THE GREAT ESCAPE
Steve W. Reeves
Harry Houdini (born March 24, 1874) was
a world renowned magician, illusionist and escape artist. It seemed as if he
could escape from any situation. When handcuffed he could easily free himself.
When bound by chains he could quickly wrestle free. He was given certificates
of achievement from wardens of jails from which he escaped. He even managed to
escape after being shackled and placed in a coffin. In October of 1926 at the
age of 52 Houdini encountered an inescapable situation when he died from
complications of a ruptured appendix. The man who had been billed as the
greatest escape artist in the world was unable to escape the inevitable foe of
death.
It was not so with Jesus! The supreme
hope of Christians is our conviction that Jesus did what neither Houdini nor
any other individual has done. He broke the shackles of death, emerged
victoriously from the tomb and reigns today at the right hand of God the
Father. Paul expressed this reality in Colossians 1:18-20 - “He is also head of
the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so
that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For
it was the Father’s good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to
reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His
cross; through Him, I say,
whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the
bedrock foundation of our faith. A religion that does not believe in the bodily
resurrection of the one who died as an atonement for our sins is completely
worthless. It has no basis for authority. It has no power to save. It offers no
hope. Of all of the religious teachings in the world only Christianity is built
on the reality of the empty tomb.
The apostles of Jesus were willing to
risk their lives in defense of the resurrection of Christ. They did so even
though there was nothing to their profit from a physical or financial nature.
Nearly all of them gave their lives in defense of the Gospel (death, burial and
resurrection) of Christ. Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
In the early 1980’s during the tense
days of the cold war the Soviet President, Leonid Brezhnev died. The Vice
President of the United States, George Bush, attended the state funeral and
later recounted a dramatic scene. Amid all of the trappings of military power
and communist symbolism there was no mention of God. However, as the casket was
being closed Brezhnev’s widow ran up to her husband’s lifeless body and made
the sign of the cross over his chest. It was a poignant moment. The wife of the
leader of an atheist state recognized that the only hope beyond the grave was
in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
I implore you to investigate the
resurrection of Christ for yourself. In doing so I believe you will respond by giving your love and life to Him.
