If There Was No Resurrection
I Corinthians 15:14-20, 55-57

There was a magician named Harry Houdini. He died in October of 1926, but his claim to fame was that he was a magician and an excellent escape artist. As a matter of fact, he was said to have laughed at locks and sneered at fetters. Houdini was said to have the flexibility of an eel and the lives of a cat. They did all kinds of things to incarcerate him. They sealed him in coffins and he escaped. They riveted him in a boiler and he escaped. They sowed him up in canvas bags and he escaped. They locked him in a maximum-security prison, but somehow, Old Harry still got out. But then in October of 1926, Death laid its hands on Harry Houdini and he would never escape. Speaking of death, Harry  told his wife, “If there is any way out, I will find it. If there is any way out, I will find you and I will make contact with you on the anniversary of my death.” For 10 years after Harry’s death, his wife kept a light burning at the bottom of his portrait. She finally turned the light out. Death had laid its hands on Harry Houdini and he could not escape.

Many would say, “If Harry couldn’t do it, then it couldn’t be done!” I want to talk to you about Someone greater than Harry Houdini. He wasn’t a magician; He wasn’t a great escape artist; He was the Son of the Living God. Unlike Houdini, however, Jesus rose from the dead—just like He said He would! Paul said, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” What if there was no resurrection? Paul talks about a domino effect that would take place if Christ were not raised. The “domino effect” means that when one event takes place it affects a series of other events.

There are several important things to consider if there was no resurrection:

1. Our preaching is in vain. You that occasionally doze off during Sunday sermons can sleep well in knowing that it’s OK! The message would have no bearing on your life anyway! Paul uses the Greek word Kenton, which means, “empty, groundless, void of all truth and meaning”. You see, the heart of the Gospel message lies in the fact that Jesus Christ died and rose again. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then our preaching is in vain.
2. Our faith is in vain.It is empty, groundless and meaningless. Paul uses the Greek word, Mataia, which means, “fruitless or futile.” If our faith is in vain, then our sins are not forgiven. If our sins are not forgiven, there is no redemption!Ephesians1:7 explains, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” When a converted Buddhist was asked why he converted to Christianity, he said, “It’s like this: If you walked along and came to a fork in the road, and found two men there—one dead and the other alive—which man’s directions would you follow?” If there is no resurrection of Christ, we must agree with our Christian brother—we follow a dead man!
3. We are all liars.You see, the apostles bore witness that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. These men were either lying or telling the truth. It has been said, “Hypocrites and martyrs are not made of the same stuff—a man may live for a lie, but no one would die for a lie.” Yet, all of the disciples except for John died martyrs’ deaths. Acts tells us, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all...”
4. There would be no resurrection for us. Since Christ is our Savior, if He didn't do it, neither will we!
5. There is no hope for those who died believing in Him, because they will have perished in their sins. Jesus was merely a good man, unable to save.
6. We are to be pitied above all people. Our hope is in a false Savior. The lives that we live for Him would all be in vain! We become like all the other religions that believe in dead leaders!

But good news is found in I Corinthians 15:20: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and became the first fruits of them that slept.” This means that there was no greater way for God to prove that He can raise the dead than for Him to raise a dead man. He did this when He raised up the Man Christ Jesus! Because He arose, we too shall arise. Death can’t keep us in the ground! His resurrection is our guarantee. If you have a loved one who has passed on before you, if they placed their faith in Christ before they died, no matter how long they’ve been in the grave, Death can’t keep them in the ground! Revelation 14:13 said, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord!” Why? Because they will rise again! All of this was done when Christ purchased our Salvation!

A certain preacher was walking home from the market one day, when he noticed a little mischievous boy playing with some poor birds in a beaten up, rusty birdcage. He asked the boy, “Son, what are you going to do with those birds?”

That squirt of a boy said, “Well, I’m going to poke them with a stick...then I’m going to pull out their feathers...then I’m going to feed them to my cat!”

Well, that preacher had a soft heart and he felt sorry for those birds. So he asked the boy, “How much do you want for them?”

“What? Why Mister, you don’t want these old birds...why they’re worthless...they can’t mean anything to you.”

The preacher replied, “How much?”

The boy sized him up and said, “Well, ten dollars.” The preacher took out his wallet and gave the boy a ten-dollar bill. Then he took those birds over to a nice patch of green grass under a shade tree. And he gently opened the door of that cage and he coerced those pitiful birds to come out of that cage and into freedom.

Over 2,000 years ago, Satan came to Jesus and said, “Yep! I just caught me a world full of people down there!”

And Jesus asked him, “What are you going to do with them?”

Satan replied, “Well, I’m going to teach them how to hate each other, and lie to each other, and build bombs to destroy each other; I’m going to teach them to steal and to drink and to do drugs...” And on and on he went.

And Jesus asked, “And then what are you going to do with them?”

Satan’s response, “Well, I guess I’ll just kill them!”

Then Jesus asked, “How much do you want for them?”

And Satan wondered, “Why in the world would you want these people? Why, they will just hate you, and despise you, and betray you, and they will even beat you and crucify you! You don’t want them!!!”

And Jesus said once again, “How much?”

And Satan replied, “All your tears and all your blood.”

And the Lord Jesus said, “DONE!”

I know that this is just a story, but it illustrates well the love Christ had for us! This means that, after the price was paid with His life, there was no sad ending because Jesus rose from the dead, giving all who put their trust in Him the knowledge that they, too, shall rise again!

If Houdini had come back, they would have called it another escape; but when Jesus rose from the dead, they called it a VICTORY! The shout went forth, “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; but the strength of sin is the law." But thanks be to God, we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!