Paul had previously presented to the believers in Corinth irrefutable eye-witness testimony of our Lord’s bodily resurrection from the dead. This he had done after testifying that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection were scripturally foretold (I Corinthians 15:1-8). Nonetheless, there were those in Corinth that did not believe in any resurrection of the body and Paul used the resurrection of Christ to challenge their wrong thinking. “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some of you that there is no resurrection of the dead” (I Corinthians 15:12)?
Paul pointed out that to deny the resurrection has dangerous implications for “if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen…for if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised” (I Corinthians 15:13,16). Paul went on to declare the most troubling conclusion, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (I Corinthians 15:17). Let the unthinkable reality of that assertion linger in your mind – ye are yet in your sins!
The gospel, or good news, is that Jesus Christ died in our place for our sins on the cross, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day. The fact that he rose again speaks to the Father’s satisfaction with his sacrifice. God the Father looked at the offering of God the Son’s blood upon the cross, and was propitiated. Propitiated means that God’s holy wrath against our sin and the penalty that our sin demanded was completely satisfied. The sinless Son of God had no sins to pay for that were his own. Consequently, his death on our behalf was accepted by God the Father and he was raised from the dead for our justification (Romans 4:25).
The author of Hebrews points out that Jesus “after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God…[and] there is no more offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:12,18). If Christ is not raised, there remains no opportunity for forgiveness. Our faith is vain and we are yet in our sins; a totally hopeless condition. But praise God it does not end there! Paul writes, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (I Corinthians 15:20).
Christ is alive and the wrath of God that rested on him need not rest on us! Yet in the midst of this good news lies a solemn warning. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
From the Chaplain 