ENGAGE
This morning, we celebrate what is undoubtedly the most important event in the history of the world – the resurrection of Jesus. But I’d like you to imagine with me this morning what your life would be like today if there had been no resurrection on that first Easter morning nearly 2,000 years ago.
For me, the first thing that comes to mind is that all of us would probably still be in bed rather than gathering here at this early hour. On our calendars, the year would surely not be 2016 since all of history has been divided into BC and AD based on the birth of Jesus – an event that wouldn’t carry nearly the significance it does without the resurrection. In fact, we probably would have never even heard of Jesus if it hadn’t been for His resurrection.
After all, throughout history there have been many great teachers, many great political and religious leaders, many who claimed to be the Messiah and many who have been able to draw large crowds and get people to follow them. But because all of them, with the exception of a few charismatic political and religious leaders who are still alive, are all now dead and in the grave, we don’t even know most of their names.
And for me perosnally, it would mean that I would have to have a real job instead of merely working one day a week as a pastor.
TENSION
The question of how our lives would be different if there was no resurrection is not new. That “what if” question, as we’ll see this morning, has been asked since that first Easter morning. About 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the people in the church in Corinth in which he described why the resurrection was so important. In that letter, he asks a series of “what if” questions to show that the impact of the resurrection on our lives goes well beyond the origin of a Spring holiday or determining the date on our calendars or what I do for a living.
TRUTH
Apparently, some of the people in that church claimed to have faith in Jesus, but they didn’t believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Many of them believed that their soul would live beyond the grave in some form, but they didn’t believe that their bodies were going to be resurrected in any way. But, as Paul points out in his letter, if there is no such thing as a physical resurrection of the body, then Christianity falls apart and their faith, and subsequently ours as well, is completely in vain.
Because of the importance of the concept of a physical resurrection, Paul devotes an entire chapter of his letter, chapter 15, to proving the resurrection of Jesus and explaining why that is so important. He begins the chapter by giving evidence that Jesus did indeed experience a physical, bodily resurrection, one that was witnessed by over 500 people in the days that followed. Then, beginning in verse 13, he begins to explain why the resurrection of Jesus is essential for their faith. You can follow along in your bulletin insert while I read the words Paul wrote beginning in that verse:
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
(1 Corinthians 15:13-19 ESV)
In a nutshell, here is the point Paul is making:
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
Paul begins his argument by pointing out that if a bodily resurrection is not possible, then that means that not even Jesus was raised from the dead. And if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then He did nothing more than deceive His followers into thinking that His death on the cross paid the penalty for their sins.
Throughout His life here on earth, Jesus had consistently taught that He was going to offer up His life for the benefit of His followers and then rise from the dead on the third day. So if the resurrection wasn’t real, then there are only two possibilities. Either Jesus was completely deluded and just thought He was going to die and be raised from the dead or else He lied about it. And if either of those two things are true, then that means we really can’t believe anything else that Jesus said either.
That’s why it makes no sense at all for people to claim that Jesus was just a good man or a good teacher. If Jesus lied or was deluded about the historical event that separates Him from every other religious figure in history, then how can He be a good man and how can we rely upon anything else He taught?
That is why Christianity stands or falls on the truth of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It is the one historical event that both validates the claims that Jesus made about Himself and the message that His disciples still proclaim nearly 2,000 years later. No other religious leader ever claimed that he would rise from the dead, nor did any of them do so. Moses, as great of a prophet as he was, is dead. Buddha is dead. Muhammad is dead, Confucius is dead, Joseph Smith is dead. Only Jesus overcame death and physically rose from the grave in order to overcome death once for all and prove His deity.
In another of his letters, the apostle Paul confirms that resurrection of Jesus proves that He is the Son of God, and therefore capable of being our Savior and Lord:
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
(Romans 1:4 ESV)
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
Without the resurrection, not only is Jesus a liar, but those who witnessed the resurrected Jesus and testified to it are also liars. As Paul points out, if Jesus was not raised from the dead then he and his fellow disciples are all misrepresenting God because they have consistently claimed that God raised Jesus from the dead. So that would mean that not only could we not rely upon anything Jesus said, but we also couldn’t rely upon the Bible since if there is no resurrection, those who are responsible for writing the entire New Testament would also be either deluded and/or liars as well. If the resurrection isn't true, then the apostles were the world's greatest liars - con men on a colossal scale. And Christianity would be the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
If there was no resurrection, not only is Jesus a liar and those who witnessed and wrote about His resurrection are also liars, but we are still dead in our sins. Jesus offers all of us forgiveness for our sins through His death on the cross. When He willingly offered up His life for us, He took upon Himself the penalty that all of us deserve because of our sin. But without the resurrection, there is no way we could be assured that His sacrifice was a satisfactory offering before God. After all, anyone could claim that he or she was going to die for your sins and my sins, but unless they rose from the grave, how could we possibly ever know whether they were in fact telling the truth?
During the long weekend in Jerusalem between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, no one in the world could be certain that the death of Jesus was truly sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. As long as He remained in the tomb, nobody could have that assurance.
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
Finally, Paul makes the point that if there was no resurrection, then we have hope only for this life and that is a pitiful way to live. If Jesus did not experience a physical resurrection, then we can’t be assured that we will either. And if that is the case, then that means that the only reason to put our faith in Jesus is for what He can do for us right here and now. But as Paul points out, if all we get out of our faith is a little inspiration for a few short years of life here on earth, what we have committed ourselves to is no better than any other pagan philosophy or religion. If Jesus was nothing more than a good moral teacher, then we are indeed to be pitied.
If there is no resurrection, then we might as well indulge in a lifestyle that seeks only to satisfy our selfish, sinful human desires. Instead of investing our time in worship, discipleship, evangelism and ministry in Jesus’ name, we might as well commit ourselves to lying, stealing and sexual immorality. While that might seem appealing to some on the surface, that kind of lifestyle eventually ends up being hollow and unfulfilling.
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
The resurrection is either one of the most wicked, heartless, vicious hoaxes ever or it is the most fantastic fact of history. Either dead men rise, Christ rose, the gospel is true, the faith of believers is valid, and the testimony of Jesus’ disciples is accurate. Or, dead men don’t rise, Christ didn’t rise, faith is empty and Jesus’ disciples, including many of us here this morning, are liars. Only one of those two possibilities can be true. And in verse 20, Paul confirms that our faith does not rest on a great deception, because the resurrection of Jesus did in fact take place:
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
(1 Corinthians 15:20-21 ESV)
Over 500 people were eyewitnesses of the physically resurrected Jesus. They saw Him., heard Him, touched His resurrected body, and they ate meals with Him. They were convinced beyond any doubt that Jesus had physically risen from the grave, to the point that many of them died because they were unwilling to recant their testimony about that resurrection. I can think of no other event in history that was witnessed by so many who were willing to die for repeatedly testifying to what they had witnessed. For those people the resurrection obviously made a huge difference in their lives. Does it make the same kind of difference in yours?
I asked you at the beginning of this message to imagine how your life would be different if there had been no resurrection. Are you like those 500 plus witnesses of the resurrection? Are you willing to stake your eternity on the resurrection because it proves that Jesus is who He said He was, because it proves that the words that Paul and the other New Testament writers penned are true and reliable, because it proves that Jesus’ death on the cross is an acceptable sacrifice to God to free you from the guilt and punishment for your sins and because it proves that you can have hope well beyond these relatively few years you have here on this earth? I certainly hope so.
APPLICATION
If you are one of the many here this morning who have made that commitment in your life, then my prayer for you this morning is that thinking about the resurrection once again this morning renews and strengthens your faith in Jesus.
But perhaps there are some of you here this morning who have never really believed in the bodily resurrection of Jesus or who have never considered its importance in your life personally. If that’s the case, I don’t believe that you’re here by accident this morning. Now that you’ve been confronted with the reality and the significance of the resurrection, you have a choice to make. You can either ignore everything you’ve heard this morning and just keep on living your life the same way you always have. But as we’ve seen this morning, that kind of life, which has hope only for today, is to be pitied.
Or you can put your faith in Jesus, a faith that is far from a blind faith because it is based on the reality of the resurrection. There is nothing I would enjoy more than talking to you more about how you can do that personally.
INSPIRATION
Without the resurrection
our faith rests only on a great deception
But because the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a proven historical fact, you can rest assured that your faith rests not on a great deception, but rather on the solid foundation of the most important event in the history of mankind, the event that is the very reason we’re all here this morning.
[Prayer]
ACTION
This morning, if God has placed on your heart a desire to grow in your relationship with Him, we’d love to help you in any way we can in that journey. Whether than means placing your faith in Jesus for the first time or recommitting your life to Him or finding a church home where you can connect with others who are on the same journey, it would be our great privilege to come alongside you. There are a number of ways you can let us know you’d like some help:
• Talk to me after the service this morning
• Fill out the information card on the flap of your bulletin
• Go to our website – you’ll find the address in your bulletin – and contact us.
