What if: Part II

      In last week's blog I mentioned that I am an avid reader, and one of my favorite genre's is classical literature.  Give me Dickens or Arthur Conan Doyle and I will be lost in my imagination for hours upon hours.  But I also love old black and white movies.  My personal favorite actor is Humphrey Bogart (here's looking at you kid) but in a very close second is Jimmy Stewart.  I love the range that Jimmy Stewart played, and not just his range of talent but also his sense of morality.  His iconic role as Senator Jefferson Smith will go down as a masterpiece in cinema.  Or you could examine his countless Westerns (my personal favorite being the Far Country), or maybe one of his works with Alfred Hitchcock (if you haven't seen Vertigo, Rear Window, The Man who Knew too much, or the Rope you are missing out).  But probably the most famous Stewart movie was originally viewed as a cinematic failure, "It's a Wonderful Life."  I'm sure that each of you have viewed

this, probably countless times during the Christmas season.  The story follows the life of a man named George Bailey who was constantly sacrificing for other people for seeming little or no reward for himself.  George Bailey's big dreams were relegated to the small town of Bedford Falls.  Bailey goes toe to toe with the antagonist named "Potter."  Through a financial mistake George departs on committing suicide and upon his attempt his guardian angel named Clarence jumps into the water "saving" George's life.  Clarence then grants George's wish that he was never born.  George then finds out what would have happened if he was never born and found that his life had deep value.  George found out the greatest answer to his "what if" question.

      Last week we talked about the what if's in our life, but those what if's could never compare to the greatest what if, what if Jesus never rose from the dead.  Let's look at a few more what if statements from 1st Corinthians 15.

      The first what if I want to look at is in verse fifteen which says "Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raises not up, if so be that the dead rise not."  Let's hone in on one word, the word "witness."  We are familiar with a witness.  A witness is a person who tells others what they know.  Typically our first thought of a witness is a court room who is called to give facts (what they heard, saw, know).  A witness is not supposed to speculate, give hypothetical statements, or opinion.  A witness is supposed to give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  If a person lies on the witness stand then their testimony is thrown out and could damage the person they are defending (or help the person they are accusing).  

    I mention this because our Bible tells us that we are witnesses for Jesus (Acts 1:8).  The Bible doesn't tell us so much TO WITNESS, but it tells us to be a witness.  There is a difference.  We do something because we are something.  We witness for Christ because we are a witness.  As a witness we are called to tell people what we know and what we know is Jesus Christ.  We tell the world about countless other things, somethings we aren't sure of (think about how much speculation has been spread just in this current Corona virus situation).  More opinion has been shared then fact.  God has not called us as Christians to share opinions or philosophy, but Christ.  But here is the rub, if Christ did not rise from the dead then we are LIARS.  We are deceiving the world.

      But is the resurrection a lie?  Let me answer that with another question, would the disciples have been willing to die for a lie?  NO.  These men were imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and many killed not for a lie but for the truth.  What did these men gain by preaching the resurrection?  Fame and fortune?  NO.  If these men were lying they gained nothing through the lie, if anything they lost everything through the lie.  These men were not willing to die for someone who was dead, but someone who was alive.  These men were willing to suffer greatly because they KNEW Jesus rose from the dead.  They saw Him, touched Him, heard Him, and ate with Him.  The same truth can be said about us as believers.  We are willing to serve Him faithfully because we KNOW He lives.

      The second what if statement can be found in verse fifteen  too.  In verse fifteen we find that not only would we be liars but Christ would also be a liar if He did not rise from the dead.  How would Christ be a liar if He did not rise?  Didn't Jesus say in John 11:25-26 that He is the resurrection in the life?  Friend if Jesus did not rise from the dead then He lied to people...He

lied in the worst way possible by giving false hope who were bereft of hope.  If Christ were lying  He would be the cruelest man ever in John 11 because He told a grieving Martha those that believe in me will never die.  Or another verse in John 14:6 Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  If Christ did not rise from the dead then we are lost, we are lied to, and we are dead.  Christ can only be the life if He is resurrected.  Or another example can be found in Matthew 20:18-19 which says "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up."  Did Jesus go to Jerusalem?  Yes.  Was He delivered to the religious leaders to die?  Yes.  Will He be handed over to the Gentiles?  Yes.  Was He mocked?  Yes.  What He scourged?  Yes.  Was He crucified?  Yes.  Why would there be a question over the final statement regarding His resurrection?  There is NO question.  Either all those statements are true, OR NONE OF THEM ARE.

      The Scripture makes it clear that it is impossible for God to lie, and since the Scriptures give us overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the God man that means that Jesus is UNABLE to lie.  Since He is telling the truth about His resurrection we can know that death has been defeated, that a gravestone has been placed over the grave declaring that grace has won!

      There is one final "what if" statement that I want to look at in 1st Corinthians, it can be found in verse eighteen which says "then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."  The phrase fallen asleep can be a little tricky.  It doesn't refer to literal sleep nor 'soul sleep' but it is a commonly used term to refer to Christians who have died and are now enjoying the presence of Christ in heaven.  The Apostle Paul is talking about the 'dearly departed.'  If Christ did not rise from the dead then the text says that those that have gone on before in faith perished.  The idea behind perish does not just mean to physically die, the implication is much deeper and much more tragic then mere physical death.  The word perish is used in 2nd Peter 3:6 when Peter describes those that died in the flood.  That death judgment was a spiritual judgment on sinful, rebellious men.  It speaks of a spiritual death, an eternity separated away from God in a place called hell.  Or we would look at 2nd Peter 3:9 when Peter wrote that God was not willing that any should perish.  If it merely spoke about physical death then the verse loses it's 'teeth."  Instead, God is speaking through Peter saying that God does not desire that anyone go to hell, be separated away from Him!  Or yet another example could be John 3:16.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes on Him should not PERISH.  There's that word again.  Jesus tells Nicodemus (and us) that He came in order to save those that were perishing (all of us because all have sinned).  He came to remove our sin, to wash the deepest stain, and to bring us home to be with Him forever.

      Let's look at one last set of verses in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4.13-18&version=ESV).  Paul in this letter comforts believers by saying that those that have gone on before the return of Jesus are in heaven, and that message should comfort others also.  How could we be comforted about the presence of those that have gone on before if Christ did not rise from the dead?  If Christ did not rise there is no comfort because that means that those that have gone on before died in vain and have perished without hope.  But we have hope, not just hope but a living hope in Jesus Christ.

      Let's recap.  We know that resurrection is true because the Scripture gives overwhelmingly evidence of the fact.  Since it is true we have been called to be witnesses to those that are around us.  And because He lives we can know that death has no power over us because death and the grave have been defeated by His glorious resurrection.  We as the believer do not live in the what if's, but the what is finished!