The single greatest event in all of history and, specifically, in all of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s not the creation of the world or mankind. It’s not the birth of Christ, and it’s not even the death of Christ. The greatest event is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14: But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Our entire Christian faith rests on this single greatest event!
Currently, my wife picks out all of the music for our Sunday morning worship time. She puts in multiple hours a month searching for the appropriate songs that would match up with the preaching topic, printing off music, arranging it, and practicing with the team. A number of weeks ago, she chose the classic hymn “Come Thou Fount”. She chose the song based upon the comment I made to her back in January. While I was attending a conference, an orchestra of young people played the most beautiful arrangement of “Come Thou Fount” I had ever heard. It moved me to tears and that rarely happens! Out of a love for me and knowing how special that song was to me, my wife placed that song into the monthly worship rotation.
When we sang it, I sang it just as another song. We always have good songs and so I failed to see the specialness of that song. Even the worship team knew the reasoning behind it but I was clueless. It wasn’t until a later conversation with Ilene that I realized what she had done. What happened to me? I was so used to singing wonderful songs that I failed to see the significance behind that one.
As we come off our recent Easter celebration, I don't want us to fail in seeing the significance behind the resurrection of Christ. Just like me with the song, we can hear something so often that we fail to see the significance behind it. It’s because of Christ’s resurrection that we have “a life worth living!”
In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul writes the most extension teaching on the resurrection. In verses 14-19 the Apostle gives us six disastrous consequences if the resurrection of Christ never occurred:
Preaching Christ would be useless.
Faith in Christ would be in vain.
All of the witnesses and preachers regarding the resurrection would be liars.
We would have no forgiveness of sins.
We would be under the penalty and control of sin.
We would have no relationship with the Father.
This Easter, may we be reminded of the awesome reality we have because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ's death was not sufficient for our atonement. If Christ remained dead, then it would prove that the Father did not accept His sacrifice. But through Christ's resurrection we have hope, we have life, and we have a life worth living.