Resurrection

Why does it matter if Jesus came back to life again?

1 Corinthians 15:13-19

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. 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. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Coming up to Easter, I have been thinking about whether the resurrection is really important. I believe Jesus took into himself every single sin that every believer has ever done and will do, and he took upon himself the punishment of God towards those sins. In his death, he fully experienced the God's punishment, enabling the forgiveness of God to be extended to people who are covered by Jesus. 

But could this not be achieved in the death of Jesus? Why was the resurrection so important? Because it is the resurrection that is a bit unbelievable, especially combined with the ascension of Jesus when he was with the disciples, and 'he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight' in Acts 1:9. 

Paul makes it really clear in this letter that the resurrection of Jesus is central to life and faith. Without it our faith is useless, we are liars, we remain sinners without hope of forgiveness, and we are to be pitied among all people! 

Jesus coming back to life affirmed God's acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice of his life for the sake of our forgiveness. It proves that death is not the end of the road, because Jesus passed through death and ended up in heaven - which is the future we are guaranteed to step into. It gives us hope that just as Jesus demonstrated his victory over sin, disease and even death, we can hope that he will help us overcome these things. And his resurrection came before he bodily returned to the Father, and sent the Spirit to live in and around us, completing the work of Jesus through the lifespan of creation. 

So while the resurrection can be... problematic... if Jesus did not physically die, and physically come back to life, and physically return to heaven, then we are of all people to be pitied. For we are placing our hope and trust in a God who has not forgiven us, and a future that cannot be assured, and promises that are not true. What a wretched life!

Thanks be to God that he has rescued us from our sin leading to punishment and death, and brought us into the Kingdom of his Son that will never perish or fade. We can live in rock-solid, certain hope that Jesus has won the victory, and that we are part of it.