In a recent message, Benny Hinn emphasized that the heart of the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15, he declared, “Without the resurrection, the crucifixion loses its meaning. Without the resurrection, the death of Jesus really was only a heroic death of a noble martyr. But with the resurrection, it’s the atoning death of the Son of God.”
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Apostolic Witness to the Resurrection
From the beginning, the apostles centered their preaching on the reality that Jesus rose from the dead. Hinn noted, “The resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead is the foundation of Christianity. It was the most prominent and important truth in the testimony of the apostles.”
The book of Acts highlights this emphasis:
- Acts 1 – The disciples chose Matthias to replace Judas so that there would be twelve who could be “a witness with us of his resurrection.”
- Acts 2 – Peter proclaimed on Pentecost, “This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses.”
- Acts 3 – Peter confronted the people, saying, “You killed the prince of life whom God hath raised from the dead whereof we speak.”
- Acts 4 – Hinn pointed to verse 33: “With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.”
- Acts 17 – Paul preached in Athens and was accused of being a “setter forth of strange gods because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.”
- Acts 23 – Paul testified, “Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.”
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Old Testament Promises of Resurrection
Hinn explained that the resurrection was not a New Testament invention but foretold by the prophets and believed by the saints of old. “All Old Testament prophets and saints waited for the resurrection of Jesus because no promise of God would have been fulfilled without it,” he said.
The Old Testament promises include:
- Genesis 17:8 – God promised Abraham the land as an everlasting possession. Hinn remarked, “Abraham then had to rise from the dead to receive it.”
- Job 19:25–27 – Job declared, “For I know that my redeemer liveth… and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God.”
- Isaiah 26:19 – “Thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise,” a prophecy fulfilled when “many bodies of the saints which slept arose” after Jesus rose (Matthew 27:52).
- Hosea 6:2 – “After two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight.”
- Hosea 13:14 – “I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death I will be thy plagues. O grave I will be thy destruction.”
- Psalm 16:10 – “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.”
- Psalm 71:20 – “Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”
Resurrection as the Heart of the Gospel
Hinn stressed that the gospel must be preached in its fullness. “Paul makes it clear that the gospel is the preaching of that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Without the resurrection, faith is “vain” and believers remain in their sins, but with it comes the assurance that “the blackest sin is atoned for.”
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A Counter to Critics
The witness of the apostles, the testimony of over 500 who saw Jesus after his resurrection, and the prophetic promises from the Old Testament combine into powerful evidence. “If the resurrection of Jesus from the dead cannot be established then Christianity must go,” Hinn declared. Yet the evidence shows that Jesus did rise, making the resurrection the cornerstone of the gospel and the ultimate answer to those who deny it.
Prepared by Charisma Media Staff.
