Spring is a favourite season for many. There is, literally and idiomatically, something in the air. Literally, millions of people suffer from hay fever-like allergies. Despite this grievance, metaphorically the spark and vibrancy of rejuvenation punctures our senses, generating an optimistic excitement about the months ahead.

One of the more uplifting factors of this time of year are the emerging reminders of new life. Bleating lambs, spreading tulips and elegant infant swans parade our world, flooding our planet with ambience and colour. Whenever spring rolls around, we can be confident that life will emerge.

Meanwhile, whilst the essence of relationship with God is faith, we also are assured that there is concrete reality to his word, which speaks clearly into our daily lives. The Bible relates to our physical existence, rather than just being a collection of aloof spiritual writings. That is why the resurrection of Jesus and the new life that we can live through him is presented to us as fact, rather than wishful thinking. Just as spring assures new life, it is historical fact that Jesus lived, died, and resurrected.

You may consider it bold, even obnoxious to make such a claim, but there is as much evidence for Jesus’s life and resurrection as there is almost any other historical figure and event. The former atheist journalist Lee Strobel authored his bestselling book The Case for Christ. After reviewing said evidence, he eventually became a Christian by settling on the life-changing, liberating, ultimate fact of Jesus’s resurrection, which just as spring does, lightens up our world.