When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

—Mark 16:9-12 (TNIV)

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all others. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a human being. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

—1 Corinthians 15:12-28 (TNIV)

It seems that from the very beginning, people have had trouble believing in the Resurrection. And why wouldn’t we have trouble wrapping our minds around this? It is simply outside our experience or frame of reference. We certainly have our fair share of scoffers today, being such advanced and highly sophisticated people and thinkers that we are. That notwithstanding, Paul reminds us that mind-blowing as the Resurrection is, it is nevertheless true because nothing is impossible for God. Nothing.

When God raised Jesus from the dead, he vindicated his good but fallen creation. In Jesus, we have a preview of coming attractions of God’s promised New Creation. I will speak more about that later in the week when we have the appropriate text. In the meantime, we have the heart of the Gospel here. On the cross, God has addressed the intractable problem of human sin and the alienation it causes. Through the Resurrection, God has defeated death. We have the hope of living forever directly in God’s Presence in his New Creation when Christ returns again to consummate his saving work started in his Incarnation, death, and resurrection. Sweet. Very sweet.

Paul is right. If the Resurrection is not true, we who call ourselves Christian are most to be pitied. We are dead in our sins and have no future ahead of us beyond our mortal  years. More seriously, we make God a liar by believing and spreading false news. We do not have to worry about this latter issue, however, because the Resurrection is true. There is no other way to explain the  birth of Christianity.

Moreover, we know the Resurrection and the promise of New Creation are true because we choose to let Scripture sit in judgment over us. We do not choose to sit in judgment over Scripture, in part, because we know that our puny minds as well as our finite and fallible nature are no match for the Mind, Wisdom, Mercy, Power, and Purposes of God. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!