“But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,
then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty”
– 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 –
The brethren in Corinth needed to strengthen their understanding of the resurrection. It was not a moral, ethical, cultural, or ecclesiological problem – it was a doctrinal matter.
Paul writes that he received and transmitted the teaching of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ, based on Scripture, revelation, and testimony of the more than five hundred witnesses to the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:6). If Christ did not resurrect, then there is no resurrection of the dead. To deny one is to deny both; and is essentially denying it all. In doing that, we are left with nothing. A vain faith is empty, hollow, foundationless; a valid faith is authentic and real, because it is based on the word of Jesus.
For Paul, Christ is the author and restorer of life. A very talented writer once said that while Christ was still a prisoner in His narrow tomb, the stone still in its place, the Roman seal intact, the Roman guards and good and bad angels were guarding the place. Had it had been possible, the enemy would have kept Him there forever. Suddenly, the stone is removed, and a voice is heard: “Son of God, come out: Your Father calls you.” Jesus leaves the tomb with devine majesty and says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Then, what seemed a victory of the enemy transformed into the Lord’s glorious victory. The One who had overcome death and the grave left the tomb and as an overcomer, amid the earth shaking, the glare of lightning, and the roar of thunder. The end of sin and all its consequences was assured.
“The voice that cried from the cross, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30) was heard among the dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers and summoned the sleepers to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the death in Christ shall arise. At the Savior’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life.
“The same power that raised Christ from the dead
will raise His church, and glorify it with Him,
above all principalities, above all powers, above every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come”
(The Desire of Ages, p. 787; emphasis by the author).
Can you imagine this amazing moment?
Our faith is not in vain, it is valid. May the Lord bless you…