1 Corinthians 15:14-15 “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.”

An English explorer, Wilkinson was excavating a mummy pit in Egypt when he discovered a tightly sealed vase. Inside he discovered a few old, wrinkled, hard peas. Carefully, these peas were planted under a glass and were tended. 30 days later, the peas had sprouted! These peas had slept in this dust-ridden tomb for nearly 3,000 years and still they lived. This is quite an example of our lives. Our mortal body, sin-ridden and sundered from God can be and has been revived into new spiritual life. “Because He lives, we too shall live.”

Christ’s resurrection is the central tenant of our relationship with God. If Christ had never lived, everything we believe is false. If Christ lived and died as a normal man, everything we believe is false. If Christ lived, the son of God, but died and was not resurrected under His own (and God’s) power then everything we believe is false.

Fortunately Christ rose from the dead, and this has been recorded for us by the apostles and believers of the time who witnessed His resurrected body! There is no body and there are no bones in the sepulcher which held Him for those interminable three days.

The story is told of a missionary preaching in a bazaar in a village in Northern India. While he was closing, an elderly Muslim gentleman approached him and said, “You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have."

The missionary merely smiled and responded "I should be pleased to hear what it is."

To which the Muslim replied, "You know when we go to Mecca we at least find a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, which is your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave."

Again, the missionary merely smiled and then said, "That is just the difference. Mohammed is dead; Mohammed is in the coffin. And false systems of religion and philosophy are in their coffins, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and kindreds and tribes, is not here; He is risen. And all power in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. That is our hope."

All power in Heaven and on Earth is Christ’s and He uses it to help us! He has cleansed us of all unrighteousness and purified us no matter our faults, our sins, our problems. He loved us, died for us, and rose again for us!

Because He lives, we too shall live!

May we bless the Lord with everything and in everything that we do. May we show His love and compassion to everyone we meet. May we do our utmost to live as Christ desires us too – not because we must but rather because we want too!.

Because He lives.