I Believe That It Takes God's Divine Calling Before One Can Believe the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

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As Easter Sunday is celebrated today, it's very easy for Christians to think of the message of hymns such as "He Lives" or "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today". The message of Easter is summarized as "The Lord is risen!" Yet, the resurrection is still argued against by those skeptical against it. Christians must allow the unbelievers to face it with scrutiny so they can provide evidence. Many try to refute the resurrection by making up various theories that don't make any sense at all. These theories not only reject Jesus as God but also the fact that He really died on the cross. If there was no death then there's no resurrection. The quest is not just to refute Jesus' death but also His resurrection. If they can't disprove His death then why not try to disprove His resurrection. It doesn't happen only on Easter Sunday but the whole year round. Then again, the resurrection of Jesus is a message meant to be preached all-year-round as much as his birth and death. 

I still think about how the late D. James Kennedy's book "Why I Believe" actually talks about the topic in the chapter "Why I Believe in the Resurrection". I still remember how Kennedy diligently talked about how why each and every theory didn't work. For instance, the swoon theory is easily disproved by medical experts and it can be disproven by basic knowledge in biology. Many atheists pride themselves on their so-called knowledge in biology even if the subject has disproven their version of random evolution. Biology can easily prove Jesus really died. The wound on Jesus' side flowed both blood and water which already verified He really physically died. Science has even proven that Jesus' sweat is a medical condition called hematidrosis when one falls into deep anxiety causing one to have blood mingled with sweat. Jesus was in deep anxiety as He was about to become the sin sacrifice for the world. Science also can easily prove that open-air and not a closed tomb is needed to revive a swooned person. Jesus was also wrapped in graveclothes making it impossible for Him to move if He was just human. All the evidence is there yet why do people still laugh it off like a fairy tale? It's the condition of the hardened heart.

Romans 1:21 says the sad truth that people have the knowledge of God yet they rejected Him and their foolish hearts were darkened. Sooner or later, atheists will admit that they know God exists but they hate Him. Such people became vain in their imaginations and their hearts were darkened. They have all the evidence in front of them yet they still don't believe it. Exodus 7-12 also shows us how the Pharaoh of the Exodus hardened his heart even after one plague after the other. The Pharaoh of the Exodus was still determined to harden his heart. God allowed Pharoah's heart to be hardened for a good reason - in order to display His magnificent power (Exodus 9:16). Such men profess to be wise yet they are actually fools. We have a psychological study called the Dunning-Kruger Effect that says that stupid people tend to think that they're very smart. Fools tend to think they're wise and the Bible already talked about it before the term Dunning-Kruger effect was invented. Such people are so fallen that as Romans 3:10-19 also declares that there's none who seeks after God, no not one. Nobody really seeks after God. An atheist can go and laugh, "Seek after God? That's laughable! I'm too intelligent to believe in God." The evidence is right in front of them yet they still won't believe it. Then when confronted by evidence then they will say God is but a merciless monster. 

This is where I believe it takes the divine calling of God before one can even believe in the resurrection. Along with the resurrection is the unpopular truth that the Son of God died a death worthy of the worst of the worst yet was buried with the rich. For the Jews, it just felt absurd that their Messiah would suffer as such even after they've read Isaiah 51-53. For the Gentiles, they still find it absurd that the Savior of men should die as a human. If the crucifixion message is hard to believe then so is the resurrection. Perhaps the best example that it requires God's unconditional election before one can believe in Acts 9. John 6:44 says that no man comes to Jesus except by the power of God the Father. Acts 9 talks about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus was already big in the council and was a big shot involved in persecuting the followers of Jesus. Yet, on the road to Damascus, he was faced with the one fact he didn't want to believe - the resurrected Jesus! Saul of Tarsus needed the supernatural calling of God before he could believe it. Saul of Tarsus could see the risen Christ and still not believe it. Jesus then told a man who was also named Ananias that he chose Saul of Tarsus. It wasn't Saul of Tarsus who chose Jesus. Instead, it was Saul of Tarsus who was chosen by Jesus. Saul of Tarsus only used his free will to persecute the followers of Jesus before they were called Christians in Acts 11. It was Jesus who caused Saul of Tarsus to have a u-turn from persecuting Christians to getting persecuted as a Christian.

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