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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: There are many who claim it doesn’t really matter whether Jesus was literally resurrected because His main purpose in coming to Earth was to teach love for mankind. Isn’t this the true legacy of the man Jesus? – R.C.

Dear R.C.: The message of the cross is that Jesus was victorious over His death on the cross — it could not hold the Savior of the world who triumphed over sin and death. What a failure Christianity would be if it could not carry our hopes beyond the coldness and depths of the grave. You see, the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ means the salvation of the souls of those who accept Him as God’s one and only Son who willingly shed His blood for the human race. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Some believe that Jesus died leaving a legacy of “Do good to your neighbor,” never believing that He was raised from the dead. Others think the resurrection was a hoax. There are those who question whether Jesus even existed. True believers in Christ have no doubt that He lived among us, died for our sins, and after three days was resurrected to life, conquering the sting of death, offering mankind the greatest gift — His sacrificial love.
The resurrection of Christ changed the midnight of disappointment into a sunrise of joy; it changed the midnight of fear to a sunrise of peace. The resurrection blasts apart the finality of death, providing an alternative to the stifling, settling dust of death and opens the way to new life; for Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me … shall live” (John 11:25).
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)