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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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1 Corinthians 15:16-20
“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 to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Is your faith futile or dynamic?
“But Christ has indeed been raised” – Hallelujah! This has been the foundation for all Christian martyrdom. As Job said prophetically, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)
This is what separates Christianity from all other religions. Our Redeemer lives! Yes, to become a Redeemer, He had to die. But He lives. Jesus was not just a good man. He was not just a great moral teacher. He was not even a prophet sent by God. He is God.
That’s the Good News. Jesus is who He said He was. He is God. He died and rose again. It doesn’t matter what men, or any so-called theological scholars, professors or experts may say (or even authors trying to make a name for themselves) - Jesus rose from the dead. If He didn’t, there is no resurrection. There is no Heaven. There is no after life. There is no hope.
What is more, Christians are worse off because they have based everything on a lie. No one else is going to rise from the dead – so if He didn’t - forget it, life on earth is all there is and evil triumphs after all. But He did. (Remember – the ‘authorities’, both Jewish & Roman, were never able to produce His body to disprove it.)
It’s also bad news. It’s bad news in the context that as He did rise from the dead, He is indeed who He said He was and yes, He is God. He was not just a man – He is God. The problem with that is, of course, that if He really is God, He can make demands upon my life. He can issue commands that I have to obey – I’m no longer my own boss – I have to submit to a higher Authority.
Because He died for me and paid the price to set me free, I have become a slave of Jesus Christ. It is His Higher Will I choose to follow.
That is why the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is such an issue – even today. It sets Him apart. He was not a deceiver, a liar or a lunatic. I cannot stand off at a distance and say – Christianity is true for you but not for me. If it is true, it is true for everyone. It cannot be relatively or partially true. It is either true or false.
Because Jesus rose again, it proves it is all totally true. Yes, we can rejoice – the truth has set us free.
Jesus is alive for evermore. Hallelujah! There is a Heaven and those of us who put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as our Redeemer know that we are heading there. We also know this – “In my flesh I shall see God with my own eyes.”
Now that is worth dying for, isn’t it?
“Where, O Death, is your victory?” “Where, O Death, is your sting?” (v 55)
“Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through Our Lord Jesus Christ” (v 57).
That’s how and why we can live in victory. We can overcome because – “[Jesus] Christ has indeed [risen] from the dead.”
And so shall we!
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