1 Cor 15:13-14- “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.”
The Apostle is addressing those, who in the beginning of his letter to the Corinthians he mentioned that had gone astray from the true preaching of the Cross. Here, in the above passage, he says that many had gone astray from the sound teaching about resurrection. Paul is pretty decisive in his explanation of the truth, saying:
- If we don’t believe that there is resurrection, then our faith in Christ is useless, so is our preaching. (Verse 14)“ 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.”
- Because in so doing it’s as if we’re saying that God didn’t raise Christ from the dead (Verse 15, emphasis ours)
- That means, all of us preachers are false witnesses.(Verse 15)
- That means, that we are still sinners and we are in fact deceiving ourselves: (Verse 17) “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
According to Matthew, the ignorant would say there’s no resurrection: (cp Matt 22:23) “That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.”
The Role of Jesus’ Grave
The Lord Jesus’ was never used as a grave would be used because it became the place, the shrine, that told the story of His resurrection and His victory over death.
In Eph 2:5-6 the apostle Paul explains that by God’s love all believers were called to life once again in Chirst. And those who were called, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Verse 6)
That is, while we live on earth, “… your life is… hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3)
It’s the incident or the start of the enemy’s defeat and being disarmed and made a public spectacle. Col 2:15- “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
The Spirit that Has Been Called to Life Is no Longer a Grave
This means that the proof of Jesus’ resurrection doesn’t come from a certain place, but from each person’s spirit; in the experience of the person being resurrected in Christ by the Spirit:
- By the feelings of having received forgiveness of sins
- By the acquired freedom
- By the relationship with God, being reconciled and intimate with Him
- By having the feelings of the eternal and the heavenly vision powerfully inside
- By looking to the world through God’s eyes
According to the Lord Jesus, resurrection starts at any point through Him.
Jn 11:25- “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” , and that hope continues till the last day: Acts 24:15- “And I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
Resurrection in You
- Takes place by dying with Christ: (Rom 6:5) “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
- It reveals your sonship in Chirst: (Rom 1:4) “And who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- Testifies with the power of God’s grace: (Acts 4:33) “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.”
- People may ridicule because they don’t have the inner experience of conquering death. (Acts 23:6-8) “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)” (Emphasis ours)
Our Duty Is
- To know the power of resurrection: (Phil 3:10) “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
- Not to think of it as something that has already passed, done with, but something that needs to be lived out every day; see 2 Tim 2:18. (“Who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.”)
- (1 Tim 1:20) “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”
- Hymenaeus and Alexander had suggested the Greek philosophy of the body being like a prison and the spirit of man being temporarily imprisoned in it.
- They considered the resurrection as a spiritual act that was done by repenting and being baptized in water.
- Hymenaeus and Alexander had suggested the Greek philosophy of the body being like a prison and the spirit of man being temporarily imprisoned in it.
- (1 Tim 1:20) “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”
- To have the living hope of resurrection: (1Pet 1:3) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
- (Rev 20:6) “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
- Whoever has shared in the above mentioned first resurrection, is blessed and the second death has no power over him/her.
