The Importance Of The Resurrection Of Christ

The resurrection of Christ is of the utmost importance because if Christ was not raised from the dead then there is no Christianity (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).  Anyone who denies the bodily resurrection of Jesus is not a Christian.  

The Resurrection Proves                        -Christianity is true (1 Corinthians 15:1-28)  -Christ's sacrifice for the sins of his people was accepted by God the Father. (1 Corinthians 15:17, Romans 4:25).                     -Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 1:4).         -Assures believers of their own future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).         -Through the resurrection believers have newness of life (Romans 6:4).                  -Jesus was victorious over sin, death, and the devil (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

The resurrection of Christ was an actual historical event that was witnessed by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:5-11).  We should believe that the resurrection actually happened because God has revealed it to us in Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-11).  The Bible is totally reliable because it is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).   

(Romans 10:9)"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  (ESV)

Was The Resurrection Of Christ Bodily Or Just Spiritual?

So what was the nature of the resurrection of Christ?  When the New Testament was written the idea of a bodily resurrection was absurd to the surrounding Greek culture.  The Greeks spoke of the immortality of the soul and viewed matter as evil.  They thought that salvation was found by the soul escaping from the body.  In our time the idea that Christ's resurrection was just as a spirit has been held by groups from the Jehovah's Witnesses to the liberals.   

(Luke 24:39) "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me, and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."  (ESV)  

Jesus had appeared to his disciples and they thought they had seen a spirit.  Jesus showed that his body was physical, "flesh and bones" and not a spirit.  In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul stressed that the resurrection of Jesus was not just his spirit going to heaven but that his body was raised from the dead.  

Paul also pointed out that over 500 people witnessed his bodily resurrection.  Also in 1 Corinthians 15:12-13 the phrase "resurrection of the dead" literally means "the standing up of dead ones."  The Apostle Paul proclaimed that if Christ is not raised bodily from the dead then your faith is futile, you have no hope, and there is no Christianity.  

The Bible plainly teaches that the resurrection of Christ was bodily and not just spiritual.  Jesus was victorious over sin, death, and the devil, accomplishing salvation for his people. 

 

Focusing On The Resurrection Of Christ On Easter

Focusing on Jesus on Easter may seem strange to some people.  But he should be our focus instead of bunnies, egg hunts, and candy.  Jesus is even far more important than kids and family time.  We would all do well to get more serious and focus on what really matters.  

(Matthew 28:6a) "He is not here, for he has risen, as he said." (ESV) 

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures," (ESV) 

We are all born sinners.  We inherited our sinful or fallen nature from Adam when he rebelled against God.  God is holy, righteous, and just, so we incur his wrath because of our sin.  None of us are righteous, not even one.  We all deserve to go to hell.  But God by his love and grace sent his Son, Jesus to save his people from their sins.  Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of all believers.  Christ takes our sin on himself and his perfect righteousness is credited to us.  

Jesus was raised from the dead victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  The resurrection proves that Jesus is God and that his atoning sacrifice was accepted by God the Father.  All who repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation will spend eternity in heaven.  

Celebrating Easter

Easter is usually celebrated with the Easter Bunny, chocolate candy, children hunting eggs and receiving gifts.  It is considered a Christian holy day but these things have nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Christ.  

Maybe we should take a step back and ask ourselves what in the world we are doing?  Could it be that our focus is all wrong?  Could we actually be trivializing a holy day? Could our celebrations be downright confusing to a watching world?  Are our celebrations focusing on Christ or is the focus actually elsewhere?  Do we honor Christ the Lord as holy or do our celebrations make him seem less important than he really is?  

Our focus should be on Jesus who is the Christ (Messiah), the only unique Son of God. We have all sinned against a holy God making us his enemy and putting us under his wrath. We all deserve to go to hell, not heaven.  But Christ came to save his people from their sins.  He became man (he was fully man and fully God) and lived a perfect life enabling him to be our perfect substitute.  His perfect righteousness is credited to all believers.  

Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of all believers.   He turned away God's wrath from us which we deserved because of our sin.  He was resurrected from the dead victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  His resurrection proved that his sacrifice was accepted by God the Father.  The resurrection is also proof that Jesus is the Son of God.  

Jesus is the only Savior, the only way to heaven.  One must respond to him with faith and repentance.  You must trust in Christ alone for salvation.     

The Cross And The Resurrection

In modern Christianity we hear many different things proclaimed to us.  Much of what we hear is self help, positive thinking, how to have a happy life, and general feel good messages.  Unfortunately we often do no get actual Christianity.  We are given a man centered message instead of a God centered message.  We are told to reach up to God when in reality it is God who reaches down to us.  

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,"  (ESV)




True, Biblical Christianity focuses on the cross and resurrection of Christ, it is the very heart of the matter.  Adam sinned (Genesis 3) and we all inherited a fallen, sinful nature from him.  We are all born sinners in rebellion against God.  Sin brings about death, both physical and spiritual.  Sin makes us enemies of God and we incur his wrath because of it.  God is holy, he cannot tolerate sin, he hates it.  

But God loved us and sent his Son to save his people from their sins.  Jesus lived a perfect life without sin and died on the cross to pay for the sins of his people.  He took God's wrath on himself in our place.  Believers have the righteousness of Christ credited to them.  Salvation is totally by the grace of God, we can do nothing to earn it.  We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.  

Jesus was raised from the dead victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  He was vindicated when God the Father accepted his sacrifice for our sins.  The resurrection also proves that Jesus is God.  If there was no resurrection there would be no Christianity.  That is why people are skeptical and attack the doctrine so intensely.  

Jesus appeared to over 500 people after he was raised from the dead.  It is not likely that all these people would have the same dream or be delusional.   All the early opponents of Christianity had to do was produce the body of Jesus.  If the body could have been produced, Christianity would have been shown to be a hoax.  But they could not produce the body because it was not there.  Many of the early Christians died for their belief in the resurrection of Christ.  People do not usually die for something they know is not true.  Most of all we can believe the resurrection of Christ because the Bible tells us it occurred.  The Bible is reliable, inerrant, and infallible.  The most plausible explanation is that Jesus really did rise from the dead.  Since the resurrection is true, Christianity is true.   

Jesus Lives

You ask me how I know he lives, he lives inside my heart, the popular hymn tells us.  Although "He Lives" is well intentioned it actually gives us weak theology and a weak answer to the question of how we know Jesus lives.  

It presents Christianity as something that is just internal and feelings based, like a leap of faith.  In this regard it is much like the view of skeptics and atheists.  Christian belief is seen as not being reasonable or historically verifiable.  One is to believe in spite of evidence to the contrary.  A false dichotomy is set up between faith and reason.  

In reality Christianity is reasonable and historically verifiable.  It deals with external reality as well as internal reality. The Christian worldview is intellectually robust and satisfying.  

People learn theology from hymns and spiritual songs so they are important.  Weak theology produces weak Christians, a weak church, and a weak Christianity in the public square.  

So how do we know Jesus was raised from the dead?  We will look at how the Apostle Paul dealt with the question in (1 Corinthians 15).  

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (ESV)

Paul starts with the testimony of Scripture as a reason for believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ.  At this time the Scriptures were the Old Testament.  Christ's death and resurrection fulfilled prophecy from the Bible.  Paul may have had in mind (Isaiah 53, Hosea 6:2, Psalm 16:10).  

Then in (1 Corinthians 15:5-9) Paul recounts  resurrection appearances of Christ.  The appearances were to Cephas (Peter), the 12 Apostles, more than 500 brothers (most still living), James, all the apostles, and last of all to Paul.  

If anyone doubted the resurrection of Christ he could ask over 500 witnesses who had seen the risen Lord.  The resurrection is a historically verifiable fact.  There were witnesses to the actual historical event.  

Ultimately we know the resurrection is true because the Bible tells us it is true.  God has revealed it to us in his Word.  The Bible is self authenticating.  The Bible is the inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word of God.  The Biblical worldview is consistent, non contradictory, livable, and it gives us reality.  No other worldview can measure up to this standard.  

So why is the resurrection of Christ so important?  If there is no resurrection there is no Christianity (1 Corinthians 15:17).  The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God and that his substitutionary sacrifice was accepted by God the Father as payment for sin. 

The Resurrection Of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 15)

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (ESV)


In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul presents the historical reliability of the resurrection of Jesus.  We should believe the resurrection occurred because it is a historical fact, not just because he lives inside my heart.  After verses (3&4), Paul lists several appearances of Jesus to various people.  Jesus appeared to Cephas (that is Peter) and the Twelve (v.5), to more than 500 at one time (most still alive) (v.6), to James (brother of the Lord and leader of the Jerusalem church) and then all the apostles (v.7), and to Paul himself (v.8). 

But some people say the resurrection did not happen.  All the opponents of Jesus and the early church had to do to disprove the resurrection was to produce the body.  But they never did because they could not.  Some say the disciples were just hallucinating, but it is very unlikely that over 500 people at different times and places would have the same hallucination.  Others says the disciples just made it up, but people usually do not die for something they know to be a lie.  The logical conclusion is that the resurrection of Christ is a historical fact.

Christianity hinges on the resurrection of Christ.  If there is no resurrection there is no Christianity.  Paul states that if there
is no resurrection our faith is futile and we are still in our sins (v.7).  The resurrection is proof that our sins are paid for and that Christ's sacrifice was accepted by God the Father.  It is also proof that Jesus is God. 

Through Jesus' death on the cross, the sins of his people are paid for.  With his resurrection he is victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  Those who repent and place their faith in Jesus have eternal life in heaven.  Those who reject him face the wrath of God in hell for eternity.