Two for the Price of One - Part 3

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins [1 Corinthians 15:17].

The message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study teaches about life as well as death. “How so?” you wonder, as you read the words of the verse with befuddlement. Permit me to explain it.

If Christ did not rise out of death, then we are still in our sins because the penalty for sins wasn’t accepted. Accordingly, we must die twice because we are only born once. But…but…BUT Christ did die on the cross as payment for the penalty of our sins, and He did rise out of death to demonstrate God’s acceptance of His perfect payment for sins. And by faith we accepted His payment on our behalf.

Having done so we are born again, born twice, and we have His new resurrection life in exchange for our old life of sin. The subject of the entire fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is not the cross and death. It is the empty tomb and life, eternal life and the new resurrection body.

There could be no empty tomb apart from Christ’s death on the cross, so the cross and death cannot be omitted from the discussion in 1 Corinthians 15. By the same token the cross by itself cannot accomplish God’s goal of redemption for sinners apart from the empty tomb.

The two cannot be separated, not even for a jinute, and that’s quicker than a minute! The cross flows into the empty tomb. The empty tomb is filled with the cross. At the cross the penalty for sins was paid. Sinners died on the cross “in Christ”, and they were buried in the empty tomb “in Christ”—sinners, that is, who accept Jesus’ payment for their sins.

The sinner remains dead and buried in the tomb, but the new creation rises out of death and departs the tomb, leaving it empty to him. The old sinner remains in the tomb. The new creation in Christ Jesus does not. He lives with Christ evermore, and their residence is certainly not in a tomb! Hallelujah!

So the teaching of our quoted text is that Christ had to rise out of death, or His death for the penalty of our sins was not paid. God did not accept His payment on our behalf. In that case we are born only once and must die twice.

Praise God! Christ did rise out of death! His resurrection is indubitably true. We not only die “in Christ” on the cross of Christ, but we also rise out of death “in Christ” and leave the tomb. At the cross we are emptied of sin. At the empty tomb we are filled with new life, sinless life, life without sin.

Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. The cross must never be devalued, but let us never forget to fuse the empty tomb with it. Both together accomplish God’s plan of redemption for mankind.

Oh, that reminds me. Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, but have you been to the cross and exited the tomb?

To further research this issue, I direct you to my books in the Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes Bible study series. To purchase my books please click on the "Shop" tab at the top of this page, where you will find a complete list of my books. Each book is available in both paperback (Createspace) and eBook (Kindle).

#1corinthians15 #cross #calvary #golgotha #crucifixion #resurrection #emptytomb