Why the Resurrection Is the Anchor of Christian Hope
If Christ is not raised, nothing matters. If He is, everything does. Discover why the Apostle Paul says the resurrection is the key to hope, faith, and the future.
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12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ hasbeen raised. 14 And if Christhas not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[a] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God[b] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, what do peoplemean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride inyou, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”[c] 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection and Our Future
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 shares what is of most and first importance: Christ died for our sins. He was buried, dead, resurrected, and appeared to hundreds, including the Apostle Paul, chief of all sinners, the one who murdered Christians, the one who persecuted Christ and His church. [READ MORE: The Gospel That Makes Sense of Everything]
This is what the faith is based on: death and resurrection. In those verses, the Apostle Paul was looking back at what Christ had done. In this passage, 1 Corinthians 15:12-48, he looks forward to what it means for believers now and what it will mean for them in the future.
The Apostle Paul looks ahead because the Corinthians were apparently asking what-if questions. What if Christ wasn’t really raised? What if resurrection wasn’t a real thing? What if I won’t be raised?
Consider this concept: If there were incontrovertible proof that the grave of Jesus Christ had been discovered and therein was His body, if it were undeniable that Jesus of Nazareth’s body had been found, if His bones were still there, would you still be His disciple?
If leaders you trusted said, “You know what, that actually is His body there,” would you still believe? Our initial response might be, “Well, of course. Jesus, I’ll follow you anywhere. Even if you weren’t resurrected, His teachings and life are a good enough example for me to follow.”
However, the reality is, you’d be wrong.
The Apostle Paul says if the resurrection did not occur, then it all falls apart. There is no good news without that resurrection. Otherwise, this is just another good teacher, another guru, who’s been killed by the authorities in an ignominious death.
The text shows us that where Christ goes, we will follow. What He has done and what He has received will be done and received by us. Because He is our victorious king, He is sharing with us the spoils of His victory.
[READ MORE: Why Did Jesus Have to Die?]
The Terrible Consequences of Denying the Resurrection
There were doubters in the early church and in Corinth. They said, “That’s not how it works. God doesn’t bring people back from the dead.” The Apostle Paul walks out that argument. He tells them, if that’s what you believe, then here are the consequences of that belief.
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:12-18
When we deny the resurrection, horrible consequences follow. We’ve preached and believed in vain—useless, of no effect, made no difference. We’ve misrepresented God and lied about Him when we said He raises the dead. We violated the third and ninth commandments. We’ve believed futilely—of no use, idly, empty, fruitless, useless, powerless, without truth. We’re still in our sins because there’s no atonement, no victory, no justification.
Those who have put their faith in this Christ, in this man who wasn’t resurrected—remember, that’s the premise—have died and their bodies will rot and return to the earth like everything else. They’ve believed in vain. They have perished alongside Christ.
The Apostle Paul sums it up in verse 19: “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” We’ve been made out to be fools. We’ve put our hope and trust in the wrong thing, and the only emotion we deserve is pity.
But this is the rest of the story. What God begins in us with Christ’s death on the cross—forgiveness—what He continues to work in us through His Holy Spirit—sanctification—ends with His glorification and with ours. Without the resurrection, it all falls apart. Only because of the resurrection does it all make sense. [READ MORE: Sanctification: A Moment and a Process in the Life of Every Believer]
Throughout His ministry, Christ told His disciples this, even though they didn’t always get it. When Lazarus died, and Jesus went to the home of Mary and Martha, they were upset. They said, “You should have gotten here faster.” Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
If Christ isn’t raised, then what’s really just a house of cards comes tumbling down. That’s why the Apostle Paul warns against it so strongly. When he wrote to the church in Galatia, he began chapter one this way:
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8-9
If anyone is telling you to doubt the resurrection and that it didn’t occur, the Apostle Paul says, let that person be cursed. As theologian Jaroslav Pelikan put it: “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, nothing else matters.”
There are terrible consequences if Christ were not resurrected.
The Direct Connection: Christ’s Resurrection and Ours
The Apostle Paul moves to show the direct connection between His resurrection and the resurrection of His followers.
There’s a principle in law called stare decisis or judicial supremacy. Simply put, when the Supreme Court decides something, it applies to all the lower courts. When the Supreme Court rules on an issue, the top flows down to the bottom, and the lower courts cannot contradict that issue.
For Christ, what He has done, will be done and received by us. That is the reversing of the effects of sin and the effects of death in our lives. Christ’s resurrection restores what was corrupted through Adam. The corruption from the fall is undone by the faithfulness of the Son.
In 1 Corinthians 15:20, the Apostle Paul says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” This idea of firstfruits is an Old Testament principle. In Leviticus 23, you can see all the festivals outlined, and the festival of firstfruits is the idea that when a harvest comes in, the first portion goes to the Lord. It is an act of faith where you give it to the Lord.
“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.” Leviticus 23:10-11
They say, “These firstfruits are the Lord’s,” and the people respond, “He is the God of the harvest.” The firstfruits are the down payment, and God will make good on paying off the rest of the balance. What has happened to the firstfruits will happen to the rest of the harvest. It’s this idea that God will provide, that we have faith He will act, that what is symbolized by the sacrifice will account for the rest of the harvest. Also, don’t miss that it happens on the first day of the week, the same day as the resurrection.
The Apostle Paul continues in verse 21: “For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). A man had gotten us into this mess (Adam), and a man was going to get us out of it (Jesus). He says it differently in Romans: “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Sin and death come to us through our father, Adam. Just as we are all born of Adam, we are all born into a state of sin; It is our natural predilection. But Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He had to be fully man to be a man, to account for man’s sin, but He had to be fully God to be sinless and holy, the one who could atone, the one who could reconcile us back to God.
What Adam does, Christ undoes. Christ takes away the effects of sin and death on us. If you read through Genesis 3 and compare it with the Gospels, you can see that Christ is our new Adam, our second Adam, our new head of the new covenant. This has been God’s plan from the beginning. In Genesis 3, God says He will make a plan—the Proto-Evangelion, the Proto-Gospel—so that the head of the serpent shall be crushed.
The Apostle Paul continues in verse 23: “But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Him. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all his enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:23-25).
Christ is the firstborn; He’s the first one resurrected. Then in due time, we will follow. Christ will give the kingdom of God back to the Father. The Apostle Paul is quoting Psalm 110 here, which says your enemies will be made into a footstool for you.
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:26-28
This is Trinitarian language. It’s saying that Christ has delivered the kingdom to God, but He’s not subordinate. He is also fully God, but He is working as God’s agent, God’s emissary, God’s representative to come to this world and do this work. When it is fully done, He will give the kingdom back to God.
It is because of this work that Christ is putting everything back in order, the way it was intended from the start. When that happens, all creation will recognize Him as Lord.
“Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11
This is where heaven and earth are headed. Where Christ has gone, we will follow. The end is that death itself is defeated.
The Hope That Transforms Grief
When someone close to us passes, it is right and good to mourn because we have loved that person and will miss them for the rest of our lives. That is good.
But there is one day when even death itself will be undone. That’s why we don’t mourn as people without hope, as the Apostle Paul says elsewhere (1 Thessalonians 4:13). That’s why we don’t have to be consumed by this grief unceasingly, because we know that the world does not end with death.
If you go to the very last chapter of Scripture, it says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
If God has called you—and I believe His grace works on everyone and is calling everyone unto Himself—if you’ve accepted it, then He is faithful to carry it out through your own resurrection. Because where He goes, we will follow.
“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30
When we say yes to Christ, when we continually say yes to Christ, when we respond to His grace in our lives, it ends in our glorification. What happens to Christ happens to us. He was baptized. We’re baptized. He died. We are called to die to self, to take up our crosses to follow Him, even unto death. He was raised, and we will be raised too. It is His resurrection that undoes the curse from sin that Adam brought into our lives.
[READ MORE: A Light in the Darkness]
The Ethical Implications of Resurrection
The Apostle Paul closes with the ethical implications of the resurrection. If God does not raise the dead, then what some people in Corinth are doing is absurd. But since God does raise the dead, what some people in Corinth are claiming is absurd.
1 Corinthians 15:29 says, “Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” This is a difficult verse. We don’t really know what it means—scholars count 200 interpretations. However, the implication is this: Whatever the Corinthians were doing, baptizing in the name or on behalf of the dead, whatever that means, it didn’t have any effect if the resurrection didn’t occur. That’s the point he’s making.
He continues: “Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!” (1 Corinthians 15:30-31). The Apostle Paul reminds them of the danger he puts himself in on behalf of Christ. Every day I go out and preach this, and very many times I have come close to my own death because of this. The world doesn’t want to hear this when it’s dominated by sin. But I’ve preached it, and I would not stake everything I have and everything I am on an untrue gospel.
The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ’s resurrection allows us to remain faithful through life’s most difficult circumstances. These difficulties are only temporary. For us, even our greatest enemy—when we know Christ, that enemy is death—when we have to face it, we can face it well. For us, it is just as if we are going to sleep, because one day He will wake us up for the new creation.
“What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” 1 Corinthians 15:32
The Apostle Paul isn’t talking about literal beasts at Ephesus. If you read the story, he ran into a lot of trouble there because the people didn’t like what he had to say. He told them if the gospel is not true, if there is no resurrection, if this life is all that we have, if our final fate just rests in death, and when we take our last breath, we will exist no more, then I guess, yeah—eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Live however you wish.
But he argues no.
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:33-34
He says, you are made for more than this. Your life is more than merriment and having fun; it is more than just the accumulation of wealth. When you live this way, it reveals that you do not believe in or trust the promise of resurrection.
There is more to this life than what we have, what we see, and what we do right now. You’re made for more than that. So, wake up, and don’t go on sinning.
When Christ spoke to the Sadducees who disavowed the resurrection, He said, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24). If you don’t live and believe like the resurrection is true, you don’t know the Scriptures. You’re denying the power that God has. God has power over all. There’s nothing He can’t do, and that includes raising the dead.
So, sober up, come back to your senses, and stop sinning by lying about God, by living unfaithful lives; Come back to Christ. The Corinthians prided themselves and prized their knowledge, but they didn’t know God, and we don’t know the Scriptures when we live this way.
When you know God’s power, you can put the troubles of this life into perspective. Your understanding of the present motivates your life into the future.
[READ MORE: Walking With Mary: A Mother’s Day Reflection on Loss and Faith]
The Resurrection Shapes How We Live
The resurrection of the body is a determining factor for Christian life and living, because it’s a stimulus to faith for the living. Your understanding of the present motivates your life into the future. So it gives hope for the sick, dying and mourning. Death isn’t the end of the body, and life’s temporary end no longer proclaims the end of bodily existence. No longer is there an eternal separation from loved ones. We don’t get rid of our bodies, but we’re resurrected to a new, glorified state, one without the weight of sin and death.
When that resurrection comes, we’ll be raised with bodies that never die. Real physical bodies. An eternal unification of our mind, soul, body, and spirit living together in the new creation that God has reconciled to Himself.
This enduring hope is built on Christ’s resurrection. Now, there might be some unbelievers who say, “Well, when is this going to happen? It’s been 2,000 years.” Peter writes to the early church and tells them, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9). He tarries to give you time to come to faith and to reckon with this truth.
A New Day Has Dawned
Christ has come into the world, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). But the power of the grave didn’t hold Him, because He was raised to life and raised to heaven in the presence of God the Father. And we will be, too.
Until then, we have work to do. After we repent and believe in Jesus, we grow in sanctification, and then we return to the same world He came to heal. We follow Christ where He’s gone, seek and save the lost, and proclaim that good news.
When Christ walked out of that grave, a new day, a new age began. He gives us what’s already His and shares with us righteousness and reconciliation with God through forgiveness of sins. He shares with us His holiness for today as we are sanctified entirely. And He shares with us His resurrection for eternity—that eternal glorified body to live and reign with Him forever in the world to come.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he told them, “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14).
When Christ walked out of that grave, eternity began. It is now in session. We have received this firstborn of the resurrected new creation, and we wait to follow Him.
So, my question is: Do you know Him? Do you follow Him? Have you considered this just a good idea? Have you thought, these are great teachings, but I don’t trust that He can save me? I’m going to try to live a moral and ethical life. I’ll try to love people as I wish to be loved, but I don’t know about the Savior, and I don’t know about resurrection.
It happened. Christ is our victorious King. We will follow Him in this life until He returns or until we die, and we’ll follow Him into the next as resurrected people in glorified bodies just as He was and is. We will live in a glorified new creation state—no more death, destruction, violence, pestilence, famine, war, natural disasters, hunger, or illness. The Father rules in His heaven and on earth with His Son at His right hand, and the masses gathered around the throne, shouting, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8). Heaven and earth are full of His glory.
If you’re not among those redeemed, this world and life are the only heaven you’ll ever know. What a wretched possibility that is. But if you know Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, then this is the only hell you’ll ever know. This is as bad as it could ever get. And because you know what comes next, you can endure and persist for right now.
Eternity has begun. Christ’s coming was the announcement of the kingdom of God and to do the work to usher it in. This kingdom of God is here—not fully yet, but one day, maybe soon. He invites you to be a part of it with Him.
This is the rest of the story. This is the direction this world is headed in—that the light has broken, that the darkness fades, that Christ’s reign is being established in the hearts and lives of men and women and children. The powers of this world are fighting back. But as the hymn tells us, “His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.”
TL;DR
Paul argues that without the resurrection, Christian faith collapses—but with it, everything holds together.
Christ’s resurrection is the “firstfruits” of God’s promise to raise His people into a restored creation.
Denying resurrection leads to ethical confusion, moral drift, and hopeless living.
Because Christ is risen, believers can face suffering, death, and the future with unshakable confidence and holy purpose.
