1Corinthians 15:14, 17 & 20
If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. But now Christ is risen from the dead.
What of Today’s Verse…
The early church persistently proclaimed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was not an option for them; neither is it an option for us. The grace of God that is available in the gospel for both justification and sanctification requires a risen Lord. The resurrection is essential to the gospel, which is the new covenant of grace.
The Spirit of God emphasized this strongly, as He inspired Paul to write: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain.” If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, our preaching would be empty. If Christ were still in a tomb, His salvation mission ended in failure, not victory. Jesus is the object of our faith. If He is not alive, our trusting in Him would be fruitless. Jesus frequently taught of His death and resurrection. “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Luk_9:22).
Furthermore, Paul wrote: “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” The gospel of forgiveness of sins includes the resurrection. “I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1Co_15:1, 1Co_15:3-4). Faith is only as effective as its object. If our Lord is not resurrected, it is useless to place our confidence in Him. If we are trusting in a dead Saviour to forgive us and set us free, we are still guilty and bound.
However, our Lord is not in an ancient tomb. “But now Christ is risen from the dead.” He rose victorious over sin and death, bringing everlasting righteousness to all who believe. “[faith] was accounted to [Abraham] for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us [i.e., credited to our account] who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Rom_4:22-25). Thus, all of the grace blessings of the resurrection are ours by faith. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace” (Rom_4:16).
Let us Pray:
Dear Father, I rejoice in the resurrection victory of Jesus, my Lord! I praise You, Jesus, as my risen, living Saviour. What a mighty salvation You have secured through Your victory over sin and death. Glory be to Your name for providing it all by grace through faith. Teach me to trust in You more and more, in Your holy name, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
Despise Not Thy Youth
Jeremiah was young and felt a natural shrinking when sent upon a great errand by the Lord; but He who sent him would not have him say, “I am a child.” What he was in himself must not be mentioned but lost in the consideration that he was chosen to speak for God. He had not to think out and invent a message nor to choose an audience: he was to speak what God commanded and speak where God sent him, and this he would be enabled to do in strength not his own.
Is it not so with some young preacher or teacher who may read these lines? God knows how young you are and how slender are your knowledge and experience; but if He chooses to send you, it is not for you to shrink from the heavenly call. God will magnify Himself in our feebleness. If you were as old as Methuselah, how much would your years help you? If you were as wise as Solomon, you might be equally as wilful as he. Keep you to your message, and it will be your wisdom; follow your marching orders, and they will be your discretion.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot speak; for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, l am a child: for thou shall go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shall speak. Jeremiah 1:6-7
