The proof of life

In the world of crime, one of the most common offenses is kidnapping. When a person is kidnapped, the kidnappers will call for a ransom to be paid. Oftentimes, the loved ones of the kidnapped person will ask for proof of life before any arrangements are made for payment. Proof of life is normally established when the loved ones can see or talk to the person kidnapped.

Before Jesus died on the cross, He promised He told His followers He would be killed, and then raised from the dead on the third day. Those responsible for Jesus’ death wanted to make sure Jesus would never rise from the dead. They were so concerned that they asked the Roman Governor to put guards at Jesus’ tomb to keep His followers from stealing his body from the grave.

After Jesus’ death, on the third day, the Bible tells us there was an earthquake and an angel of God rolled the stone away from the entrance of His tomb. The Bible also tells us, the angel of the Lord sat by Jesus tomb to reveal to passerby, Jesus was not in the tomb and He had risen.

The soldiers guarding the tomb were paid to tell the public Jesus followers had come and stolen Jesus’ body. This is what many Jews believe today. There was no call for proof of life.

According to the Bible, there are many examples of Jesus’ proof of life. The Bible in John 20:11-18 tells us, Mary Magdalene saw and talked to Jesus as she stood at the front of His tomb. The bible tells us in Luke 24:13-35, two men saw and talked to Jesus during their walk to Emmaus. The Bible also tells us in John 20:19-23, the disciples of Jesus saw and talked to Jesus on that Monday evening. They saw Jesus again at the Sea of Tiberias.

There are many other accounts in the Bible of people seeing Jesus after He had risen from the dead. They have proof of life. What about you? Do you have proof of life?

God has given every true Believer proof of life. God started giving proof of life by drawing us to Jesus Christ from the time we were born. Jesus said, in John 6:44, “No man can come to me except the Father, which has sent Me, draw him and I will raise him up at the last day.” We are drawn to Jesus Christ in such a way that compels us to accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

When we accept Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Proof of Life. The Holy Spirit gives us proof of life every single second of our born again lives. We become aware of Jesus’ presence as He walks and talks with us and as we walk and talk with Him.

Although none of us have ever seen Jesus yet, face to face. We are aware of His presence from time to time, thus have proof of life from time to time. We even become aware of His forgiveness of sin when we confess our sins to Him because we know He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness Our awareness of His forgiveness and cleansing is also proof of life.

When we are lonely, depressed, hurt by others, or disappointed in ourselves, we become cognizant of His presence because He said He would never leave us or forsake us. In those moments, we have again, proof of life.

Where does our faith come from? What causes us to trust in Jesus? What causes us to believe in Jesus for all things? What causes us to have a constant confidence that everything is going to be alright? The answer to all of that is our proof of life!!!