“…It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:24-25).
This portion of Scripture and its reference to Jesus’ resurrection serves to underscore some essential spiritual truths. For example, these verses highlight the importance of acknowledging the factual nature of Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, for those historic truths are indispensable to our salvation. As our text from Romans 4:24 reminds us, Jesus was “…delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (NIV).
Paul the Apostle addressed this subject at greater length in the Biblical letter we know today as 1 Corinthians…
“…if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world” (1 Corinthians 15:14-19 GNB).
In these verses, Paul addressed a number of serious repercussions that arise from the notion that Jesus’ death and resurrection were not literal, historic events……
- “…all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless;” (TLB).
- “If the dead won’t be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying he raised Christ to life, when he really did not” (CEV).
- “if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either” (NIV).
- “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins” (NLT).
- “and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever” (CEB).
- “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone” (HCSB).
Therefore, we can say that our affirmation of Jesus’ historic death and resurrection is comparable in importance to a proper understanding of His life and teachings.
Image Attribution: Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons