“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” -1 Corinthians 15:19
Listen to these theologians, past and present, as they explain both the necessity and the beauty of the resurrection.
Charles Hodge:
If He rose, the gospel is true. If He did not rise, it is false. If He rose…his sacrifice has been accepted as a satisfaction to divine justice, and his blood as a ransom for many. (Systematic Theology Vol 2, pg. 627)
Herman Bavinck:
Briefly summarized, (the) resurrection is a divine endorsement of his (Christ’s) mediatorial work, a declaration of the power and value of his death, the “Amen!” of the Father upon the “It is finished!” of the son. (Reformed Dogmatics Vol 3, pg. 442)
Michael Reeves:
Where the guilt of Adam had brought death, the righteousness of Christ brought victorious life. And clearly there was more righteousness in him than there was sin in us, for having borne our sin, death could no longer hold him. Having taken sin and death down to death, death had no further claim on him. (Christ Our Life, pg. 52)
Sinclair Ferguson and Alistair Begg wrote:
Jesus was raised physically from the dead as a sign that his sacrifice for sin had been accepted. It was as if the Judge were saying, “You have paid the penalty the law demanded; you are now free to go!” Clearly it was also the sign that he had broken the power of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its grip. (Name Above All Names, pg. 90)
Bruce Ware:
So, why does Paul insist that if Christ has not been raised, we are still in our sin? (1 Cor. 15:17)
…since sin’s penalty is death (Rom 6:23), if it is true that Christ has “died for our sin” (1 Cor. 15:3), what is the necessary expression that Christ has paid the penalty of sin fully? He must rise from the dead. If he remains in a grave dead, then the penalty of sin is still being paid, and thus its payment has not been made fully. (The Man Christ Jesus, pg. 131-2, emphasis original)
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. –Romans 4:25
Written by Matt Baker