by Jay Launius (Maud Church of Christ – Maud, Texas)
Have you ever considered the state of our faith and religion if Christ had not risen from the grave? Suppose it is just like the chief priest and Pharisees had said and the disciples came and stole the body of Jesus and the whole resurrection story was staged. All of the eye-witnesses who claimed to have seen Jesus after His death were really lying and the body of Jesus is, at this moment, still somewhere in a secret grave.
It may seem unbelievable that Christians would think that, but it is exactly what Paul dealt with in 1 Corinthians 15. First of all he makes the declaration that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (v.3-4) He then states that the risen Jesus was seen by Peter, James and the Apostles, along with 500 others. So Paul asked the Corinthian Christians, “How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (v. 12) He then makes the following conclusions if the dead do not rise (v. 14-19):
- Gospel Preaching is Empty, Hollow, and Cannot be Substantiated
- Our Faith is Empty, Useless, and a Waste of Time
- We Are Found to be False Witnesses of God
- If the Dead Don’t Rise, Then Christ Did Not Rise
- Our Faith is Futile and We Are Still in Our Sins
- Then Christians Who have Passed Away are Just Dead
- If There is No Resurrection, Then There is No Hope
But hope is not lost, but now Christ is risen from the dead! (v. 20) Death came by man’s sin, but by God’s mighty power, and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the dead do and will rise up. It is God’s promise to us and basis for our hope of eternity.