It's All About Easter

"For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." (1 Corinthians 15:16-19)

All over the world today, people crowded into churches to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That's what happens every year. What surprises me is that some of those people don't really believe the resurrection happened. They are pretty sure Jesus died and stayed dead. Still, they call themselves Christians for some reason.

As Paul says so bluntly -- so powerfully -- if Jesus didn't rise from the dead on the third day, none of us will ever rise from the dead, either. If His resurrection is just a metaphor, a way of looking at the world, a hope for something better, then the whole thing is completely worthless. We're all pathetic fools wasting our lives on some meaningless book, following a "Savior" who failed and died and should have been forgotten.

Why would anyone squander a life following a God who cannot raise His own Son from the dead -- a God who cannot offer eternal life? Be convinced in the power of Jesus' blood to wash away all your sins -- and be convinced in the power of God to raise Him from the dead. Or don't -- and move on. Why would anyone follow a dead Savior?

Think: Why wouldn't it be worth anything to hope in Christ only for this life?

Pray: Thank God for His power to raise Jesus from the dead -- the same power at work in your life right this second.

Do: Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-58 for a glimpse of what your own resurrection will be like.