Theologian Erich Sauer has written: “The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer and ends with the resurrection of the redeemed. Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into life through Christ. So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we go to meet the last Easter.” The last Easter to which Sauer refers is, of course, the bodily resurrection of the saved. Scripture speaks of that resurrection of the righteous in several places calling it the first resurrection. The second is the resurrection of the unrighteous (John 5:29). It is of the first resurrection that Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 15.
The apostle has reminded the Corinthians that they already believed in Christ’s resurrection (15:1-11) and that logically they must also believe in their own resurrection and that of all saints, mentioning several disastrous and absurd consequences that would result if they were not raised.
Paul makes it clear that without the resurrection, Christianity is a farce. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 he plainly states that if Christ is not raised from the dead then our sins are not forgiven, there is no faith and if our hope is in this life only, we are those who are to be pitied.
In light of all that the Bible has to say about the necessity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the Christian faith (Romans 10:9), it always amazes me that there are people who deny the resurrection but still claim to be Christians. This article by Dr Albert Mohler tells of one such testimony.
