The Risen Christ, Our Only Hope!

Paul does something startling in 1 Corinthians 15. He doesn't begin by asking us to admire the Resurrection. He asks us to remove it.
Suppose Christ has not been raised.
Now follow the logic.

But Christianity would still have something to offer—Jesus' teachings, the cross, the Bible, prophecy, the church...

Paul won't let us hide there.
If Christ has not been raised:

• our preaching is empty.
• our faith is empty.
• our testimony is false.
• we are still in our sins.
• those who died in Christ have perished.

Then Paul reaches his devastating conclusion:
“We are of all men most pitiable.”
He hasn't removed Christianity's least important teaching.
He has removed its foundation.

So the Resurrection isn't simply another doctrine alongside the Sabbath, prophecy, sanctuary, Second Coming and remnant.

Exactly.
Paul gives us a test.
Take away the Resurrection—and everything collapses.
Therefore our ultimate security cannot be: “I know the truth.”
It must be: “Christ is risen.”

But surely knowing the truth still matters.

Of course. But Paul forces us toward a harder question:
What happens when correct doctrine becomes a substitute for Christ?

• We can know the Sabbath and still be unforgiving.
• Explain prophecy and still be proud.
• Defend the sanctuary and still refuse repentance.
• Preach the Second Coming while loving this world.
• Call ourselves the remnant while quietly assuming our membership makes us secure.
• We can possess true doctrine and still hide behind it.

But isn't that too harsh?

Paul is the one being demanding.
His argument isn't: “Do you have enough religious information?”
It is: If Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless.
Now reverse it.
If Christ is raised, your faith cannot remain merely information.

So the Resurrection changes the question.

Completely.
The question isn't merely: “Do I believe Christ rose?”
It becomes: “If Christ is risen, what should be different about me?”
A risen Christ cannot remain a doctrine on a Sabbath School chart.
He demands a response.

And what does the Resurrection say about death?

Paul treats death as a real enemy.
The dead in Christ aren't secretly living somewhere else. They await the voice of the One who conquered the grave.
Our hope isn't: “Death will take me somewhere.”
Our hope is: “Jesus will come and defeat death.”
That makes the risen Christ more than part of our hope.
He is our hope.

Then what is Paul saying to a member who knows all the right things?

He's saying: “Don't show me only what you know. Show me what the risen Christ has done with what you know.”

• If you know the truth, has it made you truthful?
• If you believe Jesus is coming, has it changed how you live?
• If Christ forgives, have you become forgiving?
• If Christ loves sinners, how do you treat difficult people?
• If Christ humbled Himself, why must you always win?
• If Christ is alive, why can your Christianity sometimes look spiritually lifeless?

So perhaps our greatest danger isn't believing false doctrine.

Perhaps it is more subtle:
Believing the truth—and using the truth to convince ourselves that we no longer need to be transformed by it.
Paul leaves us no doctrinal hiding place. Because Paul's logic has already settled the issue:
If Christ is not raised, everything collapses.
And if Christ is raised—
everything changes.

Then how do I know whether the risen Christ is truly at work in me?

• Look at your life when nobody is applauding.
• Look at how you treat the person who cannot help you.
• Look at what happens when someone challenges your opinion.
• Look at whether you can forgive.
• Look at what you do with pride, resentment and selfish ambition.
• Look at whether people encounter Christ when they encounter you.

And now let Paul's Resurrection argument become painfully personal:
If someone studied my life without knowing my denomination, would they discover the risen Christ?

That sounds frightening.

It should—but it should also give us hope.
Paul isn't telling us to manufacture Christlike character through religious effort.
He is proclaiming a living Christ.
The One who conquered death is not merely an event in our theology.
He is alive.
And because He is alive, transformation is possible.

So perhaps the deepest confession we can make isn't:
“I have the truth.”
It is:
“ Christ has me—and His risen life is changing me.”

That is the hope of the Resurrection.
The risen Christ is our only hope.