Wanna Be A Rebel
I still remember how big a deal it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s to declare that God was not dead.
A very beloved praise song declared, “God’s not dead, no! He’s still alive.” This would repeat twice more, and then we would sing, “My God’s not dead, He’s still alive, singing glory hallelujah Jesus is alive!” Jesus is alive was an anthem, and many were coming to faith in Christ.
During the Jesus movement, the proclamation of Jesus's resurrection and people's need to believe it were central to everyone’s witness for Christ.
Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
A belief in the resurrection of Jesus is essential for salvation. No one becomes a new creation in Christ without believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, and therefore, Jesus is alive!
If you remove the resurrection from the gospel, Jesus is like any other religious figurehead who died and is still buried. However, it is important to note that the fact of resurrection is not something added to the story simply to spice it up. It is an essential part of New Covenant doctrine.
It was a good thing that Jesus rose from the dead and then ascended to heaven, because in so doing, the Holy Spirit was released to come with great power. Hopefully, we all remember what took place at Pentecost.
The disciples needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit to proclaim resurrection as good news to the people because it was a truth that was greatly unpopular with the religious leaders.
Acts 4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
There is an anointing of the Spirit on the message of resurrection.
Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
Romans 1:4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
If you wanna be a rebel, be sure to preach a gospel with the fact of resurrection in it. Don’t leave out this anointed truth from your witness for Christ.
