Christ has Risen Indeed

Doubting the resurrection

Doubting the physical bodily resurrection of Christ isn’t something new. The disciples at first thought the women were crazy when they first announced to them a risen Christ. Thomas didn’t believe until he physically saw Jesus and touched his nail pierced hands and the whole in his side. Today there are even some in churches that think the resurrection of Christ wasn’t physical but just a nice way to say the work of Christ goes on through his disciples. Today Paul confronts this doubt and what it means for the church at Corinth and us if we believe this utter nonsense.

Lee Strobel-An atheist reporter with the Chicago tribune once set out to disprove the physical resurrection of Christ, when he learned his wife had become a Christian. What wound up happening instead was he found too much evidence supporting the physical bodily resurrection of Christ, that he joined his wife and became a Christian. That reporter we know as Lee Strobel.

Brothers and sisters I pass on to you what was also passed on to me. Christ died for our sins just as the scriptures say, he was buried and rose to life on the third day just as the scriptures say. If Christ was not raised then we are still dead in our sin and our faith is meaningless. Thanks be to God that Christ is risen Indeed!

Aleluia! Christ is Risen!

How do we live in the light of the truth of the resurrection. How does our life individually and as church reflect the transforming power of the resurrection?

Dealing with the Doubt

Ephesians 2:1-7, Romans 6:1-4

The church at Corinth had begun doubting the future physical resurrection of the body, saying there is no resurrection of the dead.

Paul takes the next several verses explaining the ramifications of believing this. The biggest of the arguments coming in verse 17.

If Christ has not been raised sins curse has not been defeated, therefore we are still guilty of our sins. If there wasn’t a physical resurrection of Christ, then Jesus would have just been another failed messiah. (Acts 5:29-38) Jesus would cease to be God in human flesh and just another wise guru with good lessons worth living.

But in fact Alleluia Christ is Risen! The proof is in the empty tomb. The proof is in the fact that the world has not been the same since God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The proof is in the new life you found in Christ’s resurrection.

Because Christ died for our sins, he bore the punishment for our sins. Because Christ rose he forever broke sins curse and defeated sin and death. Because of this we can too can rise to new life in Christ through the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

In Paul’s argument Christ physical bodily resurrection and the future hope of our own resurrection are inseperable truths. One cannot exist without the other. As we wait the future glory of the resurrection that is to come, how do we live in the transforming resurrection of Christ now.

Transforming Power of the Resurrection.

The resurrection of Christ transformed history whether people believe in it or not. The world has not been the same since the women found an empty tomb , and the transforming power of the resurrection continues to this day.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

What does the continuing transforming power of the resurrection look like? When someone embraces faith in Jesus Christ for the first time the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. When a church opens its doors to allow a school to operate in their building, the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. When a church helps a local food pantry the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. When a church offers a community meal for the hungry of the community the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. When we care for the Georges and Nancies with in us the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. When a church gives space for a weekly AA meeting, the transforming power of the resurrection is at work. While it is important that we loudly proclaim the gospel with our words, it is also important that what we do individually and as a church bears witness to the transforming resurrection power at work in and through us.

Brothers and Sisters because of Christ resurrection, resurrection power is here transforming lives, churches and communities. What can we do individually and as a church to work with the transforming power of the resurrection as we eagerly await the future glory of the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:51–58 NLT

51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. 54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.