The One Thing

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you selected ten of the greatest chapters of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15 would definitely be on your list. It’s that important! The glory of the Christian faith is it never views life as ending with death. The Christian faith always looks beyond the sunset to the sunrise.

The Resurrection is the most important part of the gospel. This one fact makes all the difference. Without it, everything else—even Jesus’ death—is meaningless. In His death, He subtracted our sins, but in His resurrection, He gave us a sure entrance into heaven.

“Resurrection” literally means to stand up. Jesus stood up again, physically. He didn’t vanish or disappear. He came back from the dead and is alive today. These are historical facts, not a subjective experience.

When we say we believe the gospel, we put our confidence in what Jesus Christ has already done for us. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures … He was buried, and … He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (15:3-4). Without these three facts, there is no gospel. Jesus Christ died for our sins, He was buried, He rose again the third day. That is the gospel—it’s good news.

Here are three proofs that what we believe is true:

Proof #1—Jesus was buried after He died. He didn’t just disappear. It means they literally handled a dead body. But then He physically came back to life on the third day.

Proof #2—You simply cannot explain the church apart from the Resurrection. In the days between Jesus’ death and resurrection, eleven discouraged men sat around Jerusalem. They were ready to go back to fishing. Then what happened? They heard Jesus Christ had risen from the dead! That one fact transformed them. And the wave has continued through the centuries—millions have testified that Jesus is alive.

Proof #3—Notice the phrase “according to the Scriptures”? Jesus’ resurrection proves the Old Testament!

And then there are all the people who saw Jesus alive again. People talked and ate and touched Jesus after He rose again. More than 500 people at one time saw Jesus around the Sea of Galilee. It’s hard to argue with someone who has seen Jesus alive.

The Resurrection is so important that you can’t deny it and be a Christian. When the Corinthians heard the gospel, they received the gospel and believed in Jesus Christ (v.11). They put their confidence in Him and His ability to save them by the payment of His blood. Faith by itself means nothing. It’s in whom you believe. Have you trusted a Savior who died, who was buried, and who rose again from the dead?

Never does the Bible falter on this truth: Jesus came back from the dead. Paul explores how important this truth is with a series of “ifs”:

• If there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is not risen, and neither will we be.
• If Christ didn’t physically rise from the dead, then our preaching is vain and our faith is futile.
• If Christ didn’t conquer death, then all the apostles were liars.
• If Christ is not raised, then we are still in our sins and on our way to hell.
• If Christ be not raised, we have been fooled and we are about the most miserable people in the world today.

But we’re not! We’re rejoicing!

That is the end of Paul’s“ifs.” Will you face the possibilities he presents? Go through the“ifs” logically, and you will see the human family is lost and hopeless if Christ did not conquer death. That’s how important it is to believe in Jesus’ resurrection.

1. Why is it so foundational to the truth of Christianity that Jesus physically rose from the dead?

2. The gospel isn’t just that our souls go to heaven when we die, but it is also that our bodies will one day be resurrected just like Jesus. What difference does that make in our attitudes about our physical bodies?

3. If so many people witnessed the resurrected Christ, why do you think so many still refused to believe?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teachings on 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-44.