Rhapsody of Realities Daily Devotional
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome PhD
Thursday, 12th May 2022
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RESURRECTION
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:12)
Sometime ago, a certain well-known “priest” publicly stated that he used to believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but he now had reasons to question whether or not Jesus truly rose from the dead. The fact of the matter is, he never believed in Jesus even though he claimed to be a Christian. It’s impossible to be a Christian without believing absolutely in the resurrection of Jesus!
There’s no Christianity without the resurrection. Christianity only begins from the resurrection, not the Cross. The death of Jesus didn’t provide eternal life; it’s the resurrection of Jesus Christ that ushered us into eternal life. The Apostle Paul explains it in Romans 6:4; he said, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
To not believe in the resurrection is to deny the possibility and availability of eternal life. And if you don’t have eternal life, you’re not a Christian. A Christian is someone who has received eternal life. What is eternal life? It’s the life and nature of God—the quality of the divine essence.
For example, dogs aren’t goats, chickens aren’t ostriches; no matter the resemblance between them, they don’t have the same life and they’ll never produce or reproduce after the other. Dogs will never reproduce goats and vice versa. The Christian is literally born of God, with the God-life. It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that made that possible. Hallelujah!
More so, the Bible says Jesus was proven or declared to be God in human flesh according to the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). Then the Spirit of God, through the Apostle Paul, brought the doctrine to a climax in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19; study the entire reference. The 19th verse says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Thank God for the resurrection! It’s what gave us life. Blessed be God!
PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for the glorious resurrection of Christ that ushered in Christianity and brought us into eternal life—the indestructible, uninfectable, and impregnable life. I walk in the newness of life, conscious that I’ve been raised together with Christ and made to sit together with Him in the place of victory, authority and dominion forever, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Year Bible Reading Plan : John 6:1-24 &1 Kings 9
2 Year Bible Reading Plan : 1 Corinthians 7:25-40 & Proverbs 8