But in Fact Christ Has Been Raised From the Dead!

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday! The most important day in all history! Just look at I Corinthians 15:1-28, 51-58 - "Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand.  I passed on to you as most important what I also received: Christ died for our sins in line with the scriptures, he was buried, and he rose on the third day in line with the scriptures. He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, and then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at once. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me.
I am what I am by God’s grace, and God’s grace hasn’t been for nothing. So then, whether you heard the message from me or them, this is what we preach and this is what you have believed. So if the message that is preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, 'There’s no resurrection of the dead'? If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. We are found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised. If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins, and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever. If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died. Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ. Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest, then those who belong to Christ at his coming, and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end. It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet. Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end, since he has brought everything under control under his feet. But when all things have been brought under his control, then the Son himself will also be under the control of the one who gave him control over everything so that God may be all in all.

Listen, I’m telling you a secret: all of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. Death has been swallowed up by a victory. Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death? (Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.) Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord."


Enjoy this song from Casting Crowns as you take time to think about what Jesus did for us on the cross and in rising from the day! It was a glorious day! "Living He loved me, dying He saved me. And buried He carried my sins far away. Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, oh, glorious day!"