Communion With the Christ:: Easter: If Christ Be Not Raised

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

The Apostle St. Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, and to Christian throughout the ages, that the reason we all can have hope, is that our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, therefore we can have faith and hope.

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 assures them that he will do for them.

Some have sought the bolstering of their faith through archaeological proofs, 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? St. Paul wrote that the real evidence of God's faithfulness and the validity of Scripture and the guarantee of the Great God's love is found in the Resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

St. Paul, speaking of our resurrections, tells us that it is verified by Jesus' resurrection, and not only this, but all that , God has purposed for us as well. St. 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. St. Paul even tells us that Christians are forfeiting good things here and now if Jesus has not 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 verification that God is faithful. By Jesus coming again from death and 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 and the manifestation of the atoning work of Jesus the cross would have no power what so ever, that is, without the resurrection the cross is meaningless and Jesus was just another martyr of a cause.

It is by the resurrection of our Lord that the work of the cross finds it' verification and it's power is assured.

Declares Jesus

The resurrection of Jesus shows us that the Old Testament personalities did not live and die in the service of God and for nothing, their faith and service was not in vain nor is ours today.. They longed to understand and see what we Christians have experienced during the last two 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,"1Pet:1:10-12

The resurrection of Jesus is not just an event which 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. St. Paul the Apostle places the revelation of Jesus' divine Son-ship at center of the Gospel message which he preached, and that by the resurrection Jesus is declared to be the Son of God.

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 us 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, would not allow his Son 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 which belong to our Lord, yet Jesus 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

Without the resurrection of Jesus we would be the most pitiful, without any hope beyond this life. We would be living only for here and now having only this life to pass through , yet Jesus has done what none of us could have done, 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." 1Cor:15:20-23

We can trust our Lord God to bring to pass every promise found in his word that he has made to each of us for we are in Jesus Children of the great God, and sharing in all that is his except his deity. There is no other person who is like Jesus, he is fully God yet fully human, yet we will see him as he is and we will 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, St. Paul explains what we will be when we fully 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 Cor:15:50-53

Because of Jesus, even death has no lasting power over us Death is defeated for us by Jesus. we will live in eternity with him never to see death again, death it's self 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." 1Cor:15:54-57

The resurrection of Jesus is verification that our God will bless us that his word is sure and that and every promise 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.... This is a lesson of the Easter Season.

Benediction: May we each and all be ever grateful for the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen