Heaven: When Faith Becomes SightSample

It All Rests on the Resurrection

Today I want to start with water. Yep, pour a plain glass of water. I’ve got mine sitting here on my white glass-top desk.

Now, think back to your middle school science class. Do you remember what the chemical composition of water is? Yes, H2O! You’ve still got it!

Look into your water and imagine this: invisible to your eye, but very present, are gazillions and bazillions (I have no idea how many) of H2O molecules. Now imagine you have all the best equipment to remove the oxygen atoms from the H2O molecules. What would happen?

Yep, you’d be left with only hydrogen atoms (H). But if you did that, you would no longer have water. Water (H2O) cannot exist without oxygen atoms (O). I hope you aren’t a thirsty chemist.

Why did I start with a sip of water and an amateur chemistry refresher? Because this illustration applies to the resurrection and eternal life. Whaaat?

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 (NIV), Paul said it is of first importance that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead, not according to our religious tradition, not according to superstition or wishful thinking, but according to the Scripture (1 Thess. 2:13). This is the gospel in a nutshell. And of course, because the gospel is true, we want to receive it, hold fast to it, and stand firm in it.

Sometimes when we think of the gospel though, we focus only on the cross, the place Jesus bore and paid for our sins. But Paul was making a big deal about what followed Jesus’s death—His resurrection.

And rightly so, because our eternal future rests on the resurrection.

Based on 1 Corinthians 15:13-19, If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ has not risen, well, then you and I can’t and won’t be either.

If Christ was not raised, our message and our faith is useless, and we are still in our sins. That means all those who died are forever lost.

And it’s plain sad if we place our faith in Christ for this life only. That is something to be pitied, not celebrated.

Oh, my friend, the implications are huge if we deny that our resurrection is possible. It IS more than possible. Because of Jesus, it is guaranteed. Because He was resurrected, we will be resurrected. His guarantees ours.

Our hope of Heaven rests on the resurrection.

Now, pick up your glass of water again and imagine all those H2O molecules. Remember how you pretended you removed the oxygen atoms from the H2O molecules? Remember the result? You only had hydrogen left. And without that combination of hydrogen and oxygen, you didn’t have water. Removing the oxygen left you high and dry!

Well, if eternal life is water, then the death of Jesus is the hydrogen atom and the resurrection of Jesus is the oxygen atom. In other words, without His resurrection, our resurrection and eternal life itself would not exist. Jesus’s death is essential, for His death was the payment for our sin and the satisfaction of God’s wrath toward sin. Yet, if the gospel story ended there, death would have been more powerful than Jesus. And if death were more powerful than Jesus, then He wasn’t God. The story would have ended there, as would our hope. But Jesus rose from the grave.

And because He rose, we will also rise to a glorious unending! It all rests on the resurrection.

Read or listen to 1 Corinthians 15 and spend a few moments thanking Jesus for His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection that conquered death once and for all!