In Acts 4 we have the record of the lame man healed through the ministry of Peter. The chief priests and elders, moved with envy against Christ, examined the apostles as to how this miracle was performed. Peter responded “Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, and God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole” (Acts 4:8-10).
The central point of Peter’s response was the resurrection of Christ. In fact, we are told that it was for this very reason the “priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2; emphasis added).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the fundamental truth of the gospel and Christianity. It is Jesus’ resurrection that separates Christianity from every other religion or belief system. Speaking to this unique testimony, Peter declares to his audience though they had rejected Christ, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; emphasis added). They had rejected the only one that could save them from their sins. In response to his message, “many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand” (Acts 4:4).
The Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of the resurrection to the Corinthian believers. “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain…ye are yet in your sins” (I Corinthians 15:14,17; emphasis added). The resurrection of Christ is the central theme of the preaching of the apostles throughout the early history of the church recorded in the Book of Acts.
Jesus Christ is, indeed, risen from the dead and is alive forevermore. In spite of the threats made by the chief priests and elders of Jerusalem, the Bible records that the believers “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness…And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:31,33).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ by virtue of its unique claim separates all mankind into just two categories. One group are those who have received the witness of his resurrection testimony and accept him as Savior. The other group are those who reject the claims of Christ and are yet in their sins. The question that Jesus posed to Martha still merits consideration. “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26; emphasis added).
From the Chaplain 