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Monday, March 17
... and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless, you are still in your sins ... (1 Corinthians 15:17)
Dr. Charles Gar eld has done extensive research with those who died physically and were brought back to life medically. His results: "Almost as many of the dying patients interviewed reported negative visions (demons and so forth), as reported blissful experiences."
Dr. Maurice Rawlings tells about one of his patients, a man who died three times. At his rst death he saw things so horrible that he experienced a religious conversion. His second clinical death, some days later, produced a wonderful, heavenly experience. At his third and nal death, he was the one reassuring his doctor.
Do you ever wonder what will happen to you when you die?
What God's word means
Earlier, Paul showed the Corinthians that without the resurrection his preaching was "meaningless," as was their faith (v. 14). Now he uses an even stronger word: if there was no Easter, their faith is useless ("futile, worthless, nothing, empty"). Because they put their trust in the risen Christ, if he is still dead, he cannot do for them what they are trusting him to do.
Specifi cally, you are still ("remaining") in your sins. Since sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), its "wages" or consequences are "death" (Romans 6:23)—physical death and eternal separation from the Lord. The Corinthians thought their sins had been forgiven by the risen Lord. But if he is not risen, he cannot forgive them.
Why Easter matters
If Jesus perished 20 centuries ago without a subsequent resurrection, he can clearly do nothing for you today. Despite the biblical claim that he is interceding for you right now (Romans 8:34), the dead cannot pray for the living. Despite his promise to be with you "to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20), the dead cannot walk alongside the living. And despite his claim to forgive sins (Luke 7:48), the dead cannot forgive the living. Your deceased ancestors cannot forgive your present failures.
If Easter did not happen, Jesus broke his promise to rise from the dead. Is God's promise to forgive all we confess to him (1 John 1:9) now equally suspect? If his Son did not rise from the dead, he cannot forgive your sins now. No matter how much faith we place in Jesus, if there was no Easter for him, there could be no salvation for us. You and I would spend eternity separated from God in hell.
How to respond
Only two percent of Americans are afraid they might go to hell. After Mother Teresa died in 1997, 78 percent of Americans surveyed thought she would be in heaven. However, 87 percent were certain they would go there.
The eff ectiveness of our faith depends not on the sincerity of its commitment but on the trustworthiness of its object. I can have sincere faith in a doctor whose misdiagnosis sickens me or an inebriated driver who crashes my taxi.
As you face your own death and eternal status, where have you placed your faith? In medical science? In nancial security? In your own morality? In your religious activities? Or in the risen Christ and his promise to take you to heaven (John 14:3)?
If you are trusting him, claim Jesus' promise today: "everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:26). When you take your last breath on earth, you take your rst breath in paradise. When you close your eyes here, you open them there. You step from the "car" into the "house." You are home and you are well.
When last did you thank Jesus for your eternal life?
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