“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead!” 1 Corinthians 15:17-20
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. Although followers of Buddhism do not all agree on the cause of Buddha’s death, they all do agree that he died in the year 483 BC and he remains dead. Muhammad died in the year 632 AD either as a result of eating poisoned goat meat, or possibly just severe fatigue. He too remains dead. And Paul tells us in these verses that if Jesus Christ is still dead, the future for believers in Jesus is entirely hopeless!
Your faith is futile because you are believing in a myth. Your sins will still condemn you for eternity, because God’s wrath against your sin has not been satisfied. All those who have died trusting Christ have been misled, and have entered eternal death. And your hope is based on a lie, so your hope is only good for this life, but it will evaporate at your death! You are to be pitied above all people! Such is the case if Christ has not been raised!
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead! Death and Hell and Satan are conquered! For those who are trusting Christ, your faith is not futile, your sins are washed away! All who have died in Jesus have entered eternal life! And your hope is an eternal hope because it is rooted in the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Each one of us was born into a world of despair – but if you have been born again – you have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you! Because of the resurrection of Jesus, no pity needs to be felt towards you or I – only praise, as we await the glorious, magnificent, eternal inheritance being preserved in heaven for us!! We serve a Risen Saviour!