What If It Isn’t True?

My wife was in Costco a couple of years ago around Easter time. If we would limit our visits to Costco to every could of years, I think our bank account would be a lot better off! That aside, Deb found herself talking to a lady as she waited in the checkout line. The subject of Easter came up and to Deb’s total surprise, the woman asked, “So when is Easter anyway this year?” She went on to explain that now that her children were grown, she didn’t have a reason to pay attention to Easter. When my wife told me about this, I got to thinking. If I didn’t know what really happened on Easter or the better name is Resurrection Weekend, I would probably have the same attitude. You know, “What’s the big deal?” Those foul-tasting marsh-mellow bunnies, and all that waxy chocolate candy—it was good stuff when I was a kid. But what’s the big deal? You see if Easter is just about chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts, it really isn’t a big deal, but Easter is much more than that. But what if this is just a myth--what if it isn’t true? What if the story that was spread around in the New Testament times that the disciples stole the body is the real truth? What would happen to us if the resurrection of Jesus was a farce?

The apostle Paul answers this very question in I Corinthians 15:17-19 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died believing in Christ are eternally lost. If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” You see according to these verses, the resurrection of Jesus is a big deal. In fact if it is not true...

1. There is no room to be forgiven. “still in your sins”

I haven’t met too many people who will not admit that they have sinned or made mistakes or miscalculated or had a lapse of judgement.

God would not be the just and holy God that he is if he just overlooked those things that we like to call “being human” or just let them slide, for He is just as passionate about justice as He is about loving us. God calls those mistakes what they really are. Romans 3:23 “all have sinned” and in Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death.” The greatest blessing about the Christian faith--the reason why it is not futile, is that at the cross, our Savior paid the debt of our sin—we don’t owe a thing—debt we owed to God’s justice is paid in full. As a result those who trust Jesus have been forgiven--the wrath of God that we justly deserve to receive was fully satisfied for those who believe when God poured it out on his only Son Jesus. If the resurrection is a lie, we are not forgiven! His death was no different than many religious leaders who made claims and then died. His resurrection proves that his death actually paid the price. The resurrection is a big deal! In fact if Christ is not alive today...

• There is no room for us in heaven. “those who have died trusting in Christ are lost”

One of the most comforting joys I have as a preacher of the gospel is to be able to tell people who are grieving over the loss of a loved one, who was a believer in Jesus, that the one who they’ve lost is not lost. Heaven is the final home for the believer and death is just a temporary goodbye. If Christ is not alive today, I’m playing a cruel joke! There’s no future. Death is the end our life is gone—lost!

Without Christ’s resurrection there is a big sign over heaven, and it reads “NO VACANCY!” The resurrection is a big deal, if Christ is not alive today, we can’t be forgiven, we don’t have a home in heaven and...

• There is no room for joyful living. “if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied.”

I like the way the King James Version translates this, “we are of all men most miserable” The idea of the text is that we are in such a miserable condition we need more mercy or pity than everyone else.

What’s the big deal? The big deal is what Paul says in verse 20 “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!” Here we have the Bible’s own claim for it to be true. On top of that, eleven of disciples who supposedly stole Jesus body testified that they saw him alive and all except John were killed for making that claim. Then over 500 people at one time saw him alive, many of whom also died for claiming it. Not too many people are willing to die for something they know is a lie. The evidence is overwhelming!

And because He is alive today, I can encourage you beyond a shadow of a doubt if you believe in Jesus you are set from the penalty our sin has earned. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood—the forgiveness of sins!” We can have a place in heaven. In John 14:1-6, Jesus promises that he is preparing a place in His father’s house for us! Because of the resurrection, you can have a life worth living. In John 10:10, Jesus said that He came so that we could have life to full!

Dr. David Ley is the President of Alaska Bible College.