1 Corinthians 15:12, “How can some of you say there is no resurrection from the dead?”
If Christ did not rise from the dead, then the proclamation of The Gospel is pointless. What is the Cross without victory over death? Mortality would remain the eternal vault for the soul and punishment for all mankind if there were never victory over it.
[14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
(1 Corinthians 15:14-15 ESV)
Paul claimed that if Christ had not been raise from the dead, then not only were the apostles preaching in vain, but they would were really good liars. If that was true then these blabbering fools were misrepresenting God – a fatal mistake. When we speak of the resurrection we are speaking about God and His ability to keep promises. If we error on the side of thinking it was just some theory for the growth of Christianity, but not reality, we are making God out to be no better than a promise breaker; not a divine promises maker… and keeper.
The resurrection was about God keeping his promises and proving Himself. It is not just a made-up about rumor of a dead man walking passed down through the generations.
[17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
(1 Corinthians 15:17-19 ESV)
If there is no resurrection, then there is no payment for sins and therefore faith in the cross is futile, the belief of forgiveness is erroneous, and any hope of rising from the dead – for us or those we love that have passed – is just one big joke. However, because the resurrection is true, the empty grave yields life after sin and life after death. The living Christ is proof for our souls that we can cling to the hope of not only being forgiven and with God again, but that we reunited with those we love who also gave their faith to Christ.
Without the resurrection our hope is only in what we have during the years we are here on earth; beyond this life there is no hope if there were no resurrection of Christ. If you’ve lived any number of days, you already know that life goes fast and is full of hurts, setback, drawback, and dead ends. If our only hope is what is right before us, then we will be nothing but live-for-the-moment kinds of people who strive appease our current craving. There would be no need to look beyond what I currently desire because everything is for the moment.
And if we are honest, when we live for the moment we are almost always left empty handed.
Allow me to make this clear with a craving I have had; one morning I woke up thinking about Long John Doughnuts. For some reason I couldn’t seem to get the 8-inch custard filled pastry, topped with chocolate, off my mind. My sister-in-law is the one that got me thinking about them. A while ago she told me about a place called “The Doughnut Maker” where a little guy from Chicago makes the best Long Johns this side of the Mississippi.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for her), my sister-in-law can eat three of these a day and not gain a pound because of her metabolism. Me on the other hand, well, I could eat a half of one and probably gain 5 pounds before swallowing.
So the other day, as I drove by that little shop, it literally took everything in me to not pull in and eat a doughnut. My mind, tongue, stomach, and will were all screaming in perfect unison to stop. However, I knew that I needed a Long John like I needed a hole in the head; so I avoided the shop at all costs (nearly getting in an accident to get to the farthest lane away from the turn lane, in order to avoid temptation). Now don’t get me wrong, doughnuts are not bad in and of themselves, they are just not right for me right now.
Like that doughnut would have quieted my growling stomach, so our own desires will calm our lustful minds. And without the resurrection of Christ we would be in an endless cycle of giving in to whatever we felt like in the moment, rather than avoiding certain things that could only hurt us in the long run. The resurrection not only breaks the dizzy circle of sin, but also gets us off the merry-go-round of pleasing ourselves. The resurrection of Christ is life beyond physical and spiritual death—for Christ and ultimately for us.
Rejoice in the resurrection today. Easter may be coming, but the realities of Christ as our risen God can be realized now.
