Why The Resurrection Matters

The late Haddon Robinson, preacher and seminary professor, told the story of a book written in the later part of the 19th Century entitled, When It Was Dark. In this work of fiction the author imagined that a group of archaeologists had found the body of Jesus in a Syrian grave. The world was rocked. Then the author imagined what would happen in the aftermath of such a discovery. What if Jesus did not get up from the grave two-thousand years ago? What if the claims of Christianity were found to be false? What if Jesus was just a rotting corpse rather than the Risen Christ? The author suggested that 2 billion Christians would lose their faith, millions of Christian churches around the world would close their doors, and hundreds of thousands of Christian missionaries would be summoned home from the mission field. He predicted that within half a century, the western world would be plunged into chaos, defeat, and despair.

Dr. Robinson goes on to admit that the book was not necessarily a good novel. He does point out, however, that the author understood the heartbeat of the Christian faith. For if the body of Christ were found rotted in a Palestinian tomb, Christianity would certainly crumble. All of the blessings and promises and validity of our Christian faith rests on the firm foundation of an empty grave. That fact is well understood by all who study it.

When it comes to the central claim of Christianity—that Jesus Christ physically, somatically, bodily rose from the dead—there are only two possibilities: either he bodily rose from the grave, or he did not.

So I want to look honestly at this first scenario, a theoretical possibility that he may not have risen from the dead. If Jesus Christ didn’t rise from the dead then this fact changes everything. Jesus died on a cross. He was buried. The End. Game over!

I am going to show you from God’s Word three reasons for this striking conclusion.

But I also want you to ask yourself the question, “What if?” What if Jesus is risen indeed? What if Jesus walked out of his tomb on his own two feet? Then it’s not Game Over, it’s Game On!

I am going to show you the ramifications of the resurrection story if Jesus did not rise, and I am going to show you the reality of why the resurrection story is absolutely true. And I am going to lay my cards on the table up front. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus Christ, then I am going to invite you to place your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today.

Let’s talk about, “Why The Resurrection Matters,” by turning to the New Testament Book of 1 Corinthians 15:3. I want you to see first how the Resurrection story is based on eyewitness testimony from those who did not believe in the resurrection story in the beginning until they saw Jesus alive with their own eyes, heard him with their own ears, and handled him with their own hands. The Apostle Paul who was at first a persecutor of Jews who proclaimed Jesus as risen from the dead, and who later came to believe wrote: 1 Corinthians 15:3–7 (ESV) 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, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Paul went all to tell how the risen Lord Jesus physically appeared to him, too. It changed his life from a murder of Christians to a Christian missionary. He went from being a persecutor of the faith to a preacher of the faith.

And the Apostle Paul emphatically declares as one of the hundreds of people who encountered Jesus alive from the dead

1 Corinthians 15:12–20 (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. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

I. If Christ has not been raised then your faith is futile.

Some people are so addicted to religion they will tell you that even if Christianity is not true, the Christian faith is still the best way to live. You’ve probably heard people say things like this: “Even if it turned out Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead and there was no such place as heaven, I would still have no regrets about living the Christian life.” You might have said that yourself at some point. I have.

But I want you to notice from the Bible, at 1 Corinthians 15:17, the apostle Paul absolutely disagrees with that position. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. Then he states it another way in verse 17: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile

If Jesus Christ were a rotting corpse rather than the risen Christ then our faith would be futile.

Futile means empty, useless. Your faith in Christ is useless if Christ did not rise from the dead. You think it will deliver something to you, but if Christ has not risen, it doesn’t. It can’t.

Christians build their lives around the conviction that if you have faith in Christ, God does something in your life and makes you a new person and will eventually welcome you into everlasting life.

Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. NKJV

But Paul is quite clear here in our text. If Christ has not risen, Ephesians 2:8-9 is a fallacy, an illusion. You’ve trusted a lie under these circumstances. You’ve staked everything on something that has no substance, and that’s sad. If Christ has not risen, you are playing a mind game. You talk about trusting Christ, but if Christ has not risen, there is no Christ to trust. You have placed your faith to save you in a box of bones.

Illustration: When drug companies develop a new product, they run tests with two groups of people. They give one group the new tablets, and they give the other group an identical-looking product that is a dummy, a placebo. They do this for a simple reason: the mind is powerful, and some people feel that because they’ve taken a tablet they are better, although the tablet has no substance that could change the body. It’s all in their minds.

Application: If Christ has not risen, Christians are like people who say they feel better after taking a placebo. They are confessing some change that has no substantial basis. Like the dummy drug, such faith would not do anything except within the individual minds of these people.

Christians think they are saved by grace through faith, but if Christ has not risen, faith does nothing outside their own imagination. A dead savior is no savior at all. A dead savior has no grace to offer that faith can lay hold of. If Christ has not risen, all that has happened is that church music has made them more cheerful. Christian friends have made them more hopeful. A brighter outlook on life has made them more thankful. If Christ has not risen, what they think God has done is nothing more than a figment of their imagination, and that’s sad.

If Christ has not risen, then that changes everything.

FAITH IS FUTILE. Paul gives a second reason why we are to be pitied if Christ has not risen.

II. If Christ has not been raised then your failures are fatal.

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

The apostle Paul gives a second reason that Christians are the most miserable people in the world if Christ has not risen. If Christ had not risen, we would be the most miserable people in the world, not only because our faith would be useless, but also because under these circumstances we would still be in our sins. You have trusted Jesus to save you from the penalty of your sins, but He is dead and unable to do what you ask.

Our culture is awash with new philosophies, and ideologies, and new religions. The most important question to ask of any religion is, “How will this teaching deal with my sin problem?”

We have all got a sin problem you know?

Romans 3:23 says, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NKJV)

Romans 6:23a says, 23 For the wages of sin is death… (NKJV)

So the question to ask of any religion is, “How will this teaching deal with my sin problem?”

Illustration: I recall hearing the late Dr. Adrian Roger, pastor of Bellvue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN tell this story from his life. I once met a lawyer on an airplane. We began to talk about what we like to read. I said, “I read newspapers, books, journals, devotional studies, but primarily the Bible.”

He said, “If you don’t read any further than that, how do you know what to talk about when you speak to people?”

I said, “Sir, man only has three problems: sin, sorrow, and death.”

He answered, “There are more than that.”

I replied, “No, only three.”

“Oh,” he said, “there are other problems.”

I said, “All right, tell me another.”

He thought for a long time, came back, and said, “Man only has three problems.”

That’s true. And the cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer to those three problems. You give me all of the wisdom of this world—but there is no other answer apart from the cross.

Application: This is important, because all you Christians are worried about your sins. It’s why you’ve come to Jesus Christ. For you, sin is an issue. But if Christ has not risen, you are still in your sins. You are still a guilty, condemned sinner facing the judgment of God. You have staked your eternal destiny on a man who, it turns out, died 2,000 years ago and can do no more for you than Julius Caesar or Abraham Lincoln. Your problem is even worse, because by your profession of faith in Jesus, you have actually added to your sins. If Christ has not risen, people like you have been praying to Almighty God in the name of a man who died 2,000 years ago. That’s blasphemy. You have put a man in the place of God. Frankly, it would be better if you lived an entirely secular life under these circumstances.

So if Christ has not risen, then that changes everything. Your Faith is futile and your Failures are fatal. But Paul gives us a third reason why we are in a sad state of affairs if Christ is not risen.

III. If Christ has not been raised then your funeral is final.

Thirdly, if Christ has not risen, Christians are the most miserable people in the world because they are holding onto false hope. Look at verse 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Many of you have stood at the grave of a loved one, and those who are Christians have drawn comfort from the conviction that the person they love is now in the presence of Jesus Christ.

We turn for comfort to Bible passages like…

Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Or 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” NKJV

Or…John 14:1-3 where Jesus said… 1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. NKJV

These, and many other passages of Scripture bring comfort to our grieving hearts.

But Paul is brutally honest and logical here in our text. He is saying if Christ has not risen, yours is a false hope. For if even Jesus of all people wasn’t raised, there is no hope whatsoever that anyone else is going to make it into everlasting life. If Christ has not risen, then our believing loved ones who have died are simply lost, and you folks are living in denial.

Some people think even false hope is better than no hope. The truth is, false hope is the saddest thing in the world.

Illustration: Seinfeld Episode About Making A Car Rental Reservation:

Jerry: I made a reservation for a mid-size...

Rental Car Agent: Okay, ler' see here. I'm sorry, we have no midsize available at the moment.

Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my reservation?

Rental Car Agent: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.

Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.

Rental Car Agent: I think I know why we have reservations.

Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.

Don’t ever say hope is a good thing even if it’s not real.

The apostle Paul is saying if Christ has not risen, you are the most miserable people in the world, because you’ve staked your whole lives on a hope that will ultimately prove to be false. There cannot be any worse way to live than that.

19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Your FAITH is futile. Your FAILURES are fatal. Your FUNERAL is final.

The apostle Paul, having painstakingly made his point clear that everything stands or falls on whether or not Christ was raised, declares in 1 Corinthians 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

He does not paint this second scenario as a possibility. He declares it as a fact, based on the eyewitness testimony of over 500 people, including himself. And I’m going to do the same thing this morning. In the Bible God speaks to us. He confronts us with a message. My task as a preacher is to say to all who will hear: the Word of God to you is Jesus Christ has risen! AND THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING!

But Christ is Risen He is Risen Indeed! It is high time we start living like it!

Your faith is not futile. Your failures are not fatal. Your funeral is not final!

What does this declaration actually mean? It means your faith has substance. You’re not believing in a dead savior. You’ve placed your trust in One who lives. When you pray, he hears you. When you worship, it brings joy to his heart. You have placed your trust in the living Lord Jesus Christ, and those who trust in him will never be put to shame. It means your sins are forgiven. Jesus Christ not only died for our sins, but he was raised again for our justification. That means God accepted his sacrifice, and what he did is big enough, great enough, and good enough to cover all your sins and the sins of everyone who will confess and put their trust in Jesus.

Bottom Line: The Risen Lord is your reason for hope.

There is hope for your past, present and future!

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