The Resurrection - Does it Matter?

Here we are a week or so post-Easter, and one question (along with its answer) has been floating around in my head. The Resurrection...does it matter? Is it really that important that Christ rose from the grave?

Well, if you answered, “Yes,” you are absolutely correct! You get 300,000 points. (They are pretend points, by the way, so if you got really excited, I apologize.)

If you answered, “Well, it really doesn't matter. It's not a big deal whether or not He rose, just as long as He died for our sins,” then, I would love to share something with you.

Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:12-20. It is a lengthy passage, but we're gonna take it piece by piece. I will dissect the passage as we go, interspersing my comments in italics and using bold font for the Scripture.

Here it goes: 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? In other words, there were people in the Corinthian church at that time who didn't believe in the resurrection of Jesus or anyone else for that matter. Resurrection, to them, was not reality. 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. Did you see that!?! If the resurrection didn't happen, then what we tell others is a joke. Worse than that though, Paul says that if the resurrection was a farce, then our faith in Christ is useless...empty...powerless to save. We might as well pack up our Bibles and never darken the doors of church again. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. OUCH! If there is no resurrection from the dead – if Jesus did not rise again – then any one of us who speaks of Christ being raised from the dead is a, for lack of a better term, LIAR to and about God. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. I don't know about you, but that's just plain scary to me – the thought that I could still be “in my sins.” I believe that Christ came so that I didn't have to be condemned by my sinfulness. If He is not raised, then I am in BIG trouble and so are you! 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. Oh, and if this hasn't been bad enough news, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then all of your and my deceased loved ones are just that – deceased. They are not waiting for you in Heaven. You and I will never see them again. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Yep, I agree. If Jesus never rose from the dead and conquered death and its power, then we are living a lie, lying to those around us, lying to ourselves and just plain deceived. If that were the case, I would pity me, too. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And there you have it. Don't you just love it when God slides a “but” in the midst of something so awful and terrible you can't bear to take it another second? I sure do.

So in light of these things, let me ask you again. The Resurrection...does it matter? Is it important that Christ rose from the grave? The resounding answer that I so long to hear even through my computer speakers right now MUST indeed be “YES!”

Until we see each other again...in print, enjoy your life in the light of the resurrection. For, it truly is a reality.

Dearest Jesus, I am so very thankful that I can trust in the resurrection...in Your resurrection, which secured my own. Thank You for conquering death and sin and giving me life here and in eternity with You. Thank You.