What if Easter Never Happened

1 Cor 15:12-19 Page 1142

INTRODUCTION

Many of you watch annually It's A Wonderful Life. George Bailey, the movie's main character, has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls.

Bailey loses $8,000 through no fault of his own and fears he will be sent to jail, and his company will collapse.

Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide.

He meets an angel named Clarence.

The angel shows George Bailey what things would have been like if he had never been born.

You see the town of Bedford Falls without the positive life of George Bailey.

In a nightmarish vision, Bedford Falls sinks into a deep pit of despair

those George loves are either dead, ruined, or miserable.

Bailey realizes that he has touched many people in a positive way and that his life has truly been a wonderful one.

Imagine a magic eraser that can erase any event in history.

With just a stroke of this eraser, a moment of history would be gone forever.

The question is - if that were true, what impact moving forward would that have in our lives? What if history was rewritten?

There's a whole field of study called Alternative History.

The question becomes, what would be different in the present if certain things did not happen in the past?

"What if Robert E. Lee had won the Battle of Gettysburg?"

"What if John Wilkes Booth had missed when he shot President Abraham Lincoln?"

Even recent TV shows have picked up on this kind of thinking,

a Hulu TV series entitled, 11.22.63 is based on the book by Stephen King.

An English teacher from Maine travels back in time in order to prevent the assassination of JFK on November 22, 1963.

The Man in the High Castle, which seeks to answer the intriguing question: "What if Nazi Germany had won WWII?"

But what would happen if we applied alternative history to Easter? What if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead? What would happened if Easter was Erased or that the ressurection never happened.

SERMON

Background to 1 Corinthians 15

The believers in Corinth began to question whether the dead were to be raised.

These new believers understood that if they placed their faith in this crucified Messiah, they, too, would one day rise from the grave.

Now, the people at Corinth began to question this.

They had believed for only a short while,

yet Christian loved ones had died, and there was no resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”

Here is the most important passage in all the Bible on what the resurrection of Jesus accomplishes.

There is a good amount of deductive logic and deductive reasoning going on in the passage.

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 (ESV)

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

· You'll note there are three different times that Paul says,

o "If Christ is not raised," or "if the dead are not raised" in verses 12-19.

o Christ's resurrection and the believers' resurrection are so inexplicably tied together in the pages of Scripture that to deny one is to deny both.

· For the next few moments, I want to explore this question:

o What if there was no Easter?

o Suppose that Jesus still lay in a grave?

o Then What?

§ Here are 4 tragedies if Easter did not happen, and you see them all in 1 Corinthians 15.

Our Faith has no Foundation.

1 Corinthians 15:14–16 (ESV)

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

. The Disciples Deceived Us

1 Corinthians 15:15 (ESV)

15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

The apostles were the worst of liars.

If there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead, then every person who claimed to have seen the risen Christ,

such as Peter, the twelve, the five hundred brothers, James, all the apostles, and Paul (cf. 15:5-8), are all liars.

Furthermore, everyone who testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, would also be untrue witnesses.

It is bad enough to believe a lie. All of us at some point or another believe something that turns out not to be true.

But, as bad as it is to believe a lie, it is far worse to promote a lie! And that is Paul’s point. We are misrepresenting God when we testify that he raised Christ from the dead, if he did not raise him from the dead. To do so is to be an untrue witness.

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, millions of radio listeners in this country were shocked when radio news alerts announced the arrival of Martians.

They panicked when they learned of the Martians’ ferocious and seemingly unstoppable attack on Earth.

It was reported that the Martians had landed at 8:50 p.m. on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, just twenty-two miles from Trenton.

Initial reports said that at least forty people, including six state troopers, were lying dead in a field east of Grovers Mill,

their bodies burned and distorted beyond all possible recognition.

Many people ran out of their homes screaming while others packed up their cars and fled.

It turned out that what the radio listeners heard was a portion of Orson Welles’ famous adaptation of the well-known book titled, War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.

Remember that there was no TV yet, and people used to listen to the radio for entertainment.

Orson Welles brilliantly transformed War of the Worlds into a radio play in such a way that listeners thought that the regular radio program was being interrupted by the startling news of the Martians’ attack.

And, as I said, millions of people believed that the attack was really happening!

1.1 The Bible is a Lie

· Paul is not saying that if Jesus were still in the grave, then the disciples are simply mistaken.

· No, he says they are then false witnesses.

· This means Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all liars.

· They perjured themselves.

· But circle back for moment for not only would the disciples have deceived us but ...

Not only are the apostles liars Jesus Christ is a Charlatan

If Jesus did not rise from the grave, then Jesus Himself is a charlatan and a liar.

If Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, then Jesus is the greatest liar in all of history.

Because He predicted His Resurrection:

Matthew 17:22–23 (ESV)

22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

If Jesus is still in the grave the very foundation that our faith stands in is compromised.

So if there is no foundation then we see the next tragedy is...

1 Corinthians 15:17 (ESV)

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Our Faith is Futile

The Greek word for futile (mataios) means “useless, futile, or empty.”

Believing in a Savior who did not rise from the dead would be utterly useless.

Think about building house. How fruitful is it to build a a house when the foundation is crumbling and non existant.

In the first windstorm or at the first freeze and thaw cycle your house would crumble and fall to the ground.

If Jesus is still in the grave then our faith is not good for much.

It would not bring hope and joy in times of trouble.

Their would be no substance to lean in n times of hardship.

Their would be no reason to be holy and obey the scriptures, because if Jesus is still in the grave then here is all we have.

If there were no resurrection, the hall of the faithful in Hebrews 11 would instead be the hall of the foolish.

Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, David, the prophets, and all the others would have been faithful for nothing.

They would have been mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, afflicted, ill-treated, and put to death completely in vain.

All believers of all ages would have believed for nothing, lived for nothing, and died for nothing.

The next tragedy is ...

1 Corinthians 15:17 (ESV)

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

We Have No Forgiveness.

That’s the worse problem.

Forgiveness is impossible if Easter is erased.

Forgiveness itself is impossible if Easter is erased.

If Jesus is still physically dead, then we are still spiritually dead.

Sin is the great cancer of our souls.

It is a barrier between God and us.

Left untreated, we will be cut off from God for all eternity when we die.

The good news for our sin, though, is that there is a remedy!

Jesus paid the penalty for sin.

He bore the punishment for sin, and the remedy is applied to me when I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Romans 4:24-25 “24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

The resurrection of God acts a receipt that God accepts Jesus' work on your behalf.

If you walk out of Best Buy or Sam's with an expensive electronics item, there's someone there who wants to see a receipt.

Jesus' resurrection is your receipt when the security guards of the world stop you.

One day, you will think, "What makes you think God loves you?" as your heart sinks in despair.

The resurrection of Jesus is your receipt and you pull it out to say,

"Don't trouble me. I am already paid for. I am free and clear."

The Last tragedy is...

We Have No Future.

1 Corinthians 15:18 (ESV)

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Philip Yancey tells a story in his book, Where Is God When It Hurts, of attending a funeral that was really strange.

When everyone walked in, they were handed a peppermint.

There were no words - no music - and no eulogy.

Friends and family members were told to put the mint in their mouths,

and when the mint was finished, everyone walked out.

That was it! Life just dissolves was the message.

You see if Christ is dead, then you have no future.

When you buried your mother or your father, it didn't matter whether they had faith in Jesus or not.

You may as well have been burying a dead dog in a dry hole.

It does not matter if you know Christ or not. All of this if Christ is still in the tomb.

1 Corinthians 15:19 “19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Chapter 15)

If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot.

If Christ is still dead, Christians deserve more pity than anyone else.

If the resurrection did not occur, we are a miserable, pitiful people.

The world just needs to pick us up and take care of us because we’re too stupid and miserable to take care of ourselves.

This life is all we have…

BUT (the greatest Biblical word)...

1 Corinthians 15:20 “20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

We Have Hope Because Jesus is Alive

The hope that Christians have is that one day we will have resurrected, glorified bodies.

We are absolutely assured that will happen because Jesus was resurrected with a glorified body just three days after he died.

And the body he got is the same body that we who believe in Jesus will get too.

So, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is vital for the gospel.

If there is no resurrection, all kinds of disastrous consequences follow.

But, Christ is alive! He has a resurrected, glorified body, and we are assured that we will have one too! Amen.

But that hope is only found if you allow Jesus to pay your debt to God for your sin.

Are you trying to pay it yurself, by trying to be good

Doing more Good than Bad.

Nothing you do can pay that Deabt, only Christ can.