"What if?"
Part I

(I have not posted more this past week, because I have been sick. My phone line was also out for a short time. I hope to get back up to speed with the blog.)

I am looking forward to this Sunday. The importance of the resurrection can never be overstated. I Corinthians 15 emphasizes this. This Sunday, I will be taking a break from preaching through John, and I will be preaching from I Corinthians 15.

The three aspects I will be primarily looking at are found throughout the chapter. The first one being found in vs 13, where Paul states, “But if there be no resurrection….” Think of the implications of that statement. There are many times when I have thought about “what ifs” in my life. For instance, what if America had lost the Revolution, or what if I had not entered the US Air Force when I was 19? There is not, however, a “what if” compared to the one the Apostle Paul makes in I Corinthians 15, by stating, “But if there be no resurrection”

The Apostle Paul goes on to list the consequences of this “what if.”

For one our preaching is in vain. All of the great preaching is for nothing. All of the great truths that have been dug out of the scripture are all for nothing. The sermons by Peter and Paul are all for nothing. The Bible itself would be for nothing!

Not only is our preaching vain, but Paul goes on to say, “Our faith is vain;” Our very life is a complete waste of time. The fact that I am sitting in a jungle in Papua New Guinea as a missionary is all for nothing. Every moment I have spent in prayer has been for nothing. The very core of my life is for nothing. And because my faith is in vain, that leads to the next outcome if there be no resurrection.

We “are yet in our sins.” We have no hope. The Lake of Fire is to be our home forever. There is no hope of salvation. We could not be offered grace from God Almighty! The peace that comes with knowing we are eternally secure is gone. The joy of serving God is not possible.

This would then make us “of all men most miserable.” (vs 19)

But the fact is, Christ DID rise from the dead. I like how God had Paul state it. You can see Paul’s excitement to pen in verse 20, where he states “But now is Christ risen from the dead,”!

My next post we will turn are attention from "But if Christ be not risen" to “But now is Christ risen from the dead.”