Is it important to you that Christ was raised to life? - Meine Hausaufgaben Teil 4 - 27. Sep 2016

Is it important to you that Christ was raised to life?

Well, it better be!

“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.“ 1 Corinthians 15:14-17(NIV)

Let me elaborate the truth of Paul‘s words:

Jesus‘ resurrection validates everything that comes before it. His incarnation, life, death, teachings, and so on. If Jesus had not been resurrected, God would have been made out to be a liar because He predicted the resurrection. One lie would have discredited everything. But moreover, He would have even proven Himself unable to fulfill His own promises!1

Thus, our faith would have been absolutely useless because the object of our faith wasn‘t even able to vindicate Himself. If Jesus couldn‘t even conquer death for Himself, how could He then do it for us? Death would have had the last word if Jesus had stayed in the grave.

But who raises also rules! And can, therefore, raise us up with Him to eternal life!

And if Jesus can raise people from the dead - what is there that He cannot do? Is there anything in my life that is too hard for Him? Is there anything left that could separate me from Him in any way?

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“ Romans 8:38-39

But because of His resurrection, not even my sin is left to separate me from Him: “He was raised for our justification.“ Romans 4:25.

As Adrian Warnock puts it: “Jesus was himself justified by his resurrection. He was vindicated and demonstrated to still be righteous. Because of the vast extent of the credit to his account, our sins are not just wiped away, but through his resurrection, Jesus' righteousness is credited to our account.“ 2

Simply put: that Christ raised from the dead is important to me because it impacts me. It affects my past, present, and future. It saves me, substantiates my faith and gives me hope for the future. Would Jesus not have risen, everything He had said would have proven to be empty and worthless.

But because He rose, His promises still stand. And with His promises, my hope. My purpose. My future. My life, forever tied to His.

1 Wallace, Daniel B. 2004. “The Resurrection of Christ: Theological Implications“. Accessed 09/26/2016 https://bible.org/article/resurrection-christ-theological-implications

2 Warnock, Adrian. 2010. “The Resurrection Changes Everything“. Interview by Collin Hansen. Accessed 09/26/2016. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/marchweb-only/22-12.0.html