Over the past week, we have been considering the central point of the Christian faith: the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is not an issue like baptism, whether it’s immersion or sprinkling,  or what kind of music should be used in a church service. Luke tells us, in Acts 4:2, the Jewish leaders “were greatly disturbed because the apostles were…proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” Again in Acts 4:33, Luke writes, “And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” The physical resurrection of Jesus has a very important meaning for you and me today, so let’s listen to a passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. (1 Cor. 15:12-20)

We learn from reading this passage that there were Christians in Corinth who were doubting the physical resurrection of Jesus. This disturbed Paul because it called all of Christianity into question. First, Paul says, “…if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe.” Second, he says the apostles would all be liars: “More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death.” And third, Paul says this chilling statement: “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins.” Wow! Without his resurrection, you and I have nothing to believe in! And if Jesus wasn’t resurrected, you and I are both delusional and pitiful, and more than that, everyone who has gone before us and everyone who comes after us are still lost in their sins. But Paul refutes this and ends the passage saying: “But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.” 

Christianity is not simply a religion of being nice to the mailman or to our friends and neighbors, it’s a faith that one day we will experience the supernatural power of the physical resurrection of Jesus in our own bodies. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead so that you and I will also rise…and that is very Good News!