If There Were No Resurrection

“No resurrection of the dead?!”  

This was one of the most damaging and destructive heretical sayings circulating among the Corinthian believers at the time the apostle Paul wrote his first epistle to them (around A.D. 59).

In confronting the saying of no resurrection, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14,

12 But if Christ is proclaimed that He has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is vain; your faith is vain also.

Why did Paul take this saying of “no resurrection” so seriously? And what makes resurrection so vital to our Christian faith?

In this post we’ll consider twelve things we’d miss if there were no resurrection, the vital issue of Christ’s resurrection, and how we can experience it right now.

12 “huge missings” if there were no resurrection 

Resurrection is the life pulse and lifeline of God’s plan or divine economy.

If there were no resurrection:

1.  God would be the God of the dead, not of the living (Matt. 22:32).
2.  Christ would not have been raised from the dead. He would be a dead Savior, not a living One who lives forever (Rev. 1:18) and is able to save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
3.  There would be no living proof of our being justified by His death (Rom. 4:25 and note),
4.  There would be no imparting of life (John 12:24).
5.  There would be no regeneration (John 3:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23).
6.  There would be no renewing (Titus 3:5).
7.  There would be no transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
8.  There would be no conformity to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
9.  There would be no members of Christ (Rom. 12:5).
10. There would be no Body of Christ as His fullness (Eph. 1:20-23).
11. There would be no church as Christ’s bride (John 3:29).
12. There would be no new man (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11).

As a result, God’s New Testament plan [or economy]  would altogether collapse and God’s eternal purpose would be nullified.

The vital issue of Christ’s resurrection

However, Christ’s death on Calvary and burial in the  tomb were not an end. Nor was His resurrection merely an event of history or an objective item of our Christian faith.

Since He was that one “grain of wheat” (John 12:24)—full of divine life, His death and burial were only a “sowing of the seed.” He was planted in death and sprouted up in resurrection.

Resurrection was an organic process with a vital issue or produce:

• Christ as the firstborn Son of God, was brought forth as the prototype for making us His many brothers (Rom. 8:29-30).
• Christ became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), able to be received into us to enliven our spirit with God’s life (Rom. 8:9-10).
• Christ’s believers, regenerated in His resurrection, become the living members of His organic Body (1 Peter 1:3; Rom. 12:5).

How can you subjectively experience Christ’s resurrection right now?

Since Christ has become a life-giving Spirit, He’s as available to you as the air. You simply need to receive Him, to breathe Him in, by calling on His name.

Romans 10:9-10, 12 says,

That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.”

• Confess with your mouth that, “Jesus is Lord!”(Rom. 10:9a).
• Believe in your heart that God has raised Christ from the dead (Rom. 10:9b).
• Call on the Lord Jesus to breathe Him, the life-giving Spirit, as the resurrection life into you (1 Cor. 12:3; John 20:22).
• Spend time with the Lord each morning to fellowship with Him in prayer (John 20:1).
• Feed on His Word daily by receiving His living words by means of prayer (John 6:57, 63).
• Walk according to His indwelling Spirit that lives in your spirit (Rom. 8:10, 4).
• Fellowship with other believers in the reality of Christ’s resurrection as a proper expression of His Body (Eph. 1:19-23).

Take a moment to pray,

“Lord Jesus, praise you that You are no longer in the grave, You rose from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit so that You can enter into me and fill me with Your resurrection life. Lord Jesus, I receive You. Remind me to call on You every day, to enjoy You in Your resurrection life both personally and with other believers.”

References and Further Reading

• All 12  “missings” of no resurrection were taken from footnote 1 on 1 Corinthians 15:12 in the Recovery Version.
• You can get a free copy of the Recovery Version from Bibles for America (in the USA) or read it online here.
• Here are a couple of songs that strengthen the point of this post:
  • Death cannot hold the resurrection life and view lyrics
  • But there is a resurrection
• Photo Credit: Wheat Field by Kevin Lallier – Creative Commons license