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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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 of all people most to be pitied.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 29-32
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
An atoning sacrifice of epic proportion was needed in order for all mankind to have their sins pardoned to a place where they could be right with God. This sacrifice was provided by God Himself in the way of His only Son Jesus who, in obedience to His Father’s will, willingly allowed Himself to be crucified on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem on a hill known as Calvary.
Perfectly innocent and sin-free, Jesus was executed in the place where every single person deserved to be. His then dead body was then placed in a tomb just like any other person who died.
Now, if the story of Jesus ended with this, there would have been no special ending to His story and certainly there would have been no long ranging impact on humanity from that point forward.
This is what makes the resurrection so critically important to the salvation story because you wouldn’t have a salvation story without it. As we pivot to our verses for today within our continued study of 1 Corinthians 15, we find Paul driving this point home to the church in Corinth. Look again at his words here:
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 of all people most to be pitied.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 29-32
It’s obvious that there were some believers within the Corinthian congregation who held the opinion that Jesus hadn’t really come back to life raised from the dead. Perhaps they had been Sadducees at one time and held onto the group’s denial that resurrection could happen.
So what would be the fallout from Jesus not being resurrected as the Gospel proclaimed?
Paul breaks down the impact as follows:
1. All preaching about the resurrection was useless as was the faith of anyone who held onto the belief the resurrection happened.
2. Since the Gospel preaching was useless and without foundation, then the preachers were false witnesses of God’s redeeming work because a main component of the resurrection of Jesus was God making it happen through His power.
3. If Jesus wasn’t resurrected then no one else could be either. Like Him, the dead would remain dead.
4. No resurrection meant that there was no salvation of sins. This would leave all mankind unsaved and hopeless, sinners before a God who would impose His eternal judgment upon them.
5. Baptism was an empty ritual because there wouldn’t be a renewal of life and new creation made after accepting Jesus as Savior. There would be no coming up from the grave and so emerging from the water during the baptism ritual would be rendered meaningless.
Friends, these five points underscore the critical importance of the resurrection to the matter of salvation. There would be no salvation without it.
Thankfully, God did raise Jesus from the dead, just as Jesus said He would. He became the first fruits for those in Him who would die and enter into sleep until Jesus returns to wake them up and bring them to eternal life with Him. The resurrection of the dead only became possible because Jesus was raised first therefore, all those who place their belief in Christ will live now and forever more.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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