The 15th Chapter of I Corinthians is one of the greatest passages in the entire Bible. 

It is about the importance of the resurrection to our faith and salvation. Verse 17 says it plainly, “If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith (our faith) is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

Many have been mistakenly given to believe that our faith and salvation centers on the death of Jesus and not necessarily on resurrection. We frequently hear Christians say, “The central message of the Gospel is ‘Jesus died for our sins, so we might go to heaven.’” 

While that is part of the story, it is not the whole story. Of course, one cannot have resurrection without a prior death.

However, Jesus came or was sent not only to forgive us our sins. God had been doing that for a long time before Jesus ever became known. What humankind most needed was not more forgiveness, but rather an answer for the penalty of sin which is death. The truth is that we can be forgiven and still remain unchanged. That is the story of the Old Testament.

The New Testament story is that Jesus Christ not only forgives sins, but by His resurrection He forever defeats sins and death. By defeat we mean He entirely eliminates them from the equation. Sin is made powerless by God’s grace and eternal death is overcome by Jesus’ resurrection.

All of this is happening Now, for this present moment. We do not need to wait to be changed from sinner to saint, mortal to immortal, from death to eternal life. It has all been done before and for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection there is no victory for Jesus, nor for us. 

“If Christ hasn’t been raised then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” Verse 17.

I particularly like what James Bryan Smith writes about this in his little book, “Hidden In.”

“Death is the great enemy, but it has been defeated. Sin is the great destroyer, but it too has been defeated. Both of those menaces have been defeated by the greatest event the world has ever witnessed: the resurrection of Jesus. Every single issue in life, every problem we face, every hope we have-absolutely everything hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.”

Jesus died our death for our sins. He rose from death to make eternal life possible. 

Rev. Raymond Ticknor is a retired Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) pastor living in Monett. He may be reached at [email protected]