Skip to main content

Seven “Ifs” and a BIG “but”!

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain (1 Corinthians 15.14)

LAD“Is there life after death?” I tossed this question to twin teen girls just yesterday. Surprisingly they had different answers. These twins are the most identical I have ever seen. They do everything together and even “feel” when the other is sick or in pain! However, they had dissimilar responses to my question.

The banter between the two went something like this, “Some believe that there is and some don’t.” “How can we know?” “Well, somebody has to die and then communicate with us so that we’ll all know! You go first!” said Lara. “Not me! You go!!” said her sister Larissa with a giggle.

The Corinthian believers apparently had a similar question about life after death because Paul responded with an amazing paragraph (1 Corinthians 15.12-19). It contains seven “ifs”. Note them:

  1. if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
  2. if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen
  3. if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
  4. if so be that the dead rise not (we are found false witnesses of God)
  5. if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised
  6. if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
  7. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

My translation summary, “If Christ hasn’t risen from the dead then we are all TOAST!

However, at this very moment Paul burst from this desperate line of thinking with a huge “BUT”. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (20).

Folks! Take a deep breath and rest easy. There IS hope because Christ really DID raise from the dead! There IS life after death. 

Once again the Bible makes stuff easy. It eliminates our “LAD" (Life After Death) doubts. We can know without having to send a scout on ahead of us as Lara (or was it Larissa?) suggested.

However, this brings in another horrible thought. Since we know that there is LAD then there must be DAD (Death After Death)! Eternal death is as sure as eternal life.

I left the girls thinking about this one. If you have never confronted these two questions be sure that they both exist whether or not you believe in them. Come to terms with what the Bible says and make your choice. Choose life not death! It is a “No-Brainer” really. BUT the choice is yours!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
3 comments
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living Up to Expectations

walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called (Ephesians 4.1) I’m sorry but I cannot imagine being primped to be a duke, prince or king! I have always thought of Prince Charles as a big wuss in waiting. His whole life has been spent preparing to be “the next king of England.” This poor guy has gone above and beyond the call of duty in being groomed for a position that Elizabeth II, his mom, doesn’t seem to want to give up. Elizabeth’s mother, the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, lived for 101 years for Pete’s sake! Does Charley have a chance? Doubt it. Why this talk about princely preening? Well my friend it is because we as God’s children are in a similar process. In Ephesians 4.1 Paul goes into some interesting details. He tells us the following. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, The word vocation trips us up. I went through my career at GM working my best so that I would plea...
Post a Comment
Read more