your life? God is the number one giver; he gave his Son and now he has large number of sons that are being born all over the world on a daily basis.

TO BE CONTINUED