Bro. Eddie Ministries Reading Plan: The Word Gives HopeSample

He rose again Jesus rose from the dead. But many doubted if He did. They asked how could a person who died rise again? They bullied those who believed He did rise again. So Paul challenged those who said that He did not. “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He did not raise up – in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; and you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:12-17) Any belief will not stand if those who advance it are not strong. In the same way, Christian faith would not mean anything if its founder is weak. It would not make any impact at all. It will serve no purpose. It will die a natural death. But Jesus, the founder of Christian faith, died and rose again. For what purpose? He was delivered over to death because of our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom. 4:25) It was through His death that He could pay our sins. And it was through His resurrection that He could justify us before God. That is why He died and rose again after three days. (1 Cor. 15:4) Those who caused Jesus’ death did not know that He would rise again. His disciples could not grasp how He would. Peter even dared say that he would keep Him from dying. The devil just laughed at the thought of Jesus coming back to life. Nobody saw it in God’s point of view. They were utterly ignorant of what God was about to do. They did not know there’s the Holy Spirit to raise Jesus from the dead. (Acts 2:24; Rom. 8:11) Why did He need to rise again? To complete His mission to redeem us. To ensure that we are saved. To strengthen our faith. To make it valid. To give us power to rise above sin and its works. To give power to our preaching. To make us a strong witness of His love. To give our lives real meaning. What else? To raise up from the dead those who believed on Him but had already died. He will do that at the appointed time and will give them a new body. And those who are caught up alive when He comes He will also give a glorious body. (1 Thess. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:35-49) Our life on earth is not meant to be forever. It is not even secured. That is why Paul said to those who placed their faith in Christ, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” (1 Cor. 15:19) Our life with Him is meant to be spent with Him. And that will happen completely where He is. He will bring us there at the right time and give us the eternal life He promised. (John 3:16) He who died for us is alive and will never die again. It is never futile to trust Him. For He did not only have the power to lay down His life for us. He did also have the power to take it again. (John10:17). And He promised that we shall live like Him when He returns. Now who said that He did not rise again? Reflection: 1. Why is it hard to believe that a person came back to life? 2. What does Jesus’ resurrection have to do with your life? Jesus defeated death when He rose from the dead.