What If the Resurrection Never Happened?

What If the Resurrection Never Happened?

Easter has come and gone. So why post a blog about Easter?

The simple reason is because the resurrection is not a holiday to celebrate once a year; the resurrection matters every day of the year. I know this because of what would be true about us if the resurrection never happened.

If Christ were not raised, three devastating realities would be true about us:

  1. We would be liars.
    If Christ were not raised, “we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead” (1 Cor 15:15).
    Every time you open your mouth to share your faith, you would be lying. And not only that—you would be living a lie. You would be living as if the resurrection has changed your life. But without the resurrection of Christ, you would not be changed one bit.
  1. We would be lost.
    If Christ were not raised, “we are still in our sins” (1 Cor 15:17). Furthermore, for those who have professed the Christian faith but have already died, they are forever lost (1 Cor 15:18).
    What this means is that if the resurrection never happened, you wouldn’t be able to say no to temptation. And if the resurrection never happened, though you may be able to change a bad habit or addiction, you would still be a slave to sin. If you mastered one sin, you would engage in another. There would truly be no deep-rooted heart change without the resurrection.
  1. We would be losers.
    If we are liars and if we are lost then this means that we are losers, with a capital “L.” Or to put it in the words of the apostle Paul, “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:19).
    If the resurrection never happened, the bottom line is that our lives would be pointless and hopeless. We might as well “eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor 15:32).

Asking, “what if the resurrection never happened” shows us what we would be like. But we don’t have to speculate about “what if.” “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (1 Cor 15:20). So, we are not liars, lost, and losers.

Rejoice—every day of the year! HE IS RISEN!

Pastor Dan

For an Easter message that deals in greater depth with these realities, see the sermon here: The Necessity of the Resurrection