“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-14)
Some members of the first century church at Corinth thought they had achieved spiritual perfection. One of the ways this manifested itself was in the teaching that there was no bodily resurrection from the dead because they were already in their spiritually glorified state. They considered that their bodies they were expendable and useless, for resurrection was spiritual not physical. This disdain for the body was expressed as either ignoring it or indulging its sinful cravings. So Paul had to remind the Corinthians of the dangers of such beliefs and point them back to the core belief: the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was demonstrating to them the foolishness of their belief. If they denied the resurrection of the body they denied Christ’s resurrection as well.
The belief in the literal bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead is a central truth of our Christian faith, one which we affirm every week when we recite the creed. It is a truth that gives us the assurance of peace and union with Almighty God and of eternal life. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that Christ died for our sins. If we deny that it took place that would mean we are still separated from God, still dead in our sins. And many in our world do deny this truth. They remain alienated from God and so dead in their sins, whether or not they choose to acknowledge them.
Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the ultimate proof that He defeated sin and death on the cross. It is proof that we who are United in Him by faith will rise again from the dead. In our Baptism this death and resurrection has already taken place. That guarantees that our bodies will be raised from the grave on the day of judgment. We who have faith do not fear that day. Christ has paid the sin debt for us.
The resurrection of the dead is God’s sacred promise, one which we can hold onto implicitly for God is always true to His word. With such assurance we can boldly tell others of the hope that is in Christ alone.