On That Day – Revisited

 

John 14:19-20 NIV  “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Emphasis is mine.

My understanding is that “On that day” refers to the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And as Jesus explained this to the disciples and indirectly, to us, that is when it should all come together. That is the day in which they and we realize the reality of who Jesus is, the reality of who sent Him, the source of the words that Jesus spoke, the source of the miracles that Jesus performed, the reality that we are in Jesus and He is in us and that because He lives, we shall also live. This is the promise of Almighty God to us.

John 3:16 NIV  “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This is BIG. We’re not talking about your garden variety of realizations here.

This realization literally changes everything.

And the truth of Christianity, the declaration of God the Father about His Son, the Messiah, foretold in the Old Testament and demonstrated through the various miracles and the words of truth spoken by Jesus, which also came from the Father, all hinge or are authenticated on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, from the dead. This is the finale, this is the stamp of confirmation, this is the crowning proof of authenticity.

The Apostle Paul reiterates the reality of this realization in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV

 ^“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,  and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

And then, just so that we don’t misunderstand the utter importance of Christ’s resurrection, the Apostle Paul says the following in 1 Corinthians 15:14 NIV:

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

Did the Apostles and the early Christian Church understand exactly what the message they were giving to the world actually meant? The evidence indicates that they clearly did.

It struck me this morning, as I contemplated the subject of this post, all the different attacks that exist against this realization.

The reality of the existence of God is attacked.
The reality of the creation of God demonstrated throughout the existence and workings of the universe is attacked.
The authenticity of God’s Word, the Bible, via textual criticism, archeology and history, is attacked.
The historical evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ is attacked.
The reality of the existence of the soul or spirit within mankind is attacked.
The historical case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is attacked.
The Church, the collective body of Christ, both within and without, is attacked.
The Christian believer, singular, male, female and even children, are attacked.
And the very name of Jesus Christ is attacked when people take His name in vain.

Are there scientific, historical, archeological and logical cases which refute each of the aforementioned attacks? Yes there are, but you’ll have to look beyond the superficial denial responses to find them.

Yet, the attacks are world wide, growing and relentless.

When you stop to think about it, that’s an awful lot of concentrated effort being focused on disproving a reality that supposedly doesn’t exist.

Doesn’t this concentrated effort strike you as strange, if the Christian Gospel is in fact, not reality? Or does it not equally testify to the fact that Jesus Christ, is indeed, who He said He was.

My answer is in this song by Lauren Daigle

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!