He is risen, but let's talk about why that fact is so
important on this week's episode of Liberty at Home.
Happy Easter from your friends at Liberty Baptist Church in
Easton. I'm Adam Rivero, the pastor of
LBC and your host for Liberty at Home.
Today, as always, we're broadcasting for the studios of
Easton Community Access Television.
We're currently I'm overloading the circuits in the studio with
crock pots filled with ham and about seven other traditional
side dishes. Today I want to take a few
moments to talk to you about the resurrection of Christ and how
the world often ignores it this time of year, all while saying
they still celebrate Easter. Now let's read First Corinthians
chapter 15 verses 12 through 17. Now if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no
resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen?
And if Christ be not risen, then there's our preaching vain.
And your faith is also vain. Yay.
And we are found false witnesses of God, because we've testified
of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up.
If so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, that
is Christ not raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain. Ye are yet in your sins.
You know. Every spring, store shelves
filled with pastel colors, chocolate bunnies and, my
favorite, marshmallow Peeps. And for most of the world,
that's where the season begins and ends, a cheerful holiday
marked by egg hunts and family gatherings that have little to
do with anything beyond, well, the traditions themselves.
To be blunt, really, they're missing the point.
But here's what's remarkable, and perhaps a little unsettling.
People were already missing the point nearly 2000 years ago,
long before commercial holidays and candy displays ever existed.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he wasn't
dealing with distractions from the outside world.
He was confronting something far more serious and far closer to
home. People sitting within the church
walls who were openly claiming there was no resurrection, no
life after death, nothing waiting on the other side of the
grave. Paul's response was not
emotional or defensive. It was sharp, methodical, and
logical. If you follow the argument Paul
makes all the way down throughout chapter 15, his
message is clear. If Christ didn't rise from the
dead, everything we believe collapses like a house built on
sand. Each apostle, every preacher,
and every believer across 2000 years of church history would be
nothing more than a liar and a false witness.
And we're not talking about some minor theological disagreement
here, but the complete destruction of the very
foundation upon which the entire Christian faith is built.
Beyond the question of credibility, faith itself
becomes hollow without the resurrection, since Jesus made a
specific and verifiable promise, repeated multiple times
throughout his ministry, that he would rise three days after his
death, and if he failed to keep it, our sins remain exactly
where they always were, unforgiven and unchanged.
Because, as one theologian powerfully stated, without the
resurrection the power of death remains permanently unbroken.
No resurrection means no salvation, and without it there
is no hope, Not for us as we face our own mortality, and not
for the loved ones we have watched lowered into the ground.
But there's no reason for despair, because even Thomas,
the disciple who flatly refused to believe without touching the
wounds of Christ himself, he came face to face with the risen
Lord. And Jesus didn't shame him or
turn him away. He simply said stop being
faithless and belief now That invitation still stands today
for every skeptic and every doubter, because the
resurrection is not a footnote to a spring holiday or a myth
invented by grieving followers. Rather, it's the single most
important event in human history.
And the only question that will ever truly matter is not whether
you celebrate Easter, but whether you believe he actually
rose the very fundamental upon which the Gospel rests.
Well, I'm glad you joined us for today's Easter edition of
Liberty at Home. I hope you join us again next
week as we celebrate our 100th episode on ECAP.
But no matter what, you can always find us at Liberty
Baptist Church. We're located at 800 Washington
Street, right across from Easton Pool and Spa.
Here in Easton. You can learn more about the
church by visiting our website, which is my libertybaptist.org.
You can also find us on Facebook, YouTube, or your
favorite podcast app. Well, until next time, I'm Adam
Rivera reminding you that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty. We'll see you next week for
episode 100 of Liberty at Home.