If Christ Be Not Raised

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" ICorth:15:14

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth , and to Christian through out the ages, that the reason we can have hope is that our Lord Jesus Christ has raised from the dead therefore we can have faith.

Some Christians, over the years have looked to different things to bolster their faith and give them assurances that God is faithful and that he will do all that the word of God says that he will do for them and

Some have sought the bolstering of their faith  in archeology, history and prophecy. Yet these are not the evidence of God's faithfulness to each and all of us.

The Resurrection

Where can we look that we might know God's love and faithfulness to us all? Paul wrote that the real evidence of all of this and the guarantee of the Great God's love is found in the Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ .

Paul,  speaking of our resurrection, tells us that it is verified by Jesus' resurrection , and not only this,  but all that God has for us. Paul tells us that if our Lord has not come again from the dead then we all have no hope of anything good beyond the confines of this life. 

He even tell us that Christians are forfeiting good things here and now if Jesus would not has been resurrected.

"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" (12-15)

The Central Moment

This means that Jesus' resurrection is the the verification that God is faithful. By Jesus coming again from the tomb all of the word of God is verified as truth, that is Jesus' resurrection is the central event of all time and eternity, for without the resurrection all that went before is meaningless and everything that proceeds after would be meaningless.  

Without the resurrection  of Jesus  the atoning work of Jesus on the cross has no power what so ever, that is,  without the resurrection the cross is meaningless and Jesus was just another martyr of a causes. It is by the resurrection of our Lord that the work of the cross finds it' verification. 

Declarers Jesus

The resurrection of Jesus  shows us all that the those Old Testament  personalities  did not live and die in the service of God for nothing, their faith and service was not in vain. They longed to understand and see what we Christian have lived for during the last thousand years .

"For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." Matt:13:17

 "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,"1Ptr:1:10-12

 The resurrection of Jesus is not just an event that appears on the timeline of the history of salvation,   but more than that,  the resurrection is who Jesus is eternally , the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus confirms his words to Martha the grieving sister of Lazarus. 

"I am the resurrection" Jhn:11:25

Jesus' resurrection also confirms his divine identity as the Son of the Living God .Paul the Apostle  places the the revelation of Jesus' divine Sonship at center of the Gospel message that he preached, and that by the resurrection Jesus is declared to be the Son of God. That is,  Jesus is not the Son of God because he was resurrection,  but rather he is resurrected because he is the Son of God.

 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake." Rm:1:1-5

What this means, and  speaks to all of us , is that  if God has raised up his Son Jesus,  so will he do for us , you  and I  and for all who will freely receive it. God is telling  of his faithfulness to fulfill his word to all of us, and that his word is faithful and can be accepted. God the Father of Jesus, and we all, would not allow Jesus to be lifeless and forgotten in the grip of death but would bring him forth to powerfully declare Jesus as his Son.

So it is also stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your holy one see decay.'Acts:13:25

Our Father would not cast aside his own beloved son , nor will he forget you.

Children of God

Through Jesus we have been made partakers of great and exceeding promises that belong to our Lord , yet he freely shares them with any and all who will freely receive them. We are through Jesus now Children of God, wanted and included in his love for Jesus.

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."Rm:8:17

The resurrection of Jesus has this ours, for with out it we would be the most pitiful, without any hope beyond this life living only for here and now having only this life to pass through , yet Jesus has done what none of us could have he defeated even death, it had no power to hold him nor us because of who Jesus is.

"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. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." 1Croth:15:20-23

We can trust our Lord God to top bring to pass every promise of  found in his word that he has made to each of us we are in Jesus Children of the great God being like him and sharing in all that is his except his deity , in that Jesus is like no other fully God yet fully human, yet we will see him as he is and share in his glorified resurrected humanity.

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1Jhn:3:2

This will be Paul explains  will be when we enter the kingdom of God

"I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality" 1 Corth:15:50-53

Because of Jesus even death has no lasting power over us it is defeated for us by Jesus, we will live in eternity with him never to to see death again, it will have passed away.

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Corth:15:54-57

The resurrection of Jesus is verification that our God will bless us that his word is sure and that and every promises of God will be fulfilled to us, God's word is faithful because God is faithful, we can see this declared in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus we can praise God for our Lord Jesus' resurrection , your faith is not in vain....Amen

Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor 

 

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike.

Washington, Pennsylvania.   www.gcfountainoflife.org

The Fountain of Life is heard  on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM  in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com: