Radio with Dino Pedrone: The Resurrection

Introduction

Tomorrow is going to be Easter or as many in the church call it (including me), Resurrection Sunday. The fact of the matter is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important to the Christian and the hope we bring to those who do not have a relationship yet with Jesus Christ. Just a few months ago we celebrated the virgin conception and birth of Jesus Christ, yesterday we remembered His death on the cross, yet if that was the end of the story than we would be here today. As Pastor and Author Chip Ingram in his book “Why I believe” puts it

Why I Believe: Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity 1. Why I Believe in the Resurrection

there’s one thing that very good atheists and very good Christians have in common. The central issue for these diametrically opposed groups is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s where we must begin. Either Jesus rose from the dead, or He’s just another religious teacher and you should go to the salad bar of religion and pick the one you like. But if He really rose from the dead, if He’s actually alive right now, and if we worship a living Savior and His resurrection power actually lives inside our mortal bodies . . . then that is a whole different story.

You cannot be a Christian and NOT believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is not Pastor Corey Adams saying that or Dr. Dino Pedrone saying that, but God’s Word saying that.

Without the Resurrection

The Apostle Paul brings up the importance of the resurrection when addressing the church in Corinth. He addresses the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15.

Let us look at the first 8 verses as they set the stage for what he will write next.

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 NKJV

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

So the Apostle Paul is setting up some facts:

Christ died for our sins (according to the Scriptures)

Christ was buried.

Christ rose again on the third day (all according tot he Scriptures)

Jesus was seen by Cephas (Simon Peter)

Jesus was seen by the twelve (generic term for the Apostles)

Jesus was seen by over 500 people at one time (as Paul puts it most at the time of his writing this letter were still around and alive, but some had passed away)

Jesus was then seen by James (most likely his half-brother) and the Apostles again.

Paul says he saw the resurrected Christ last (on the road Damascus- Acts 9)

So this is scene. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and by the inspiration and preservation of the Scriptures to us as well the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. He is telling his audience about the FACT that Jesus died, Jesus was buried, and that He rose again. That there had been over 500 people you could talk to and confirm this very fact!

He is starting this off because he wants to make sure his audience KNOWS this before he starts his next point.

False Teachers in Corinth / No Resurrection = No Hope

There had been false teachers in Corinth that had been saying that there was no resurrection. The Apostle Paul needs to address this false teaching and so he paints a bleak picture when we jump to verse 12.

1 Corinthians 15:12 NKJV

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Paul cannot believe that some in the church believe that there is no resurrection of the dead. So he takes the church of Corinth and us down a bleak road into an alternate reality where there was no Resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:13–15 NKJV

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

He hypothetically says that if there is no resurrection of the dead then Jesus Christ has also not risen from the dead. If there is no resurrection than Jesus Christ is still in the grave and has not been raised from that grave.

He goes on and says that if Jesus is not risen than the preaching of the Apostle Paul and all of the twelve Apostles and every pastor and preacher to come after is empty or in vain, it is worthless. So in fact your faith is also empty, vain, and worthless.

Paul throws himself under the bus metaphorically saying that he is found as a false witness of God, because he is telling everyone that God raised Jesus from the dead, if the fact that the dead cannot raise, then Jesus has not risen.

Paul wants the church in Corinth and us to understand the gravity of the resurrection. That this is so critical to the Christian. He then states it so matter-of-factly in verse 16.

1 Corinthians 15:16 NKJV

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

If the dead DO NOT rise

THEN Christ is not risen.

English Standard Version Chapter 15

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised

The Story gets Bleaker

So this alternate reality goes from really bad to worse as Paul continues with this thought.

1 Corinthians 15:17–18 NKJV

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Paul starts to drive the point home to the Corinthian church and hopefully to every believer.

He has just said if there is No resurrection from the dead then Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead. So what does that mean? If He has not been raised than your faith, my faith, Dr. Pedrone’s faith is futile, it is worthless, pointless, it has NO purpose. Close all the churches down. The Christian faith has no point for existence if Jesus Christ did not raise from the dead.

Not only that Paul goes on and says no only is your faith worthless, but you are still dead in your sins. Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You and I will be the one who will be paying for your sins forever in hell, if in fact Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead.

Paul says that those who died believing in Jesus Christ would have also perished and be separated from God forever, if in fact Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead.

You see how critical this is?

Last Nail

Then he drive home the point in verse 19.

1 Corinthians 15:19 NKJV

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

We have this one life on this earth. If we are putting our trust and hope in this life in Jesus Christ and if He did not rise from the dead, we of all people should be pitied.

New Living Translation Chapter 15

And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world

You might as well eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die if in fact there is no resurrection of dead and if Christ is still in the tomb.

You and I, Dr. Pedrone, have been to the location in Jerusalem where it is believed where Jesus was buried, but He is not in there. But you don’t need to see the empty tomb to believe.

Paul after painting this bleak picture of life and eternity without a resurrected Jesus Christ goes on with verses 20-21.

1 Corinthians 15:20–21 NKJV

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

We are the most to be pitted in this world if there is resurrection of Jesus Christ, BUT Christ is risen from the DEAD! That is our hope!

The word hope does not have this fanciful hoping like “I hope I get a promotion or a new car.” No the hope that we have in Jesus Christ that the Apostle Paul and others in the New Testament write about is an assurance!

This weekend as we celebrate and remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ask yourself if you have confessed or repented of your sins and accepted the free gift of eternal life from Jesus Christ. That is why He died and that is why He rose again, to redeem me, Dr. Pedrone, and you, but you need to willingly receive it. Not just the knowledge about it, but accept Him! Let Him be your life.

For brothers and sisters in Christ that have accepted that free gift of Jesus Christ. Remember why we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday. Remember the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. As Paul would write in his letter to the church of Rome about the assurance we have in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We have, we are, and we will continue to face trials, tribulations, temptations, and tears, but greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Jesus Christ defeated the grave and we have hope in Him!