A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"If Christ Be Not Raised..."
We preachers were sitting around the table discussing Holy Week observances
in our respective churches. As we talked one pastor candidly blurted out,
"why do we make such a fuss over Easter? It's the cross that is the important
thing, right?" To put it another way, he was asking since Jesus died for
our sins, what difference would it make if He was not raised from the dead?
What if Christ had not been raised?
This is not the first time that this question has been raised. In 1
Corinthians 15:1-20a, the Apostle Paul addresses this very question. He
tells us that it "is of first importance" (v. 3) that we understand and
have this question resolved. These verses explain just how Christ's not
being raised from the dead would effect Christianity and us. If Christ
be not raised:
-
Our preaching has no substance and is a useless enterprise. There is no
life in it. It has no power; (v. 14)
-
Our faith is futile and is nothing more than mere dreaming. It has not
solid foundation; (vs. 14, 17)
-
We misrepresent God and give false witness about Him. If God did not raise
Jesus from the dead then there is something that is greater and more powerful
than He; (v. 15)
-
We remain in our sin, for without resurrection victory sin and death have
the final word and the work of the cross is ineffectual and powerless;
(v. 17)
-
We have no hope. Our hope is nothing more than wishful thinking. If death
and sin have the final word then there is nothing to hope for or in; (v.
19)
-
And we are a people to be most pitied having believed in that which is
lifeless, powerless, and futile. (v. 19)
But, "Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!" (v. 20a) "For what
I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter,
and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred
of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though
some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
Scripture attests to it. Hundreds of eye witnesses attest to it. The
Spirit attests to it. He is risen! This phrase in the Greek is in the prefect
tense denoting that "He is risen forever, never to die again!" He is alive!
Therefore, our preaching is powerful and alive; our faith is secure
and powerful; our testimony about God us true and genuine; our sins are
forgiven and we are delivered for the power and bondage of sin; our hope
is a confident assurance that sin and death do not have the final word
and in the end we too shall be raised to be with our Lord; and we are not
a pitied people, but a pattern people, examples for the world that there
is abundant life in Jesus alone for only He has conquered sin and death!
Beloved, let us rejoice and pass along that which "is of first importance;
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was
buried, that He was raised on the third day" just as He said! He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry
A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed
by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene.
These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety
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