"But if" - No Hope

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

A “But If” is found in verse 13a, if it were true, it is a game changer, stop reading your Bible, stop going to church, do as you desire for you have a misplaced faith.  This is what is recorded in verse 13a, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.”  We need to park here for a moment and give thought to (no resurrection of the dead.) 

We need to ponder on verses 13b-19, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

A faith without value and preaching that has no importance if Christ has not risen, if He is not sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven, then He cannot be your High Priest and He is not making intercession for you with the Father. 

There is uncertainty about what caused some to believe that the body would not be raised, but it must have been taught in the churches at Corinth, it may have come from the Greeks who viewed bodily death as the final step.  The take away is this, when we allow the enlightened to teach those who ignore Scripture and add their amazing foolishness as truth, we have jumped the rail, and we are heading for destruction.

The apostle Paul’s response is excellent; He and everyone who was teaching about our resurrected Christ misrepresenting God if what they were teaching were not true.  Your faith and their preaching are of no value if Christ has not risen.  For if the dead have not been raised nor has Christ been raised from the dead, then all who hope in this have misguided faith.  Our sin has not been forgiven and we are of all people to be pitied.

We who have entered into Christ have by grace and faith entered into His resurrection, and Christ has become our life.  We not only have the account of a group of men who hung out with him for 3 ½ years believing Him to be the Messiah only to see Him die on a cross, and lose all hope to the same men encountering Him after His death, eating with Him, touching Him, and watching with over 500 disciples as He returned to the Father.  The same men ran when confronted in the dark, but after seeing the risen Christ were bold and willing to die to share the good news of the gospel with all.  So what is the message to us who follow Christ?  We are to keep our eyes on Jesus, put no faith in any man, and examine your teachers by the Scripture.  For He has risen indeed, and He is coming again, it may be today, it may be soon, I do not know but this I know He is coming back!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice