The Power of the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV
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.
The Gospel is meaningless if Christ was not raised. Jesus Christ might have lived a perfect life, He might have died in sacrifice for everyone, but if he has not raised again, everything that he has done and accomplished while He was alive would have been meaningless.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, then there is no sense in believing a God who exists and loves us. If Christ did not fulfill the prophecies, the martyrs would have been deemed insane, especially them dying the most horrific deaths with no glorious and heavenly purpose. If Christ did not defeat sin, then living for Him and striving to be like Him would be in vain. Why would I want to be like someone who died a terrible and gut-wrenching death and not have the last say of sin and death?
The beauty and the uniqueness of Christianity is not just the gift of the cross. The cross is a powerful and vital part in the story of salvation. The most righteous Man died for the worst sinners in the most horrendous way. But we must not forget, the resurrection is what glues the saving story of the Gospel altogether. If Jesus did not defeat death, if He did not achieve the impossible, then everything the Christians would be doing, is meaningless and worthless. If the resurrection is not true, then it is right for the world to laugh at us in some fairytale, to mock us in believing a person who died as a criminal.
Thank God, he defied death.
Thank God, he defeated sin.
Because if the cross demonstrates the love of God, through the death of Christ,
Then the empty tomb demands the power of God to be shown, through the resurrection of Christ.
And because of that, we can rest assured that our faith is not in vain.
