sage, the Gospel in his life. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central and most powerful message of our faith. Perhaps more than any other event it confirms God's power and love for mankind. Never be tempted to bow before the feeble gods of man's vain im agination when the resurrected Lord ever calls us to walk with Him. If Christ were still in the grave, Christianity would be nothing more than any other religion. Un less there is victory over the grave, with power to live and witness for the Saviour, what value is there in being a believer? This is the con clusion at which the apostle Paul arrived. Without the hope of eter nal life what value are the church services, Christian music, radio and television programs, books and magazines, and all the other as pects of our faith? Paul demonstrates the necessity of the resurrection by revealing the consequences of what would hap pen if the Lord had not risen. At Corinth no one was questioning Christ's existence or His crucifixion. The problem some of them expe rienced was with the actuality of the resurrection of believers. This important and assuring truth is taught throughout the 15th chap ter of his first epistle to this church. In verses 12 and 13, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he argues that if one does not believe in the possibility of man being raised from the dead then he may as well forget about a risen Lord. What a powerful conclusion, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most mis erable" (vs. 19). We accept Christ as Saviour because we are tired of
being miserable, living separated from God, and fearing the grave. If Christ were still in the tomb we would be right back in the middle of all of our misery and misfor tune. What Paul calls the "blessed hope" and Peter the "lively hope" of eternal life would be gone. With the writer of Ecclesiastes we could wish that we had never been born. Christ's resurrection is absolutely essential to the Gospel message. Certainly the value of preaching is worthless without this message of hope (vs. 14). The word "vain" is used here which really means "empty." In the Greek this word further speaks of dashed hopes. In Jude there is the phrase "clouds without water" (vs. 12). What a graphic description of this idea. A minister's first responsibility is to preach the Word. It is sad to hear of those who dabble in politics, ecology, psychology, and other areas evidentally of greater con cern to them than the major themes of Scripture. Such ministers are "clouds without water." Just think of all of the messages Paul gave, the epistles penned by him and the other apostles. What tremendous insights into the life of our Lord as well as to our own needs. All of these would be ab solutely empty were it not for the resurrection of Christ. The second argument Paul uses is to point out that our faith would also be empty (vs. 14). The most tragic part of it would be, "Ye are yet in your sins" (vs. 17). Still sep arated from God ours would be the responsibility in the judgment for every thought, word or deed displeasing to God. In fact, if the resurrection were not fact we
Page 44
Made with FlippingBook Online document