Where, O death, is your sting!? (1 Cor. 15)

"If there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." 1 Corinthians 15:13-14

When Paul was writing to the church of Corinth, he had a mess to clean up. The church had all sorts of problems that included incest, spiritual immaturity, marriage problems and false teaching. This church had questioned Paul's apostolic authority and were even questioning Christ's resurrection from the dead. Paul spends 58 verses in chapter 15 explaining the necessity as well as the reality of the resurrection to these people who had fallen under false teaching.

This scenario is not new today. There are millions who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Chrsit. Paul states "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith us futile; you are still in your sins." (15:16-17) If Christ has not been raised, then He didn't overcome death and we are forgiven our sins and we cannot live eternally in Heaven. Thus, the doctrine of the resurrection is the hope of our salvation.

Paul later says "If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die." (15:32) As my teacher in seminary put it, "If Christ was not raised, go to the Olive Garden and max our your credit card. Go live on the beach and get one of those drinks with an umbrella in it and make the most out of life."

Sadly, this is the logical conclusion of holding to the view that the resurrection did not happen. But the resurrection did happen and accepting this fact gives us victory over death. "Where, O Death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."(15:55-57) Amen.