Holy Writ
“3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 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. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
When it comes to the Christian message, much can be said. However, if we ask what is the essential, or most important, message of Christianity, Paul has made clear what is of “first importance.”
1. Christ died for our sins.
2. Christ was buried.
3. Christ was raised on the third day.
4. Christ appeared to many.
The first two facts can be verified to a large degree historically. The death and burial of Jesus were documented to some extent through other ancient writings. There is nothing on the surface that strikes us as supernatural or miraculous in these events. Yet for a person to return to life after three days and to verify it by appearing to many people (including over 500 people at one time) defying human logic. Only something beyond us could accomplish such a feat. Only God.
And that is the point. Jesus is God. That is the matter of first importance. What makes Christianity unique among world religions is this foundational belief that Jesus is Lord.
There are many noble pursuits in life, but only one of first importance–Jesus is God. Let us live mindful of this fact today.
+++
Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In