ANCHOR DEVOTIONS MARCH 20,2012

Living Words

"If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."
(1 CORINTHIANS 15:14)

INSIGHT
IN THE RISEN LORD JESUS WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING!
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Judges 14-15
Psalm 116
1 Corinthians 8-9

1 Corinthians 15:1-17

New Living Translation (NLT)

The Resurrection of Christ

15 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters,^[

3

^a]^b]^c]^d]

The Resurrection of the Dead

12

Footnotes:

a.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Greek brothers; also in 15:31, 50, 58.

b.

1 Corinthians 15:2 Or unless you never believed it in the first place.

c.

1 Corinthians 15:5 Greek Cephas.

d.

1 Corinthians 15:6 Greek the brothers.New Living Translation (NLT)

 LORD, GIVE US REVIVAL [PART 3]
with Ray & Anne Ortlund

The Bible says to wait on the Lord, yet we think we can schedule revival on our own timetable. If we really want spiritual renewal, it has to happen God's way.

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. ¹⁵ And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. ¹⁶ And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷ Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. ⁹ For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
¹⁰ But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. ¹¹ So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed. and then by the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers^[I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. ⁴ He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. ⁵ He was seen by Peter^[ of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. ² It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.^[

To Paul, the resurrection of Jesus was no mere afterthought to a belief system. It was everything. He referred to it 53 times in his New Testament writings. Why? Because, "if Christ had not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins" (v. 17).

It was a reality with more power than all the pagan legends and Jewish laws combined, the very fulfillment of all he'd ever hoped for or knew of from his own history. Yes, it was compelling, but it was no mere story to Paul. It knocked him flat. His life would be instantly different, full of tension, and of course hope.

But because he, too, responded to Christ's love, you and I became the beneficiaries of some of the greatest biblical works in Scripture. His letters remind all who read them of God's power, that the resurrected Christ is the Good News with which we're now entrusted. Paul knew first hand that his hope was not based on a plan or a value system but on the living, breathing Person of Jesus who is with each of us always.

1 Corinthians 15:1-17