“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised” (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).
What difference does Easter make?
It’s a well known fact that from the beginning there were those who doubted. On Easter Sunday when the chief priests heard that the tomb was empty, they called the men who had been guarding the tomb and offered them money to say that the disciples of Jesus had stolen his body during the night (Matthew 28:11-15). We can call it the original Easter conspiracy. It was the first but not the last. “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15:19). For Paul this is the ultimate argument because he means that if Christ is not raised, we are just fooling ourselves.
And so, we come to the end of Paul’s “ifs.” If Christ has not been raised … Here is Paul’s answer, clear as a bell, bright as the sun, truth with no mixture of doubt: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 NKJV). Consider how much hangs on those two little words – “But now.” The resurrection of Jesus, our coming resurrection, and the resurrection of all those who those died in faith, all of it depends on those two little words.
This is our hope, our faith, our confidence, this is the faith of our ancestors who believed then what we believe now. This is what the earliest Christians believed, and this is what Christians around the world believe.
Two thousand and eleven years ago Jesus came back from the dead never to die again. He was taken up to heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. One day soon he will return to the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in that great day, the dead in Christ will rise first. Let the doubters doubt if they will.
We gladly join with Christians everywhere in declaring that Jesus Christ is alive forevermore.
We join hands with the saints who have gone before in proclaiming our faith in the risen Lord.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.
Rev. Edmund Lowe, Sr. is Pastor of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church
