Note: The title to my last article in the Weekly was a copy-and-paste typo on my part. The title should have been, “Why Did Jesus Have to Die?” If you didn’t get a chance to read it, previous articles are always available at http://www.webbweekly.com

Have you ever said, “If God would just give me a sign, I would believe.”

It’s not an unusual statement — and it is a fair request. Anyone asking us to believe that they are God-in-the-flesh would certainly be required to offer a sign establishing their absolute credibility.

Moses understood this principle. He also asked God for a sign before believing that God was calling him to free the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. God gave him two signs. See Exodus 4.

Gideon also asked for a sign before facing an overwhelming army. He even asked for a backup sign just to make sure the wet fleece wasn’t just by chance. The dry fleece the next day confirmed to Gideon the call of God. See Judges 6.

As far as signs go, we know they can’t all be trusted. We’ve all witnessed plenty of magicians and charlatans who fooled our eyes with sleight of hand and pre-staged miracles. Moses and Aaron ran into that problem in Egypt. When Moses told Aaron to throw his staff on the ground, it turned into a snake. Pharaoh’s magicians did the same thing. See Exodus 7:8-13. You can’t believe every sign you see.

So, what is the sign God gives us to prove His existence and His sovereignty? According to Paul in Romans 1:18-20, that sign is the natural world of creation:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

And what is the sign that proves Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world?

Jesus and Paul both declare that the sign confirming Jesus as all of the above is the resurrection from the dead. It is your sign. It is my sign. It is the sign God has given to all the world.

The word resurrection is translated from the Greek anastasis. It is a compound word containing ana, meaning up again, and histemi, meaning to stand. The literal meaning of the word resurrection: to stand up again.

Jesus was dead and buried. Dead and buried. Three days later, under His own power and with the authority granted to Him by God the Father, HE STOOD UP AGAIN to never die again! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Here are three passages of Scripture affirming the resurrection as the sign you’ve been looking for. I encourage you, read them, and then make your choice. You will either accept the resurrection as your sign or you will reject it. That choice is yours to make, but don’t accuse God of not giving you a sign. He already has.
Matthew 12:38-42

Then, some of the scribes and Pharisees told Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” But he replied to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look — something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today because she came from so far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!”
Acts 17:30-31

In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
John 10:14-18

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They, too, will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”