“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
In penning one of the greatest proofs found in all of scripture about the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul here dramatically lays the groundwork for the eyewitness testimonies he is about to present.
Paul goes on to say that if Jesus did not rise, his own preaching is empty—that is, that it has no content nor meaning—and that the faith of those to whom he is writing is also empty—that their faith has nothing on which it is based.
So, Paul actually asserts that the resurrection of Jesus is the crux around which all of Christianity stands or falls: if Jesus did not arise as recorded, then all of Christianity falls apart. If, however, Jesus did arise, everything else the scriptures record about Christianity has everlasting meaning for all of us.
We give God praise and glory today—with deep, undying gratitude—for the fact that Jesus did arise. In doing so, He made going to heaven an assured possibility for everyone who has ever lived or ever will live.
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