The challenges of life have a way of taking our focus away from God and onto our problems. Discouragement can cause us to lose hope Some people at the church at Corinth were starting to doubt the fact of the resurrection. The Apostle Paul points out the deleterious consequences if the resurrection had never occurred in in 1 Corinthians 15:13-19.

We can become so inured to everyday life that we fail to appreciate the benefits of the resurrection. Jesus has come that you may experience hope, joy, and peace. If there were resurrection, Paul chronicles the dire consequences:

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

If we were to reverse the proposition of this verse we would see afresh the blessings to His children through the resurrection. Paul declared the reality of the resurrection earlier in this chapter:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

We can believe in the resurrection because Christ died, the tomb was empty, and there were hundreds of eyewitnesses whose lives were dramatically transformed. Therefore, rather than our faith being worthless, the believer has a faith that is more precious than gold. The Apostle Peter affirmed this truth:

so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1 Peter 1:7)

When people don’t realize the value of their faith, they tend to pursue secondary issues such as prestige or possessions. The writer of Hebrews provides a description of faith:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith is able to give you joy and peace even in the midst of a storm. The wonderful truth is because of the resurrection, you are no longer in your sins. We may not fully comprehend the significance of this truth because we don’t understand the seriousness of our sin. We must realize that our sin is not judged by the way we view sin, but by the way God views it. Our sensitivity toward sin is in proportion to our nearness to God. The implications of the resurrection enable the Christian to be free from the bondage of sin, free from regret of sin (for sin always has consequences), and free from the penalty of sin.

You can experience a life of victory! Paul declared that as a believer, you have victory over death, victory in life, and victory in the midst of adversity. Are you experiencing the fullness of life in Christ that is yours through the resurrection?

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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