Jesus Is Lord: Why the Resurrection Demands Your Response
The resurrection demands a response because it is God's own proof that Jesus is Lord. If Jesus walked out of the tomb, He is not one more good idea to admire from a distance; He is the One every person will eventually answer to. That leaves no neutral ground, only a decision to turn toward Him or away from Him.
When the Apostle Paul walked into Athens, Greece, in Acts 17, he found a brilliant city crowded with idols and hooked on whatever was new. Pastor Travis Woernley of Miracle City Collective preached this passage in the church's verse-by-verse walk through the book of Acts, and it presses on something most of us avoid. We like Jesus best when He fits a safe category, like a wise teacher or an inspiring figure from history.
But the Apostle Paul never gave Athens that option, and the resurrection does not give it to us either. This post walks through what true repentance requires, why C. S. Lewis (the British author of The Chronicles of Narnia) said Jesus leaves us only three choices, and why death defeated by resurrection changes the meaning of every ordinary day.
What Does True Repentance Look Like in a City Full of Idols?
Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that while Paul waited in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him because the city was full of idols (Acts 17:16). Provoked means Paul was deeply distressed, burning with anger at what he saw. C. Kavin Rowe, a New Testament scholar, describes Athens as a veritable forest of idols.
Paul reasoned in the synagogue and in the marketplace every day with anyone who happened to be there. Before the city's council, he declared that the God who made the world "does not live in temples made by man" (Acts 17:24).
That sentence was a direct hit on everything Athens trusted, because nothing carved from stone could display the glory of the God who gives everyone life and breath. Paul was not asking the Athenians to trim a few statues off the shelf; true repentance meant a complete break from the way of life those idols held together.
Like Aslan, the lion in Lewis's Narnia stories, this God is not safe, but He is good; because Jesus is Lord, He accepts no rivals. Our idols rarely look like marble anymore, but the career, the comfort, and the approval we cannot live without still sit in His place. True repentance is not tidying up the old life; it is leaving it behind for the life God designed.
Take a first step toward true repentance today: name one thing you reach for first when you feel anxious or empty, and ask honestly whether it has taken a place that belongs to God.
Liar, Lunatic, or Lord: Why Jesus Cannot Be Filed Under "Good Teacher"
The philosophers of Athens called Paul a babbler. Ben Witherington III, a biblical scholar, says the word pictures a bird scattering seeds wherever it goes, like a gossip spreading ideas. Worse, they accused him of preaching foreign gods, the same charge that sent Socrates, the Greek philosopher, to his death by hemlock after he stood before that same council, the Areopagus.
Then Luke flips the charge, noting that the Athenians spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new (Acts 17:21). That line mirrors our own culture of new trends, new diets, and new content. Paul brought something that was not new at all; he proclaimed the God who stands outside of time.
Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, present when all things were made, equal with God Himself. Good teachers do not claim to be God, which is why Lewis said only three options remain: liar, lunatic, or Lord. Jesus cannot simply be a reformer or a wise moral guide, because His own words destroy those profiles.
Either He was deceiving people, He was out of His mind, or He was telling the truth. Liar, lunatic, or Lord is not a debate trick; it is the question every person eventually has to answer. And if He rose from the grave, liar, lunatic, or Lord stops being a riddle and becomes a verdict.
Take a page from the people of Berea in Acts 17:11, who examined the Scriptures daily, and read the Gospel of John this week with one question in mind: which of the three options fits what Jesus says about Himself?
Why Death Defeated by Resurrection Changes How You Live Today
Every story has an antagonist, and one person's superhero can be another person's villain. Pastor Travis described a police officer arresting a guilty man while the man's four-year-old daughter only knows that a stranger took her daddy away. We read Acts as if Paul were the hero, but to Athens he was the villain, the man turning their world upside down.
His message left no room for the old life. Paul told the council that God now "commands all people everywhere to repent." God had given assurance of a coming day of judgment by raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
Rowe observes that the whole world's relationship to God hangs on one particular man and one particular day. Paul told the believers in Corinth that if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). Without the resurrection, your suffering and your joy are both pointless; you might as well eat and drink, for tomorrow you die.
But death defeated by resurrection changes everything. When death leads to life, every moment counts, because death has been swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). If God has conquered death itself, no enemy in your life is too great for Him.
That is why the conversion Paul preached was never the cozy kind, where you raise a hand from your seat and nothing else moves. Death defeated by resurrection calls for a conversion that actually produces change, one that receives Jesus as Savior and confesses that Jesus is Lord. The hope of death defeated by resurrection is not a theory to admire; it is a reason to surrender.
Before you sleep tonight, tell Jesus plainly about one area of your life where you have trusted Him as Savior but not yet obeyed Him as Lord, and ask Him for the next step.
What Are the Three Responses to the Resurrection in Acts 17?
Paul's encounter in Acts 17:16-20 begins with a provoked spirit. In Acts 17:32-34, it ends with three reactions to the news that Jesus rose from the dead.
- Some Mocked
What happened: When the council heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them laughed Paul off.
What it looks like today: Dismissing Jesus as a myth or a crutch before examining what He claimed.
- Some Wanted to Hear More
What happened: Others told Paul they would hear him again on the subject.
What it looks like today: Honest curiosity that still keeps the decision at arm's length.
- Some Believed
What happened: A few joined Paul and believed, including Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris.
What it looks like today: Turning from the old life and confessing that Jesus is Lord.
The kind of conversion that the third response produces has a few clear marks:
- It turns away from everything we have placed above God, not just a few bad habits.
- It turns toward Jesus as Lord, not only as Savior.
- It produces change instead of simply asking for it.
- It costs something, the way it cost Paul his reputation in Athens.
Where Can You Bring Your Questions About Jesus in Titusville?
Maybe you have kept Jesus in a safe category for years, or maybe the word repentance still makes you picture a sandwich board and a raised voice, and you are unsure what to do with a risen Lord who asks for everything. You do not have to sort that out alone, and you do not have to clean yourself up first, because guilty people are welcomed by grace. Miracle City Collective gathers every Sunday at 10:00 AM at South Lake Elementary School in Titusville, near Garden Street and I-95, and whether you live across town or anywhere else in Brevard County along the Space Coast, there is a seat and a cup of coffee waiting for you.
Why Everyone Will Have to Decide If Jesus Is Lord
Paul stood before the sharpest minds in Athens and told them the unknown God had made Himself known, and that the resurrection settled the matter: Jesus is Lord. Some mocked, some stalled, and some believed, but no one walked away neutral. Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord, and everyone everywhere will eventually have to choose one.
You are welcome to ask a question or grab coffee with Pastor Travis through the Connect page; connect here.
When you are ready to see a Sunday gathering for yourself, the I'm New page has what you need to plan your visit here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does the resurrection mean for Christians?
A: The resurrection is God's public proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be and that His death paid for sin. Paul told the Corinthians that if Christ has not been raised, faith is futile and we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). Because Jesus rose, death no longer has the final word, and every day lived for Him counts.
Q: How do I know Jesus is who he claimed to be?
A: Start with His own words in the Gospels, the way the Bereans in Acts 17:11 examined the Scriptures daily. Jesus claimed equality with God, which, as C. S. Lewis argued, leaves only three options: liar, lunatic, or Lord. The resurrection is the evidence Paul pointed to in Athens, the assurance God has given to all people (Acts 17:31).
Q: How do I actually repent and turn my life to God?
A: Repentance means turning away from whatever has taken God's place and turning toward Jesus as Lord. It starts with honesty: naming what you have trusted instead of Him and confessing it to Him. You do not have to be perfect first; God meets you where you are, but He does not leave you there.
Q: Why did Paul mention an altar "to the unknown god" in Athens?
A: Paul noticed an altar in Athens inscribed to an unknown god and used it as a bridge for his message (Acts 17:23). He told the Athenians that the God they worshiped without knowing had made Himself known. That God made the world, gives life and breath to everyone, and cannot be contained in any temple.
Q: What was the Areopagus in Acts 17?
A: The Areopagus was a council in Athens that acted as a governing and judicial authority. It was the same body before which Socrates, the Greek philosopher, was tried, partly on the charge of introducing new gods. When Paul was brought there, he was not invited to a friendly chat; he was answering a charge with serious consequences.
