"This Life Only"

I'm struck by the logic and power of God's sharp word in 1 Corinthians 15:19 (it's like a scalpel--sharp but good):  "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied."

Not only is it pitiful to follow a kind of "Christianity" that denies or disregards the historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus and/or the promise of bodily resurrection into glorious future life for all who trust in Jesus, but it's pitiful as well when we say we believe these things but still live in such a way that our heart's passion and energy and attention is all caught up in the here-and-now.

And yet, that kind of pitiful state is so easy to fall into!  "Lord, awaken my silly heart from its dream of earthly bliss and from the illusion of the world's security, and focus it in on real joy, the lasting and infinite joy of knowing you--now and forever."

Logic of the Resurrection

I am struck afresh at the relentless and hope-giving logic stemming from Jesus' resurrection from the dead and giving hope for future resurrection to all who trust in him.  See HERE on 1 Corinthians 15.
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Faith and Evidence

Steve Fuller has a helpful post on the importance of evidence for Christian faith.  He also provides a great summary of the various lines of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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"It is finished!"

The resurrection is God’s exclamation point that at the end of his Son’s death sentence. It says, “Enough.”

On the cross, as Jesus breathed his last, he uttered, “It is finished.” So too, the resurrection was the Heavenly Father looking upon his Son’s suffering to bear the guilt of sinners and saying, “It is finished.” Divine justice had been satisfied.

If Jesus were still in the grave, we might claim he’d died in our place, but we could never be sure that our guilt had been fully cleared—that the punishment had matched the crime and was sufficient to meet the right and holy demands of the All-Glorious Lord.

In fact, if Jesus were still in the grave, we’d have to conclude that his entire salvation project was a flop, because a dead Jesus is a Jesus who goes on suf­fer­ing the punishment for our sin. And until that punishment is fully meted out, our guilt is not resolved: the damning burden remains on our desperate shoulders. But…

“[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). In other words, while Jesus died as our substitute—as a sin-bearing sacrifice for us—it’s only with his resur­rection that our “justification” is fully achieved. The resurrection is pivotal!

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor 15:17): no resurrection means no rescue from the catastrophic consequences of unforgiven sin.

Further, God would be unjust to declare us “not guilty” if his Son were still in the tomb. But the Bible is emphatic to say God certainly is both just and the justifier of all who have faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26).

Easter is God’s remedy for our sin and its guilt. By nature our hearts and habits are spring-loaded to honor ourselves; we’re prone to make much of “me” and then connive ways to enlist God in the service of our own self-exaltation. The mercy of Easter is that the Lord didn’t just leave us to wallow in our shame. Instead, he sent a Savior to pay sin’s penalty for us—for all who place their trust in Jesus.

So the big question on Easter is about faith: are you trusting Jesus to clear your guilt, rule your heart, and love you forever? If you’re still worshipping the god of self, I urge you: run to the Risen Lord today!

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Resurrection as Keystone

You simply can’t overstate the bedrock importance in Christianity of Jesus’ resur­rection from the dead. Put it this way: the resurrection is the keystone at the center of God’s grand arch spanning from history to eternity, bridging over the chasm of sin and death; without it, the whole structure of salvation comes tumbling down.

This, of course, means the resurrection—Christ’s historical, physical return from death to life—is not one of those peripheral points or secondary issues on which believers may feel free to differ. No, it’s pivotal and essential. I base this on Paul’s clear and relentless line of argumentation in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19. IF Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead...

• - Faith in Christ is useless and futile;
• - Preaching of Christ and spreading the Gospel are in vain;
• - Believers are false witnesses—we’re liars (i.e., about Jesus being raised and about our future beyond this life);
• - Believers are still in their sins—i.e., not forgiven, guilty of violating God’s justice and holiness, enemies of God;
• - Christians who’ve died are hopelessly lost forever;
• - We’re a pitiful lot—more pitiful than any other people on earth.

So the resurrection of Jesus is right at the heart of Christian belief—deny it or dismiss it or reduce it to some notion of “living on in our memory” and, very simply, it you’re no longer dealing with New Testament Christianity.

As you reflect on the importance of Christ’s resurrection, I hope it strikes you as glorious and breathtaking! Giving mental assent to Bible truths is crucial, but crucial as well is “getting it” deep down in your soul. The resurrection is no mere fact: it’s God’s magnificent stroke of victory in battle against sin, Satan and death (does your heart leap up and cheer?). And it’s the ray of hope for all who trust Jesus for true eternal life!

So stand in awe: Christ is risen—he is risen indeed!

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The Wonder of Resurrection

Easter makes the stunning assertion that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Various efforts have been made to discount that claim (e.g., “He wasn’t really dead”; “The disciples stole his body”—see Tim Keller’s chapter on the resurrection in The Reason for God for a careful response to such ideas). But Roman soldiers weren’t novices in the execution business, and they made sure Jesus was definitely dead (John 19:34). Further, the risen Jesus appeared to over 500 people (1 Cor 15:6), and to make sure his followers understood that he was really there “in the flesh,” the risen Jesus let Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:27) and he ate with his disciples (Luke 24:43). This was a bodily resurrection!

Let’s turn from the fact of the resurrection to its meaning: what was accomplished that first Easter Sunday? 1 Corinthians 15 is a long essay about the resurrection’s vital importance. Here are some key points:

• Christ was raised “according to the Scriptures” (v 4)—in the mind of God, Easter was pre-planned.
  
• Without the resurrection, Christian preaching and all sharing of the Gospel message are useless, “in vain” (v 14).
  
• So too, Christian faith would be “futile” (vv 14, 17): no point believing in a dead “savior.”
  
• And there’d be no remedy for sin (v 17)—we’d never know if Christ’s death would have satisfied the Father’s holy wrath.
  
• But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead (v 20)!
  
• Christ’s resurrection is the “first fruits” (vv 20, 23) of a coming general resurrection of all who belong to him.
  
• The final outcome of Christ’s resurrection is the destruction of death (vv 26, 55-57): the curse of Genesis 3:19 will be reversed.
  
• Our resurrection bodies will represent a vast improvement over our present, temporal, flawed physical bodies (vv 42-44).
  
• Our resurrection bodies will be imperishable, immortal (vv 53-54).
  

So where do YOU stand with Christ this Easter? Do you see the blazing importance of the resurrection? Are you trusting Christ for the forgive­ness of sin and the solid hope of resurrection life? Don’t let this Easter slip away if you have yet to come to terms with Jesus Christ!

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