One of the memories I have is when I was 3 years old. My 6-year-old brother loved mayonnaise. He would eat mayonnaise sandwiches. One day, he snuck into the cabinet and got an unopened 16oz mayonnaise jar. He secured a spoon and told me he was going to eat the whole jar! He did. That night was vomit night! From that point on if he even saw a picture of mayonnaise, he would get sick!
What I just described is the foundation for hating mayonnaise! The enemy of fear is Faith…but what is the foundation of faith? Faith has a foundation, it is only as solid as the object that you place your faith in.
There are theories of what happens to us at death:
The body dies and disintegrates while the soul sleeps.
Total annihilation.
Reincarnation. The body dies but the soul is recycled from one form to another.
In all these views, human personhood and individuality are forever lost.
Christianity believes in the resurrection of the body and soul. The person remains!
But there are some, like in Corinth, who preach that there is no resurrection.
1 Cor. 15:12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead
To correct their error, Paul wrote the longest chapter in 1 Corinthians.
If there were no resurrection, what are the implications?
1st implication if there is no resurrection of the dead?
V. 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.
Christ was not Messiah and is dead
2nd implication.
V. 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain
All the messages you have heard about Christ are useless and your faith is a waste of time. Why?
V. 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
What’s the point? Only this:
If Christ never rose from the dead, sin killed him…Christ never conquered death! If Christ could not conquer death then we are all in trouble because death will kill us also! We will damned to hell!
If we take away the resurrection, Christianity becomes just another useless human philosophy – not only useless but dangerous – following a man that was crazy – Jesus claimed to be God!!
However, we are not stuck there! Tomorrow we will look at three more implications and the evidence of the resurrection! Jesus is not dead, He is alive and promises us that same resurrection!
The So What: It is important how you look at things. No one is beyond this virus, but anyone can possess eternal life in Christ! Consider this true story: Robert De Vincenzo was a golfer that won a tournament. A woman approached him and told of her baby that was sick. She had no hope because she had no money. He signs over his winning check to her! Later an official tells him it was a scam. "There is no baby who is dying without hope,” he states. Vincenzo’s response: "That's the best news I've heard all week!”
No matter what you encounter it cannot take away what Christ has given you!
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