Imagine a world where there is no forgiveness from God! This is the kind of world our world would be if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is not resurrection of the dead, then Jesus did not raise, and we are still without forgiveness from God.
Scripture makes this point in 1 Corinthians 15:12-17.
To deny the resurrection of the dead is to deny the resurrection of the one who makes any and all resurrections possible…Jesus Christ. Notice the horror to sinners if Christ was not raised from the dead. If Christ is not raised we are in our sins still. But why? Three reasons…
Reason one.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because Christ is still in your sins. Remember on the cross he became sin for us who knew no sin. There on the cross Jesus was in your sins as Robert Chandlish said. “They were on him, about him, before him; they were his. He owned them and felt them to be his.” Remember Psalm 40:12, “For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.” He himself bore our sins on the tree. He made his soul an offering for our sin.
Also, he was in your sins when he was buried. But did Jesus not say “It is finished…the sacrifice for sin is finished!” Yes, but there was that Saturday when Jesus’ body was still suffering the result of sin…death…separation of soul and body. Oh his soul went immediately into paradise into the Father’s presence for at death he said, “Into your hand’s I commend my Spirit.” The bitter cup was over. Yet, there was his body. It was cared for, perfumed, and it was no longer shamed; it even went into a new tomb. But still the separation was there. In a very true sense the body of Jesus in the tomb was still bearing the doom of our sin. Yet it was God’s will to redeem body and soul…but if he is not raised!?
This is my point here. Faith unites us to Christ Jesus. By faith we are one with him so that whatever his condition is, that is our condition too. Well, if Christ did not rise from the dead but is still in our sins, so we too are still in our sins. If we believe in a dead Christ we are not forgiven!
Reason two.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because death’s power has not been broken. If Jesus has been raised, death’s power and fear over us has been broken. (1 Cor 15:26). This death has always come because of sin. Well, if this death has been destroyed, that means sin has been defeated too! If Christ did rise from the dead, God’s will to destroy sin by his Son has been accomplished! However, if he wasn’t raised from the dead, he wasn’t God’s Son, he wasn’t God, and death’s power and sin is not defeated.
Reason three.
If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins because then we are not justified. Read Romans 4:23-25. Jesus was raised so that we may be put right with God. The Lord’s resurrection, after his death on the cross, completed our redemption and vindicated Christ’s work of satisfying the wrath of God for our sin. The resurrection guaranteed that the benefits of the cross would be available. J. Murray: “If Jesus had not risen to life again, it could only have been because his sacrifice was not accepted, the price he paid was not sufficient, and we, therefore, remained in our sins!” When Jesus died for our sins, a full and sufficient payment was made for our forgiveness and justification. It was a perfect work!
Well, to leave Jesus in the grave would have been unjust, since he had so fully paid for our sin. So God raised him from the dead to vindicate the perfection of Christ and his atonement, and then in his grace God gave us Christ’s righteousness. But if Christ was not raised from the dead, it’s because it was not good enough and we are still in our sins.
Pretty horrible, hu? If there is no physical bodily resurrection there is no Christianity. But I don’t leave you on this note. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”
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