Devotion: If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and so is your faith

1 Corinthians 15:13-14 – But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

Jesus rose from the dead, that’s what we celebrate when we mark the Easter/Passover holiday on the Christian calendar. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead means that God accepted his sacrifice as full payment for our sin, meaning then that whosoever believes in Jesus will not die, but they have everlasting life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It is our faith in Christ and what he did that enables us to be saved, and not our works. One of the benefits of the resurrection is the assurance that our faith in Christ is secure. It is not a fairy tale and neither is it wishful thinking, it is a truth that cannot be shaken.

We live today in a world where people will not believe and there are those who laugh at believers saying they have believed in a fairy tale, or as some here in Africa say that we have believed in a white man’s God. With the advent of social media, many have come out with the sole agenda to try to discredit the bible and Christianity and if one is not grounded in their faith, they can be easily swayed.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NKJV) – For the [a]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life and no one goes to the father except they go by him. Many today will say that there are many ways to God, but not according to Jesus, and our faith in him is secure because he did exactly what he said that he would do.

Remember;

1 John 5:4 (NKJV) – For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—[a]our faith.

Reflections

Who is the one person in your life that you completely trust, why do you trust them?
Jesus fulfilled all that was prophesied about Him, and He did what he said he would do. Is that reason enough to have faith in him?
Jesus said he is the only way, the only truth and the only life, do you believe that, and what have you done about it?