If Christ Is Not Risen

1Corinthians 15:17

"And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!"

I once spent several hours listening to a woman speak at a church conference. Mostly, she was sharing her testimony, which, I'll grant, was quite dramatic. But her testimony is not what I remember when I think back on that experience.

Instead, it was the claim which she repeatedly made, that Jesus "works."

She made a big point of saying that people don't really care all that much if Jesus is true. Nowadays, people are more interested in whether or not Jesus, and Christianity, will work.

I suppose I could agree with her in many ways. Jesus does in fact work in things that are most important. He works in regard to cleansing us from our sin. He works in regard to reconciling us to God. He works in regard to redeeming our lives from the pit of destruction.

And hey, I'll even agree that there are many comforts and benefits that result from being a Christian. We experience sanctification, we are able to fellowship within a local body of Christ, we are given opportunities to serve God, study about God and strive to become more like Him. There is even that whole "peace of God which transcends all understanding" and "the joy of the LORD" thing.

But does our entire Christian faith, our hope of eternity, rest on the fact that Jesus works? Whatever that even means?

No.

Jesus is not some form of cosmic self help. He doesn't promise that you will have square finances, a solid marriage, and a happy, easy, stress-free life. In fact, the Bible makes a lot of claims about the trouble that will come into the lives of believers.

John 16:33

"...in this world you will have tribulation..."

James 1:2

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,"

2 Timothy 3:12

"Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."

And more importantly, if Jesus matters only because He works then we are all in a heap of trouble. Because, you see, if Jesus isn't true, then we are all still dead in our sins, we are all still separated from God, and we will all suffer eternal damnation in hell upon our unavoidable death.

That is why I put that verse from 1 Corinthians up at the top of this post. If Christ is not risen, than this Christianity business is a big ol' waste of our time. It doesn't matter if Jesus "works" if Jesus is not first of all true.

Meditation and deep breathing might help you if you suffer from stress. Reading some books about financial management might help if you are tempted to spend more money than you earn. Getting a divorce might make you feel better if you just can't get along with your spouse. The world is chock full of advice about how to make your life "work" the way you think it should. And to be quite honest, sometimes the techniques that the world trumpets seem to be a whole lot more effective than obeying God, at least in the short term.

Let me give you a general example. Right now I am being obedient to God in a situation that is making me very unhappy. I mean specifically, that it is the obeying that is causing me great unhappiness, not the situation itself. I would much rather be disobedient and get some relief from the strain, stress and frustration I feel. But I am obeying a direct command of God that is found in the Bible. There is no wiggle room or way to 'reinterpret' this particular command so that I can feel good about disobeying. The command is clear. And in my obedience, I am, quite frankly, miserable. I don't have any sense of peace about it--at all.

I do trust God. I believe that He is working out something for my benefit and His glory in the midst of my situation. (See Romans 8:28.) But in the right here and now, I'd be hard pressed to say that Jesus is "working" for me.

But I would be willing to stake my life on the claim that Jesus is true.

If Jesus matters because He works, then why isn't he working for me when I am clearly obeying Him?

Do you see what a potential disaster could be brewing if I decided to become a Christian, because I wanted something to "work" for me?

Let me put it to you the way Paul does in one of his letters to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:19

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable."

1Corinthians 15:32

"If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

In other words, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then don't waste your time obeying a bunch of rules and living a life of sacrifice. Go out and do what you want! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself! If this is all you have, you might as well make the most of it. It would be a great pity if you denied yourself the pleasures available in this world, and then your beliefs all turned out to be a big deception.

But Jesus did rise again from the dead. And because Christ has risen, all of us will also rise. Some will rise to glory and some will rise to condemnation. But it will happen. Not because Jesus makes me feel good, or Jesus made me a better person, or Jesus saved my marriage. Not even because Jesus works. But because Jesus is true.