the resurrection

1 Corinthians 15 is an awesome chapter; you should read it...more than once.

Last night at senior high I talked about the glorious truth of the resurrection of Christ and what it means for us, as Christians and non-Christians.

I grouped Paul's list in the first few verses like this:

If the Resurrection is NOT true:
1) My preaching and the apostolic witness is false
2) Your faith is worthless
3) The wrath of God is still on you, because you're still dead in sins
4) Those who have died for the sake of Christ are in Hell
5) We should be pitied because we're idiots

But because Christ has been raised the following are true:
1) We have hope because we are forgiven
2) Our faith is true and well-founded and we can have confidence in it
3) The witness of the apostles and pastors is true (there is absolute truth)
4) We are to be envied (the Christian life has worth)
5) Those who have died are resurrected to joy forever

And the main point of the evening:
6) We gain the resurrection!

This last point is the driving point behind the Christian life. It is what we live for and why we should strive to live for the glory of God with every ounce of our being. This is what drives Paul's statement "to live is Christ and to die is gain."

We gain the resurrection!

I used this analogy: I'm a fat kid. (Seriously, 245 lbs and 5'7") I run because I have a goal in mind: to lose weight and not be fat. I have a goal and I work hard at that goal because I want to accomplish it.

Paul says this "run the race in a way so that you receive the crown." Run so you win. Run so hard that when death peers at you have no hesitation but to continue to run because you know that after death is gain. Because you have a goal: the resurrection. It is gain!

Scream with the apostle, "O death, where is your sting?!!"

We gain the resurrection if we believe in Christ's resurrection. Live like it.

-joe