The days that follow Christian holidays can feel a bit odd. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ for a month, but on December 26, it feels as if meditating on the incarnation is out of season. The same goes for Easter and the resurrection. This isn’t all bad; seasonal meditation can be good. We need yearly reminders to stop and pause on both of the vital doctrines of our faith. But we cannot allow them to become merely seasonal. And we avoid that by remembering them all year long. Thus, I am choosing my first blog post-Easter to be about…the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15 (hopefully) received much attention by the Christian world yesterday. As we read the passage in our local congregation, I was struck by how Paul emphasizes the reality and importance the resurrection. Specifically, I was moved by the things he said would necessarily be true if Christ had not been raised. He lists five things that are worth our consideration.

If Christ Has Not Been Raised

1. Our preaching is in vain.

“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain…” (1 Cor. 15:14).

If Jesus’ body lay dead in a tomb, then all of apostles’ preaching was pointless. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then death is not conquered, eternal life is not guaranteed, and redemption is not accomplished. Remove the resurrection, remove the crescendo of the Christian message. All that is left are vain words and empty messages.

2. Our faith is futile.

“If Christ has not been raised…then your faith is futile” (1 Cor. 15:17).

Our faith is completely dependent on the resurrection. What faith would we have that he could raise us from the dead, if he could not raise himself? Why would we trust someone who did not do what he said he came to do (Matt. 17:22-23; Mark 9:30-32)? Why would anything else he said be trustworthy? If there’s no resurrection (his or ours), what’s the point of our faith?

3. We are still in our sins.

“If Christ has not been raised…you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).

Without the resurrection, there is no stamp of approval from the Father that the Son’s sacrifice for sin was acceptable in His sight. Jesus must be raised, for His resurrection is proof that He is, in fact, God’s “Holy One,” who by His resurrection from the dead proves to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin (Psalm 16:10). Without it, we are left in our sins.

4. We misrepresent God.

“If Christ has not been raised…we are even found to be misrepresenting God” (1 Cor. 15:15).

In light of the previous point, this one is all the more serious. If Christ has not been raised, Christian preachers have misrepresented the Holy One of Israel for two millennia, for we proclaim that He raised Christ (v. 15b). We would distort God’s character and falsify the account of His work- for we assert that Christ is chosen and precious in His sight (1 Peter 2:4-5), and that by His resurrection, God has set him as the chief cornerstone of the household of faith (1 Peter 2:6-10). The central focus of our message would be a colossal falsehood about God.

5. There is no hope in life after death.

“If Christ has not been raised…then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished; If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:18-19).

If Christ has not been raised, there can be no hope of a resurrection. Thus, all who have gone before us have simply perished. This life is all that there is, despite the rumblings in our spirit that it cannot be so. Without the resurrection, there is no hope of new life, no hope of justice, no hope of immortality and eternal peace. Thus, we are of all people most to be pitied, for we spend our entire lives, some even giving their lives, looking forward to these things, only to be found looking to that which does not and will not exist.  

If Christ Has Been Raised

If Christ remains in the grave, our futile faith leaves us in our sins as we misrepresent God with a sense of false hope. But if He has been raised…

1. The resurrection of the dead is certain.

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

Christ’s resurrection is described as the “firstfruits” of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20). He is the first man to be raised to physical and spiritual immortality. Thus, He is called the “firstborn among the dead” (Col. 1:18). His resurrection secures the glorious resurrection of our own bodies; His is the promising firstfruits of the abundance harvest to come.

2. The kingdom of God triumphs over its enemies.

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power” (1 Cor. 15:24).

Jesus’ resurrection proves that He is Christus Victor– the conquering King that has defeated His enemies of sin, death, and Satan. The resurrection is but a foretaste of the victory that is to come when Jesus will finally destroy His enemies and establish His kingdom that was inaugurated at the empty tomb.

3. God will reign forever.

“… that God maybe all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

The story of the world that begins with God ends with God. He is Lord over all. The resurrection assures us that what was lost in the Garden of Eden will be restored in the New Heavens and the New Earth, and that God will reign supreme over His creation. All enemies will be defeated, especially death (v. 26), and we will live and reign with Him forever (2 Tim. 2:11-13).  All because Jesus has, in fact, been raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20)!

Happy Easter!