"I See Dead People”: Objections To The Resurrection Series

“I see dead people”: Objections to the Resurrection

12But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

20But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. 1Cor.15:12-20 (NLT)

Jesus is risen! That is the confession of faith of every Christian; on every lip that says Jesus is Lord! The church from the time it began says, “we preach that Christ rose from the dead” (v.12). If the CSI (Crime Scene Investigators)teams were sent to the tomb of Jesus that first easter, the evidence would point to the resurrection.

Yet there are many who object to the fact of the resurrection from the dead, as the apostle wrote “why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?” Sounds fantastic, people rise from the dead, twilight zone stuff. How can this be real? Do you see dead people walking around? Maybe in the movies, such as the Sixth Sense, where a child is haunted by ghosts and he says “I see dead people” spooky stuff. But is the Easter story just another ghost story?

Just suppose the objectors are right. There is no such thing. Just suppose the movie, the resurrection, the Passion of the Christ, Easter, is just a figment of somebody’s active imagination. What would that mean to Christians today? The Bible has some answers to that

1. Christ is still dead: If there is no such thing as resurrection – Christ then is not raised from the dead. Jesus would have suffered the same result as anyone who has ever founded a religion, Jesus is dead (v.13)

2. Communication regarding Christianity is a waste of time: If Christ is not raised then messages (or preaching) from the church is useless (v.14). The empty tomb of Christ is the foundation of the Christian message. Shoot this down, all of the preaching in Christianity goes to the toilet, every Sunday’s sermon is not worth listening to.

3. Our God is not worthy of trust: It is a worthless faith, there is no use trusting God, because He propagates a message based on the resurrection (v.14). Betting your life on God is crazy then. You might be better off betting on Lotto 649 and believing you just won millions.

4. That the apostles were liars (v.15) “since we preach that Christ rose from the dead” (v.12). Disregard the testimony of the New Testament which was written by the apostles, they were liars, conspirators who conned the world into believing something that did not occur. They gave their lives for what they knew to be false and whole church movement of the past 2,000 years is nothing but the most insidious gory story ever told.

5. No vindication for Christ: Jesus died believing that once He suffered on the cross and died, He would be raised to life, thus, vindicating His life and suffering for the sins of the world. (v.16) There is no honor, no profit, He died a criminal! He would died and suffered for nothing!

6. No life: No hope for those who died believing in the resurrection – no life beyond death! (v.17)

7. No hope: (v.19) Jesus is the proof for He was the first of a great harvest. That is there is more to come. The word picture of a “great harvest” suggests many people will benefit. You and I can be part of it, if we receive this message, receive Christ as our Savior and get into this harvest. This past week, I refuse to get into Am express card’s offer of loss of income insurance. They warned me if I don’t sign up, I’ll have to pay any money owing to my creditors if I lose my income. I lose out on someone else paying my debt. I said I understand, I don’t want to apply for those benefits.