What If There Was No Resurrection?

“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” – I Corinthians 15:12

 

From what Paul writes in the first 11 verses of 1 Corinthians 15, it’s clear that the Corinthian Christians believed in Jesus’ resurrection. But some of them weren’t so sure about their own.

 

Many Corinthian Christians were still clinging to their Greek culture’s belief in dualism. They’d been taught that human beings are made of two basic parts. The first part, the physical body, is intrinsically evil; the second part, the spirit, is intrinsically good. So the Greeks believed that if there is an afterlife, the spirit will shed the wicked corpse it’s shackled to here on earth, becoming pure spirit.

 

In other words, some Corinthians still believed that – aside from Jesus – there is no resurrection of the dead. Paul’s response? “My dear brothers in Christ … you’re talking NONSENSE!”

 

Paul explained that it is illogical to believe Jesus is the ONLY man who will ever rise from dead. There are only two logical options: Either EVERYONE is resurrected, or NO ONE is resurrected.

 

And in verses 13-19, Paul plays devil’s advocate: What if there is NO bodily resurrection? Well …

 

If there is no resurrection, Jesus Christ would still be dead (v. 13). In that case, our preaching is pointless (v. 14). After all, If Jesus wasn’t resurrected, then what’s the point of listening to someone blather on about some ancient dead guy who lived halfway around the world?

 

Without the resurrection, our faith would be a sham (vs. 14 & 17) – and we would be liars (v. 15). If there is no resurrection, we’re still under God’s condemnation because of our sins (v. 17). Our faith in Jesus would make no difference on Judgment Day. And if there is no resurrection, our Christian family members who have died in Christ are lost forever (v. 18).

 

Finally, without the resurrection, we should be the most pitied people on earth (v. 19). If there’s no hope beyond the grave, we Christians are a pretty sorry lot. ALL of our preaching, ALL of our praying, our trusting, our hoping, our sacrificing … ALL of it would be … for nothing.

 

Fortunately, here are 3 things that the resurrection proves:

 

#1: The resurrection proves that good is stronger than evil. In this life, evil might win a battle or two, but the goodness of God will always win the war.

 

#2: The resurrection proves that God’s “agape” love is stronger than hatred. The religious leaders hated Jesus, and today Satan continues to fuel hatred against Christians around the world.

But Christian haters can only kill our bodies once … which leads us straight into Jesus’ eternal arms of agape love.

 

#3: The resurrection proves that life is stronger than death. As Paul writes in verse 54: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” The gospel is truly good news!

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville, or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.