1 Corinthians 15:20-22

For the past month, when I've found the times to be quiet, I've found myself asking myself "is this all real? Is this Jesus thing, is it real to me? Despite all the theology, all the whatever, is this thing for real or is it all a game I'm playing?" And in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, Paul rightly recognizes that this question all hinges on a historical question. "Did Christ really raise from the dead?" And in response to that question he lists all these things we should do if it's not. He lists the implications in honesty as if he's lived in light of the implications. In verse 17, he basically says that if Christ has not been raised, we should just go back to the futility of self-justification. We've still got to do something with our sins. But after this, there is a response to these implications of the "if":

"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (ESV)

I'm grateful that the exchange we made back in Genesis 3 has been exchanged back by the work of Jesus. So helpless, so dead we were. How saved, how loved, how alive we are. Praise Jesus. Thank God for the cross and the empty tomb. We're no longer in our sins anymore. As Christ's body wasn't still found in the tomb, neither are ours. We're alive. We've been raised. We've been resurrected from the dead. Good news!