Wednesday, April 2, 2014
‘Whatever Happened to the Resurrection?’
Why the Gospel of Jesus Christ without the Resurrection isn’t Good News
By Jim Uttley
Special to ASSIST News Service
BLACKWOOD, NEW JERSEY
(ANS) – Spring is in the air and before we know it, Easter lilies will be popping up all over and we’ll soon be reading Scriptures about the death of Jesus and listening to Easter choral pieces.
“Whatever Happened to the Resurrection?” explains why the Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t good news if it doesn’t include the Resurrection
Have you ever wondered how much thought is given to commemorating lent and remembering the death of Christ and how much we actually think about when Jesus rose from the dead and how crucial that momentous event is to the whole gospel story?
“Whatever Happened to the Resurrection?” by Dr. Robert R. Dawson, challenges us to consider the fact that as amazing as Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is, without the resurrection, the gospel is not the Good News.
Think about this. If one were to ask what is the most famous or well-known verse in the Bible, most people would probably respond with John 3:16. It is often called, “The gospel in a nutshell.”
However, according to Dr. Robert R. Dawson, John 3:16 does not contain the gospel in and of itself.
“If I went to a [uncontacted]tribe quoting John 3:16 in their language, the poor people would have no idea what I was talking about,” wrote Dr. Dawson in “Whatever Happened to the Resurrection?” (Friesen Press).
“It takes the whole book of John, especially the last three chapters, to make up the gospel.” He goes on to state that “if I gave them just the first 19 chapters of John’s gospel, I would not be giving the complete gospel to them. I would be telling them of one who died. They would think, “So what? Everyone dies.”
Dr. Robert R. Dawson, along with his wife Estelle
“The whole Gospel of John is a lengthy gospel tract, but it contains more than the redemption secured by the cross. We dare not leave out the climax of the good news. It is an insult to Christ and His claim to Deity when we profess to be witnessing about Him and leave out His resurrection. It is the primary element which openly demonstrates that He is the Son of God, and it completes what is said in the first 19 chapters.
“Paul confirms this in Romans 1:1-4 “Paul, a bondslave of Christ Jesus, called an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
According to the author, famous theologian Karl Barth was asked, “Can you put all of theology in one sentence?” He replied, “Yes, Jesus loves me, this I know.”
Dawson goes on to state that this is perhaps a great sentimental statement if made to people who already know and believe intellectually and experientially the basics of the Christian faith. But to one who does not know, or does not believe the basic doctrines concerning Christ, it is frivolous and false. One might believe there was a man named Jesus (the same as the Hebrew Joshua) who loved everyone, and on that basis believe “Jesus loves me.” If that person did not know and believe that Jesus was more than an ordinary man, that He was the Son of God, shed His blood for sin, and that through His resurrection we have new eternal life, that person would have no possibility of entering into the kingdom of God. The gospel without factual content is no gospel at all.
In remembering Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday, we often think of what happened on Easter Sunday as being anti-climactic. It isn’t. It’s central to the gospel message
“Paul did not frustrate the grace of God by concealing its source and content,” writes Dawson. “He clearly set forth the terms upon which we can enter into Christ’s new covenant. No, Karl, we need more than, ‘Jesus loves me, this I know.’”
Dr. Dawson’s effort to complete this book involved reviewing, selecting, saving, organizing, and refining over 10,000 pages of notes on the resurrection—and all before there were personal computers.
They were accumulated since 1965 when Dawson first understood his own lack of understanding of the distinctive parts the suffering and the resurrection of Christ have in relation to the gospel of salvation.
For more than 40 years the author prayed, researched, read, wrote, preached, taught, and debated concerning the resurrection. “I have confronted theology professors, writers, publishers, pastors, evangelists, church officers of various ranks, and lay persons, who claimed ‘the cross of Christ is the gospel to which nothing need be added.”
Some were convinced that Dawson was right in insisting that the gospel of Christ, whether in written or spoken form, must include, not only the suffering, bleeding and dying of Christ, but also His resurrection.
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“Many consider me cantankerous, making a fuss over a minor matter,” the author stated. “I have sometimes felt like Jeremiah whose message was rejected, and he was cast into the armpits-deep mire of an old cistern. Jeremiah declared, “I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary of forbearing, and I could not keep silent,” (Jeremiah 20:9).
Dawson wrote that this was not so much crying out an indictment from the Lord concerning a lack of knowledge of God’s Word, but rather “I am trying to enlighten and inspire readers to a more correct application of the Word of God for the salvation of souls. I want to promote a better balance in presentation of the truths of God’s Word. Few deny Christ’s birth, not atheists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, no one. Some, like Muslims, will vehemently deny His death, but millions in our so-called post-Christian culture deny His physical resurrection.
“A simple illustration will help to clarify my concern,” wrote Dr. Dawson in his preface. “I was a New Jersey farmer when I heard this story about another Jersey farmer. One of his twin four-year-old sons was in a field of tomatoes watching his father working with test tubes and chemicals. “What are you doing, Daddy?” asked the boy.
“Son, I am testing the soil to see if there is enough food in it for these tomato plants.”
“Do plants eat?” the boy asked in an unbelieving tone.
“Yes. They eat their food out of the ground. They would die without food, or they would get sick if there is not enough food. Sometimes I have to put fertilizer in the ground so the plants will have enough to eat.”
The little fellow wrinkled his brow and went away to ponder this bit of new information.
A few days later the other twin was with his father in the same field. He watched as his dad worked with a strange looking instrument. “Daddy, what’s that thing?” he asked.
“It’s a hygrometer,” his father answered, with a sly grin.
“What’s a whatchucallit?” the little boy asked.
“Well, it tells me how much water is in the ground.”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“You see, plants drink water out of the ground. These plants would die without water. If the plants didn’t have enough water they would wilt and not have nice big tomatoes on them. If the ground is too dry, I will use the irrigation equipment.”
A few days later Dad heard the boys on the front lawn arguing loudly. He went out to see what it was all about. They were standing by a shrub which was not doing well. Its leaves were withered. One little boy yelled, “It’s dying because there is not enough food in the ground. It needs fertilizer!”
The other boy shouted back, “No, it’s dying because it’s thirsty! We need to water it!”
Dad settled the argument by explaining that both of them were right. The shrub was both hungry and thirsty, which made it sick. A plant must have both enough water and enough food to stay healthy, just like people have to have water and food. They brought a mixture of water and liquid fertilizer and soaked the ground around the shrub. In a few days it was healthy again. Just as plants require both food and water, the gospel of Christ must have both the cross and the resurrection to give spiritual new birth and vigorous spiritual life.
“Whatever Happened to the Resurrection?” is a call to Bible-believing Christians to give the resurrection of Jesus Christ its essential place in our proclamation of the Gospel,” writes Gary Williams, professor of Bible at the Central American Theological Seminary. “It argues that saving faith includes belief not only in Christ’s atoning death, but also his resurrection (as well as His deity, incarnation, ascension, return, and reign), and shows that many of our evangelistic tracts, doctrinal statements, beloved hymns, and books on missions either omit Christ’s resurrection completely, or give it short shrift.”
Dr. Robert R. Dawson, was the Founder and Director, along with his wife Estelle, of Cedar Lane Missionary Homes in Blackwood, New Jersey, for 44 years. A graduate of Columbia International University, he held a Doctorate in Theology. Dr. Dawson served as Field Secretary for the Mexican Indian Mission as well as pastoring several churches in New Jersey. He was above all a student of the Bible.
Russell H. Baker, Jr., writes that “there is no intention to minimize the importance of our Lord’s Atonement, effected on the Cross, but it serves as a reminder of what the Apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 15:14, “and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain” (ASV).
A retired missionary with Africa Inland Mission (AIM), Baker states that “Dr. Bob Dawson’s book underlines the necessity of unquestioned acceptance and understanding of Christ’s resurrection in the expression of any theology defining the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
But to understand the thoroughness of this study of the resurrection throughout Scripture, one needs to understand the author. “More important than reading this book is reading the man behind the book. I first met Dr. Bob Dawson in 1976 when I became Pastor of Christ Community Church of Lindenwold, New Jersey. Bob had been Pastor of the church during the 1950s… For 20 years, I enjoyed he and his wife Estelle’s fellowship, was impressed with their servant spirits, and became sympathetic to Bob’s energies in calling Christian pastors, teachers and missionaries to preach the gospel of the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
To get a copy of the book, just go to www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000005305581/Robert-R.-Dawson,-Th.D-Whatever-Happened-to-the-Resurrection%3F
Jim Uttley spent almost 22 years in Haiti as a missionary kid (MK) and later as a missionary with World Team. Jim lived with Dr. Bob Dawson (affectionately called “Pop D”) while attending high school. Jim is Editor for Wiconi International (www.wiconi.com) and edits INDIAN LIFE (www.indianlife.org). He serves as a special correspondent for ASSIST News Service, writing on Native American issues as well as topics related to immigration and issues of social justice as they relate to developing nations. He can be contacted by e-mail at jmuttleyjr@gmail.com
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<!–BYLINE:By Jim Uttley
Special to ASSIST News Service–>