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The Apostles' Creed -- The Second Article
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ ... has redeemed me ... even as He is risen from the dead....

Notice: believing that Jesus redeemed me is connected with believing that Jesus rose from the dead. How do I know that Jesus rose from the dead? How do I know that Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States? I have only written records. The people who wrote them claimed they knew Lincoln personally in some way or another. How can I know that they are telling the truth? You see, I have a collection of books about the Lone Ranger. Was there such a person? No. The records authenticate themselves. For one thing, many different documents exist about Abraham Lincoln, including some written by people who hated him. While we do sort through some tall tales about Lincoln, we have a generally good idea of who he was from what has been written about him by eyewitnesses.

This is the argument the Apostle Peter used when telling a Roman army captain named Cornelius about Jesus. "You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached -- how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."

Peter knew that Cornelius would do what any good army commander should do -- keep in touch with what is going on in the area under his command. Peter knew that Cornelius would have kept on top of the commotion Jesus had caused.

Peter adds, "What you heard about, I saw with my own eyes." "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen -- by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead."

Peter set a pattern that will be followed through the rest of history. Already in the days of the early church, Jesus used the testimony of eyewitnesses to spread the good news of His resurrection. That's because Jesus has chosen to reveal Himself only through witnesses, not in person. Witnesses testify either what they saw or what they know.

Men like Peter left us written records of what they saw. Can we trust what they say? We know from independent sources that these men were willing to die horrible deaths rather than change their stories. Would you be willing to die for the Easter Bunny or the Lone Ranger? Either the apostles were fools, or they were liars, or they were telling the truth. If they saw Jesus alive after He was brutally murdered, then nothing else these men have to say about Jesus should be hard to believe. Why would they risk their testimony about the resurrection of Jesus by adding tall tales about Jesus walking on water or doing other miracles? They wouldn't. That especially includes what they heard Jesus say, "I have come to give my life as a ransom for many." If I can believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I can believe that I am redeemed from sin, death, and the power of the devil. You can also.

Prayer: We thank You, Holy Spirit, for preserving for us records of what God has done for us in and through Jesus Christ. Give us greater faith in these records as found in the Holy Scriptures so that we may grow in faith and hope while living in this evil world. Help us get to know the full blessings of Jesus' resurrection from the dead so that we may boldly proclaim what we know to those around us who live without that same hope. Amen.

Object lesson: What stages does a butterfly go through? Caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly. How is the butterfly different than the caterpillar? It looks different and acts different. What holiday do Christians celebrate today? Easter, when Jesus woke up from the dead after He was buried for three days. How was Jesus different after He came back from the dead? He no longer was stuck on earth in a body that could die, but lives and rules in heaven forever.

Jesus, then, is like a butterfly. He started out poor and hated by everyone. He died and was covered up. But then He came back to life, a different man!

Since Jesus rose from the dead, He promised to do the same to us. How shall we be different than we are now? We will live forever with Jesus, never to die again, or get sick or get in trouble.

The butterfly is a reminder of all this. Right now we are like the caterpillar. Someday we shall die, which is like the caterpillar being wrapped up in His cocoon. But then, like Jesus, we shall come out of our grave a new person, more beautiful than we are now, as much as a butterfly is more beautiful than a caterpillar.