Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

May 10– Morning

 by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“But now Christ is risen from the dead.” 

—1 Corinthians 15:20

 

The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty; your faith is in nothing; you are still in your sins,” says the Apostle Paul.

The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his deity if he had not risen.

Christ’s sovereignty also depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and lived again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

Our justification— that is, our being “declared righteous” in the eyes of God– is also linked with Christ’s triumphant victory over death and the grave; for “he was delivered for our sins and was raised again for our justification.”

Without Christ’s resurrection we could never have been spiritually reborn, but, since he has been raised, we have been “born again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And most certainly our ultimate resurrection depends on it, for we are trusting that the same “Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead… will also make our mortal bodies alive”… and that those who die in Christ will surely behold their God.

In this way the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer’s blessings from being born again to his eternal glory. What could be more important to know beyond a doubt? “But now Christ is risen from the dead.” [M&E]