Why is the truth of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ so important?

Many have, perhaps, been able, in looking at the Church's hope in Christ, to see the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection. But the more we search the Scriptures, the more we perceive, in this doctrine, the fundamental truth of the gospel — that truth which gives to redemption its character, and to all other truths their real power. For instance, who does not know that Christianity has its root and its foundation in that solemn and all-important event, the death of our blessed Saviour? But if it had been possible that death could have held the Saviour in his power, death, instead of being the foundation of joy, and the certainty of salvation, would have been the source of a black despair which nothing could have dissipated.

We can understand, then, the effort of Satan to bring in among the Christians doubt and denial of the resurrection of the dead. As the seal of Christ's grace and glory, of the miracles He wrought, and of the truth He taught, His resurrection is all-important; no less is it the proof of Satan vanquished, of redemption accepted, of God glorified, even as to sin and sins borne in Christ's body on the tree. It is the power of the new and inner life, and it is the object and spring of the most glorious hope, in which the Christian and the church look to be blessed with Christ in heavenly places, and this in fact, as now in title, Christ having already borne God's judgment for the believer, who has passed from death into life.

In vain, then, did reason object to a state of incomparable superiority to the present, or even to the past, before sin entered and spoilt the work of God on earth. In vain did it scorn the re-union of soul and body, as if it must be a hopeless imprisonment, a going back and not forward, and an everlasting degradation for the spirit after its emancipation. Christ risen is the completest possible answer, wherein God gives us already to behold by faith man according to His counsels of glory, flowing from His love, and founded on His righteousness: not an idea, but a fact, attested as none ever was since the world began, for precision and competency and fulness as well as certainty, those witnesses alone being excluded which were incompatible with its nature, and which constituted therefore a moral impossibility.

It is impossible to read the Acts of the Apostles without seeing that the resurrection of Christ was the all but unvarying testimony presented to souls, Jews or Gentiles: not merely that He died for our sins, but that God has raised Him from the dead. To say that there is no resurrection of dead men is evidently to set that aside. (Ver. 12.) It is the introduction of Christ which brings every reasoning of man in divine things to the test. The universal message, the gospel to every creature, is that the Saviour is raised from the dead after suffering for sin. The denial of the resurrection denies not merely the future hope of the saints, but the standing fact of Christ, the mainspring of God's good news. For it is plain that, if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, what becomes of the apostolic preaching? what of the faith of saints in Corinth, and everywhere else? (Vers. 13, 14.) He had told them before that there is salvation by the gospel for such as held fast the truth preached, unless they believed heedlessly, or at random (εἴκη, ver. 2), in which case they would be as ready to give up as to receive. Now he goes farther, and, instead of speaking of their subjective state as a light reception of the truth, he points out that, if Christ has not been raised, as the gospel declares, the preaching of the apostles was objectively as empty (κενόν) as the faith of the saints. But there is something more precise still: "and we are also found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he raised not, if indeed no dead are raised." (Ver. 15.)

The resurrection of Christ is thus vital and fundamental. It is no accessory privilege, nor proof ex abundanti, which can be lopped off, leaving the stock of divine grace unimpaired. If it is not true, the foundations are gone, the gospel is worthless, God Himself misrepresented, and the witnesses impostors. The immense fact of resurrection was one which Christ not only predicted over and over again, but on it staked the truth of His mission and Sonship. It is the manifestation of that power of deliverance from death and judgment which is the present joy of the Christian, as it is the brightest witness to the efficacy of atonement, and the pledge of glory with Christ at His coming again. Hence too, if it be not true, the chosen witnesses are convicted of falsehood, because their testimony belies God in attributing to Him the raising of the Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact no dead are raised.

It will be seen how persistently the apostle binds together the resurrection of Christ and of the dead. This is no accident, but the fruit of God's grace and wisdom, who would associate every hope and ground of confidence for His own with Christ; as indeed the Christian is truly united to Him, and knows it. "For if no dead are raised, neither has Christ been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, vain [is] your faith; ye are yet in your sins; then those also that fell asleep in Christ perished." (Vers. 16-18.) Again, he argues that, if no dead are raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if He has not, vain (ματαία) is their faith, in the sense of being without purpose, and without effect; or, as the next clause teaches, "ye are yet in your sins." The consequence is, of course, no less serious for the believers already passed away: "then also those that fell asleep in Christ perished." Inferences so shocking as to saints that are gone, as well as for their own souls, yet flowing legitimately from any principle, are no slight evidence of its falsity. But if the conclusions were so inadmissible, who could accept the premisses which make them not only just but inevitable?

Three things come before us in our consideration of this theme: the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of believers, and the resurrection of unbelievers. If Christ's resurrection is fable and not fact, then is Christianity a hollow farce. Preaching and faith are alike vain. Believers, instead of being saved, are yet in their sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. So the Apostle argues in 1 Cor. 15. Thank God, no such uncertainty exists. Christ's resurrection is one of the best attested facts in the history of this world. The precautions taken by the authorities of that day, the stern regulations concerning sleeping soldiers, the unbelief of the disciples, the large number of those who interviewed the Saviour subsequently, all combine to prove that no pious fraud was perpetrated, but that God really raised His beloved Son from amongst the dead. The fact itself is of immense import. It was God's public vindication of the claims and character of the crucified One, it signified His acceptance of His atoning work, and it involved the complete justification of every sinner who believes in His name.

Christ's resurrection from among the dead is the witness of perfect deliverance from sin and all its consequences, and of entrance on a new life in imperishable blessedness. It is not only that the Heir of all things should be glorified; but He now acts in the power of that grace which will bring all who believe to share His absolutely new order of things, in our souls now by faith, next in our bodies, and in the inheritance itself, when He comes again in glory.

Some think like certain Athenians after Plato of the soul's immortality, but forget their responsibility for sin, and look not to God to be saved from their sins and His judgment. Man glorifies himself in that; yet the soul's immortality does not save from everlasting ruin, but "Jesus only." And resurrection then becomes our joyful hope founded on His; "Because I live, ye shall live also:" a life now for our souls, at His coming for our bodies; a life of victory over death and judgment, a life of heavenly and everlasting glory.

For Jesus is risen. Death in our case shows sin's triumph over us, and our weakness in the presence of Satan's power. Resurrection in His case shows His triumph over both sin and Satan. He Who went into the grave came out of it. Let it be distinctly averred that the Son of God, Jesus, Who was dead, now lives again — in resurrection estate surely — but with His own Person complete. It would be just as false to deny His bodily presence on the first glad resurrection day of which we read in John 20, or in Luke 24, as it would be false to deny His bodily presence on the cross or in the grave. Death is an enemy in God's creation as far as man is concerned, and if death for ever secured the body as its prey, then would God's enemy have triumphed. The triumph of God is set forth in Christ's real resurrection, the full result of which will be in the resurrection of the just in its time, and in the resurrection of the unjust in its time (1 Cor. 15; John 5; Rev. 20).

As to the doctrine which denied the resurrection of the body, the apostle at once brings in the Lord. He says, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen … and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished," etc. He asserts the fact that "He rose again the third day," that He did so "according to the Scriptures," and that His resurrection had been verified by the most ample, and competent, and incontrovertible testimony. He teaches that "Christ" has risen as "the first-fruits," and the next in order to rise are "they that are Christ's at His coming." He concludes by showing that Christ in His abounding grace has thus triumphed over death and the grave for us; so that we are now entitled to say, "Thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." How manifold, then, are the. ways in which Christ is ministered to us in the word of God, and how dear it is that the ministry of the Holy Ghost is that which ministers Christ to souls!

This being the case, how could some at Corinth deny a resurrection of the dead? In doing so, they denied that Christ was raised. And if He were not raised, then the preaching of the apostles was vain, and the avowed faith of the Corinthians was vain. The foundation of Christianity was utterly gone. More than this, the apostles would in this way be proven false witnesses of God, for their witness was plain and decided that. Christ was raised. And if there is no such thing as resurrection of the dead, then Christ could not have been raised. And more still: if Christ is not raised, than neither the Corinthians nor anyone else can be saved: their faith was meaningless: they were still in their sins. Souls often little realize what they are refusing when they deny the truth of God. In this case too, those who had died in Christ had only perished. Did the sacrifice of Christ have no more value than being simply death, with no power of life in saving grace? If our hope in Christ is merely for our present short existence on earth, then ours is a more miserable existence than that of any unbeliever. For here a path with Christ means reproach and shame, which is worth the while because of the future joy of His presence. Take this away, and what is left?

(Vv. 12-19). If, then, in the face of such evidence it is impossible to deny that Christ is risen, how could some dare to say that there is “no resurrection of the dead”? However, as, alas, there were such, the Apostle proceeds to show the solemn consequences of this error. First, whatever was believed by those who put forth this error, it was an attack upon the Person of Christ, for if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not raised. Secondly, if Christ be not raised, the preaching is a fable and vain. Thirdly, if the preaching is vain, the faith of the hearers is futile, as they put their faith in that which is false. Fourthly, if the preachers who profess to come from God are preaching fables, they are “false witnesses of God”. Fifthly, those who put their faith in that which is vain are yet in their sins. Sixthly, if those who are in their sins have fallen asleep, they must have perished. Seventhly, if the resurrection is a fable, the living who profess it are of all men the most miserable, for in the faith of resurrection they have given up this present world and they have nothing for the future.

Thus the Apostle shows that this fatal error dishonoured Christ, condemned the preaching as a fable, made the faith of the hearers useless, the preachers false witnesses, those fallen asleep to have perished, and the living believers most miserable.

(V. 20). Having shown the solemn consequences that must flow from this error, the Apostle proceeds to set forth, in contrast, the blessed results that flow from the great truth that “now is Christ risen from among the dead”. Christ, risen from among the dead, is “the firstfruits of them that slept”. His resurrection is, indeed, the pledge that all will be raised, the just to come into their final blessing and the unjust into judgment (Acts 17:31). Here, however, His resurrection is the pledge of the resurrection of His own who have fallen asleep. Their resurrection will be after the pattern of His resurrection, a resurrection from among the dead. With the wicked it will not be a resurrection from among the dead — a resurrection in which some are taken out of death while others are left — it will be simply the destruction of death, with the result that all that are in the graves will immediately arise.

Having established the certainty of this great fact the Apostle proceeds to demonstrate its commanding importance. His argument in 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 is based upon the hypothesis of the non-resurrection of Christ. If He be not risen, what then? Why, the whole fabric of faith and blessing would collapse into ruin. The Apostle's preaching would be vain, and they would stand convicted as false witnesses. The faith of the Corinthians, or of any Christian to-day, would be vain, and such would then be as much in their sins as anyone else. The saints who have died in Christ would be in no state of blessedness at all, but would have perished. We, the living saints, would be of all men most miserable, for we would incur certain worldly disadvantages by believing, and so merely get a little extra trouble in this life with no recompense in the life to come. Truly the resurrection of Christ is the keystone of the arch. Dislodge that, and every stone of the arch falls out.

He had to rise again the third day, according to the Scriptures. This also was a necessity. Beware of those deceivers who deny the bodily resurrection of Christ, for "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." Thus it is written and thus it must be. If Christ is not raised, there is no Saviour for men and no hope, and we who have trusted in Him are of all men most miserable; for if He is not risen, then have our sins proved too heavy a load for Him, and Satan's power too great and death too strong. If Christ be not raised, then has the grave triumphed and He has failed in His mission, He has failed both God and man, and His word can no more be relied upon, for He said that He would suffer and rise again the third day. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and His resurrection is one of the great facts of the gospel, and those who deny it are ministers of Satan. I preach a risen Saviour, and none other will suit you. He died, but He lives; He suffered, but He has triumphed. Hear His own words: "I am He that lives, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." His resurrection is the proof of a work accomplished, of a sacrifice accepted, of justice satisfied, of death defeated, the power of Satan annulled, and God glorified. His sufferings upon the cross proved His willingness to save, His resurrection from the dead has proved His power to save. I proclaim to you a victorious, almighty Saviour who is willing and able to save even you.