The Week That Changed The World Devotional April 2

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8 | 3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Every Christian should regularly read this great chapter from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. It summarizes why the members and leaders of the early church trusted in the truth and reality of the Resurrection. In verses 1-20, Paul makes a stunning move—he rests the entire validity of the Christian movement on the historical reality of Jesus’ bodily Resurrection. He produces a list of witnesses to the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, and in so doing invites sceptics to question them. He rules out understanding the Resurrection as an internal or psychological phenomena and insists that the Christian movement has no point, no power, no proclamation, and no purpose without a genuine Resurrection. Christians lie in their claims, falsely represent God, and become objects of scorn and pity if this one truth fails.

Subsequent attempts to reframe the Easter event as a mass delusion, a myth, or fabrication run counter to the way the early followers experienced and described it. They trusted and proclaimed an historical event.

There is no real Christianity without a real Resurrection. Do you agree?

Gracious God,
Let me live today trusting that You will meet and encounter me. Help me listen for Your voice and sense Your activity.
Amen.