Scripture – “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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 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.”
1 Corinthians 15:14-17, 19-22 NIV
Observation – If Jesus has not been raised from the dead Christianity doesn’t exist. We are all wasting our time, we are wasting our money, we are liars because we are telling people that he did come back from the dead and he cares for us, loves us and has a plan for our lives, if Jesus didn’t come back from the dead Christians are to be pitied by humanity. The Bible, however claims he did come back from the dead. The evidence for his resurrection can be found not only in Scripture but throughout history. It is a historical fact that Jesus lived, was killed on a cross, was buried and on the third day the tomb was empty. His disciples and over 500 other people claimed to have seen him over a period of 40 days after he came back to life. His disciples lives were transformed after seeing Jesus come back from the dead and they were willing to be beaten, thrown in prison and die before they would deny him. It is worth noting that while he was alive they all claimed that they would never desert him yet all of them fled when he was arrested. After they saw him resurrected from the dead they became lions of the faith and were willing to give up their lives rather than deny him again.
Application – If you haven’t confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and if you don’t believe that God raised him from the dead you are still in your sins. If you die in your sins you will not receive God’s forgiveness and will be separated from him in eternity. If today you hear his voice do not harden your heart.
Prayer – Jesus, I pray for those who don’t yet believe that you love them and died for them. I pray that they would take time to investigate if what the Bible claims about you is true. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 