1 Corinthians 15:16-17, 20a (ESV); For 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… But in fact Christ
has been raised from the dead…”
The promise of redemption and the truthfulness of the prophets and the death of Jesus would all be
meaningless if He had not risen from the grave. The resurrection proved the power God held over
sin and over death. His righteousness paid for our unrighteousness. His power to obey paid for our
weaknesses and failures.
Paul makes an obvious and crucial statement here in 1 Corinthians. If Jesus was not raised from the
dead then our faith is in vain. We have no forgiveness of sins and no hope of eternal life. But because
Jesus did rise from the dead and make it evident to so many witnesses, we know with certainty that
God’s word is completely true. The words of the prophet Isaiah when he said that God’s word never
returns empty or unaccomplished is shown true in the death and resurrection of Christ. (See Is. 55)
Redemption would be nothing if it had no bearing in a future hope beyond the grave. And that is what
the resurrection proves – eternity with God. Eternal life is not an old wives tale or a crutch to cling to in
hopeless times; it is a well-founded, prophesied, Biblical and historical truth that we can stand upon.
This should be the truth that we live every moment of every day out of. We have been redeemed –
bought out of slavery by a living God. Through Him we have a living hope (see 1 Peter 1) – a hope of
eternity that is alive in us affecting everything we do and say during our time on earth.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask God how He wants you to respond to what you have read in this devotional.
2. Do you ever experience forms of doubt in your relationship with God? Think upon today’s
message as well as the entire theme of redemption that we’ve looked at this month and ask God
to speak to your doubts through these things.
3. Thank God for the eternity you have to look forward to.
