If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God – for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 1 Corinthians 15:14-22 NLT
Paul affirmed that nothing was more significant than the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, he put all his eggs in one basket, as far as faith is concerned. If it were not true, the consequences would be tragic. Our faith would be useless, and we would still carry the weight of our sins and separation from God. We would have no hope, because Jesus’ resurrection is our source of hope, both for this life and for life to come. We would be misrepresenting God, giving false information that could help no one. Paul says we would be the most pitiful of all people if Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead. He taught the resurrection of Jesus as the centerpiece of our faith, the foundation of everything else. He was a firsthand witness! He met Jesus face to face. He declared with great confidence and joy, “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead!” Our faith is NOT useless.
The resurrection is not just part of the story of Jesus – it is what makes everything else matter! Because Jesus rose again to live forever, every person’s story has the opportunity for a new and wonderful ending. The beautiful end of all history is GOD WINS! Sin is defeated. Those who place their faith in Jesus win with Him. Jesus will one day renew the entire world to make it the way God intended it to be. He will undo all that is wrong. Sin and death will not have the final word. We are not and will not be losers. Jesus gave up everything for us and then forever won! Because of that, we will too! In The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the majestic lion figure representing Jesus, is anticipated with confidence.
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
- Everything is different because Jesus not only died for us, He rose again for us! Thank Him with great joy! Your today, tomorrow, and forever is already won.