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? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 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. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
Easter has become a wonderful spring celebration — a rite of passage of sorts. It marks the inauguration of Spring and with it the anticipation of warmer weather. We expect to soon see the flowers blooming, the landscape turning a rich green. We celebrate with picnics and Easter egg hunts. The commercial establishment recognizes this time by announcing a sale. And, of course, on Easter Sunday morning, we all arrive at church in our Sunday best.
But what about the real meaning of Easter? The Bible tells us the real meaning of Easter is the resurrection of Christ. That is why we are here in this service of worship. Indeed, Christian worship itself testifies to the resurrection of Christ. The fact that Christians worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of on Saturday, the Sabbath, testifies that the resurrection is the pivotal truth of all of Christianity. You see, Christ arose on the first day of the week. We worship on the first day of the week. It says to the world that we serve a risen Savior. It speaks of the importance of the resurrection to all of humanity.
But what if Easter had never happened? Would that make a difference in your life? In our text today, Paul describes the depressing reality of what life would be like had Christ not risen from the dead. Indeed, life would be quite different had Easter never happened. Life would be despair if Christ had not risen. Only in the resurrection of Christ can we be filled with hope for the future. Without His resurrection, life is hopeless. What if Easter had never happened? Let’s examine the implications of our text concerning the importance of the resurrection of Christ.
Verse 14 paints a very bleak assumption when it says, "if Christ has not been raised..." What a bleak "if." We are presented here with the assumption that Christ did not rise from the dead. What would be the consequences if that were true? What would be the implications for our lives? Had Easter never happened, how would it change things?
The first thing we need to see is that if Christ has not been raised, then we have no faith. The Christian faith rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Throughout history, preachers, beginning with the apostles, have stood to proclaim the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There was a Peter on Pentecost, proclaiming to the Jews that Jesus Christ, whom they crucified, had been raised from the dead. The apostles, from Peter to Paul, boldly proclaimed that the resurrection proved that Christ was indeed God. Many thousands of poets and preachers, apostles and hymn writers, have followed their lead. Talmage, John Knox, Wesley, Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, Spurgeon, and Moody, all proclaimed that truth. Truit, Carroll, Joseph Parker, Robert Hall, Christmas Evans, William Carey, Adonirom Judson, Beecher and Broadus — the list could be endless — mighty men of God, proclaiming the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the apostle says, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless." Christian faith, without the resurrection of Christ, is a hoax. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then those who have proclaimed His resurrection would have been better occupied twiddling their thumbs.
The apostle further states, in verse 14, that not only is preaching useless, but so is your faith. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then those of us who believed what those preachers said, have believed a lie. However beautifully the picture has been painted, whatever sentimental feelings have been aroused, it has all been for nothing. It is not true. If Christ has not been raised, then all the earnest believing, all the desperate praying, and all the dedicated service is simply an exercise in futility. If Christ has not been raised, then the Christian faith is a joke. One might as well worship a rock or a cloud, as to worship the man called Jesus.
Finally, along these lines, the great apostle Paul concludes that if Christ has not been raised, then he himself and all the other apostles are found to be false witnesses about God. (v. 15). If Christ has not been risen, then we have no faith. Preaching is vain, faith is vain, and the very apostles of Christ are false witnesses. They are not merely deluded, they are intentional deceivers. You see, either Christ rose from the dead, or they lied about His resurrection. But why would they do it? These were men who, in every other area of their lives, were ethical and moral and pure. What did they have to gain by saying Christ rose from the dead? Nothing. In fact, their testimony to Christ’s resurrection cost them dearly. They suffered great persecution. They were opposed, stoned, assaulted, defamed, reviled, beaten and killed.
The one who penned these words we are reading today, the apostle Paul, literally left all he had to follow Christ. He put behind him his heritage, education, and opportunity for success in the Jewish religious circles — all for Christ. His life was endangered at Damascus. Initially, the early Christians in Jerusalem suspected his motives. In Lystra he was stoned. He was assaulted in Iconium, beaten in Philippi with many stripes, attacked by an angry mob in Thessalonica, pursued by jealous Jews in Berea, laughed at and despised in Athens, and spoken against in Corinth. He endured beatings and hunger, sleepless nights and shipwrecks. To conclude that he did this in order to be a false witness is absolute nonsense. One does not surrender comfort and success for persecution and distress unless he is a crazy man. And Paul was by no standard of sanity a crazy man. He had one of the keenest intellects and most logical minds of his day. He had once been dead-set against these Christians. But God had persuaded him otherwise. But if Christ has not been raised, then Paul, the apostles, and the testimony of all the Christian church is false. We have no faith.
As horrible as that may be, we need to see another truth. If Christ has not been raised, then we have no forgiveness. It says, in verse 17, that "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." Had Easter never happened, then the Christian faith is worthless and we are still trapped in our sins. There is no forgiveness if Christ has not been raised.
All of the claims which Christ made concerning Himself would not be true unless He arose from the dead. He told His followers He would come forth from the grave. He said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." He was speaking of His resurrection. He also said, "I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again." The resurrection proves that Jesus was who He said He was — the Christ of God. The resurrection proves the deity of Christ and it makes His atoning death possible. You see, unless Christ is who He says He is, then His death is merely the death of another man. It has no more meaning than that.
The heart of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ, the eternal God-man, died on a Cross in payment for our sins. He died there in our place as the sacrificial Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. No mere mortal man can do that. For Jesus to pay the penalty for the sins of all humanity, He must be the divine Son of God. Only deity can atone for the sins of the world. A mortal man, at best, can pay the penalty for another mortal. Even that is impossible, for it would take one sinless to pay for another’s sins, and we are all sinners by nature and choice. The word of God says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." No, it takes one whose value is infinite to pay an infinite price. If Jesus were not truly the Son of God, He could not pay for our sins, and if He did not rise from the dead, then He was not the Son of God and we are still trapped in the bondage and condemnation of our sins.
The consequences of no resurrection have still not run their horrible course. If Christ has not been raised, we not only have no faith and no forgiveness, we have no future. Verse 18 says, "Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost." If Christ has not been raised, then there is no future. This life is all there is. There is no hope for the one who dies. There is no hope for us!
One of the sweetest hopes for the Christian is the hope that one day we will be reunited with those we love who have gone on before us. One day it will be our turn as well. Those we leave behind at that time will want that hope also. But if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then we die in our sins with no hope for heaven. There is no hope we will see our loved ones. Life is over and we are only dust. If Christ is not risen, there is no resurrection. If there was none for Him, there can be none for us. If Easter had never happened, no sinner is in heaven. Grandmother is not there. Grandfather is not there. Mom is not there. Dad is not there. Brother is not there. Sister is not there. Husband is not there. Wife is not there. No one is there. Heaven is a joke, a cruel joke, a false hope, if Christ has not been raised.
The apostle says in verse 19, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." He is saying that if Christ has not been raised, then our entire life has been lived in vain. If we lived in the hope of eternal life, we are simply deluded fools. We are to be pitied. We have squandered our time. If Christ has not been raised, we have no faith, no forgiveness, and no future. The blessed truths with which we have been comforting our hearts are mere fable. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." A comforting thought? No! A lie, if Christ has not been raised. Scripture says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." A glorious promise? No! A lie, if Christ has not been raised. Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." A word of comfort? No! A lie, if Christ has not been raised. The Bible speaks of God’s forgiveness, of His putting sins away from His holiness as far as the East is from the West; of His remembering them no more. It speaks of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, the release from condemnation and guilt. But it’s all a lie if Christ has not been raised. You see, the Bible tells us that Christ has been raised. If that’s not true, it’s all a lie! We are to be pitied because we have no faith, no forgiveness, and no future if Christ has not been raised.
Thank God that this is not where the story ends. There is a blessed alternative found in verse 20. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead." If Christ had not been raised, then all that we have said would be true. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from the dead. On that first Easter morning, as the first rays of God’s glorious sunshine bathed the rich man’s tomb where they had laid the body of Jesus, God stretched forth His mighty arm and brought forth His Son from the grave. All the demons of hell were petrified at the sight of Jesus coming forth from the tomb. The shackles of death and hell fell from His hands and feet and He came forth victorious over sin and death. He is risen!
God dispatched His angels to roll away the stone, but not to let Christ out. You see, Christ did not need the stone to be rolled away. We see Him later walking into a room which was locked tight. His resurrection body had the power to walk through walls. No, the stone was not rolled away so that Christ could come out. The stone was rolled away so that we could look in.
Because Christ has been raised from the dead, all the negatives become positives. We now have true faith, true forgiveness, and a hope for the future. Our preaching is not in vain, nor was the preaching of the apostles. Those who believed that preaching received a faith pure and undefiled, a faith which saves to the uttermost, a faith which cleanses from sin, a faith which stands in the trial, a faith which frees the soul, a living faith. The witness of the apostles, far from being false, was the solid witness of those who had seen with their eyes the resurrected Lord. They were not deceived. Jesus had appeared to them. They were not giving testimony of some mystical experience with Jesus. They did not expect to see Him. In fact, Thomas had to be offered tangible evidence that it was indeed the Lord before he would believe. Jesus appeared to His disciples over many days. He appeared to 500 at one time in broad daylight. No, the witness was true. Jesus had come forth from the grave. He was now alive. In fact, there is more evidence to support the resurrection of Jesus Christ than almost any other historical fact. If the tomb was not empty, why didn’t they produce the body? The reason was there was no body to produce. Jesus had come forth from the grave. The Christian faith is true.
Because the Christian faith is true, our faith is not worthless. We are not still in our sins. We have forgiveness by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. His atonement pays for our sins because the one who died on that Cross was the divine Son of God. His resurrection proved it. And the sacrifice He made on Calvary satisfied the divine holiness and justice of God. Those of us who put our faith in what Jesus did for us are forgiven, cleansed, changed at the very core of our being. We have imparted to us new life through Christ. We are born again and stand in His righteousness.
And we have a future. Those who have preceded us will one day greet us in glory. Those dear saints of God who have died in Jesus have not perished. And one day there will be a great reunion. This earthly existence will give way to a glorious, heavenly reality, in which we are united once again with those we love in Jesus. We have a future. Heaven awaits us. Eternal life is ours. We are not to be pitied, we are to be envied. Jesus Christ has risen!
Not only do the negatives become positives, but despair becomes hope. Since Christ has risen from the dead, we have hope in this life. We know that our lives invested in the Kingdom of God will one-day pay eternal dividends. We know that all of our service, sacrifice, and labor of love is not in vain. Because Jesus is alive, we too can really live. Jesus Himself said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Because Jesus lives, we live. Because Jesus lives, He can live in us. Because Jesus lives, others can live also. You see, there is not only hope for us, there is hope for every man — from the most immoral sinner to the most moral sinner; for those who are down and out to those who are up and out. Jesus offers His gift of eternal life to all who will put their faith in Him. He will not only give them hope for the life to come, He will give them abundant life here and now. The despair of daily living becomes hope and joy and peace. We have a great reason to rejoice. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Life counts for something. There is more to living than existing, more to life than the routine of 8 to 5. Life has purpose. Life has meaning. Because He lives, we live also. We are born again to a living hope.
On that first Easter morning when Mary arrived at the tomb, she found it empty. It was empty because Jesus had come out. He came out of that tomb so that He could come into our hearts and give us hope for the future, forgiveness for the present and the past, and faith for daily living. The tragedy not that the tomb is empty but that there are many whose hearts are empty. The Christ who came forth from the tomb has not been allowed to come into their hearts. Christ lives so He can live in you and give your life hope and meaning and purpose. Christ lives to bring peace to your heart, comfort to your soul, and joy to your existence. If Christ had not been raised, then life would be meaningless. But He has been raised. He’s alive! The challenge is to allow Him to live in us and through us. Only in that way can we truly live.
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