The Significance of the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:14-22
Pastor Miles
3/27/16
"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15:13-22 NIV
1. The resurrection proves that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
The ultimate proof of His claim is the miracle of the resurrection.
"So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me."
John 8:28 NIV
2. The resurrection provides the power for us to change.
"and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,"
Ephesians 1:19-20 NIV
If this same power was in us, what could we change?
God's power can free us from our past.
We were never meant to live our lives with our own power.
God has given us a new heart and new life.
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."
Colossians 2:13-14 NIV
Our debt to God because of sin has been paid in full by Jesus' death and resurrection.
3. The resurrection promises our victory over death.
"By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also."
1 Corinthians 6:14 NIV
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;"
John 11:25 NIV
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,"
1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
The resurrection means that Christ is with us today.
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