QUARANTINE: 40 Days of Spiritual Health and Hope Week 7 - Because He Lives

We are now at week 7 in a series entitled QUARANTINE - which means 40 days, looking at specific 40 day events found in Scripture. It’s been intriguing to see all the things we can learn in 40 days; to see how God brings about change in that amount of time…

40 days of rain. 40 of repentance. 40 days of relying on the Word of God. 40 days of resisting the humiliating taunts from the Philistine enemy. 40 days of drawing near to God amidst our exhaustion…

But out of all those 40 day events found in Scripture, there is none so meaningful as the 40 days in between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus - a period of time where he showed many convincing proofs of his resurrection, as well as clarification about the Kingdom he was establishing.

In the book of Acts we see so many amazing things that were accomplished by the Early Church. People saved literally by the thousands. People healed of diseases, set free from prison, delivered miraculously over and over from circumstances that looked hopeless.

We see the Church, the Body of Christ, marching on, proclaiming the Good News with boldness in the face of the worst persecution ever imagined. You wonder how could this ragtag group of disciples, once so afraid of the religious authorities find the strength to become the most powerful force on the face of the planet?

That’s the power of those 40  post-resurrection days. The Church gained confidence in knowing what they believed in was truly REAL, and and it mattered to their final marching orders from their Lord.

What was true for the Early Church must be true for us today. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is what sets our faith apart from all other religions in this world. Paul tells disciples in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 14 and 17: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

You see how essential it is to be shown convincing proofs that his resurrection was fact not fiction??

The resurrection is absolutely essential to our faith. Everything we believe stands or falls on this one truth. You might consider the philosophy of following the TEACHING of Jesus (and that would be a great thing, btw) and say: “Well… even if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, I would still be a Christian because of the faith and the hope and the love that Christianity offers.”

Church - if Jesus is still dead then THERE IS NO FAITH, NO HOPE, AND NO LOVE!!

The 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension is the most crucial time for Christians. Why? Because it’s in this 40 day period where it all becomes reality, begins to produce results, and commands a responsibility in the lives of all believers.