As you read these quotes from God’s Word and His people about the importance of Christ’s resurrection (excerpted from my book It’s All About Jesus) may your heart overflow with gratitude to Jesus for living as He did and dying as He did and rising as He did, so we can live forever with Him and His people in a world where He will, once and for all, make all things right.
What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” John 11:25-26 ESV
“When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” John 14:20 NLT
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:17 ESV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 ESV
No resurrection. No Christianity. Michael Ramsey
In the New Testament the Resurrection is that central miracle around which the Christian faith is gathered. The apostle Paul said that without believing the miracle of the Resurrection, faith was impossible (Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:17). Calvin Miller
Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith. John S. Whale
Christianity rises or falls on the resurrection. If this event is historically true, it makes all other religions false, because Jesus claimed to be the only way to God. To prove this, he predicted he would rise three days after his death. And he did. Randy Alcorn
Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed. John Stott
If Christ be not risen, the dreadful consequence is not that death ends life, but that we are still in our sins. Geoffrey Anketell Studdert-Kennedy
Had He not emerged from the tomb all our hopes, all our salvation would be lying dead with Him unto this day. But as we see Him issue from the grave we see ourselves issue with Him in newness of life. Now we know that His shoulders were strong enough to bear the burden that was laid upon them, and that He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through Him. The resurrection of Christ is thus the indispensable evidence of His completed work, His accomplished redemption. B.B. Warfield
If Christ has risen the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown. Satan has fallen like lightning from heaven; and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery, is forever secured. Charles Hodge
If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters. Jaroslav Pelikan
Christianity is realistic because it says that if there is no truth, there is also no hope; and there can be no truth if there is no adequate base. It is prepared to face the consequences of being proved false and say with Paul: If you find the body of Christ, the discussion is finished, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. It leaves absolutely no room for a romantic answer. Francis Schaeffer
If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead. Timothy Keller
The sepulchre calls forth my adoring wonder,
for it is empty and thou art risen;
the four-fold gospel attests it,
the living witnesses prove it,
my heart’s experience knows it. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Without the resurrection, at the name of Jesus every knee would not bow; more likely, people would say, “Jesus who?” John Young
In ancient times before the divine sojourn of the Savior took place, even to the saints death was terrible; all wept for the dead as though they perished. But now that the Savior has raised his body, death is no longer terrible; for all who believe in Christ trample on it as it were nothing and choose rather to die than deny their faith in Christ. Athanasius of Alexandria
Christ has turned all our sunsets into dawns. Clement of Alexandria
The power of Christ’s resurrection is enough not only to remake us but also to remake every square inch of the universe. Randy Alcorn
Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
