If Christ Is Not Risen
Month 7: He Is Risen! — Why We Believe · Why We Believe
Today's Scripture
Read together: 1 Corinthians 15:14-19
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. 15 In that case, we are also exposed as 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. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Memory Verse
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”— 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 31–32; Isaiah 37–38
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (King Hezekiah prays, and God rescues Jerusalem from a mighty army.)The Heart of It
Paul does something bold here that few teachers dare to do. He stakes the entire Christian faith on a single fact, and he invites everyone to test it. If Christ has not been raised, he says, then our preaching is worthless, and so is our faith. We are false witnesses. We are still in our sins. And we "are to be pitied more than all men." He doesn't soften it. He doesn't say, "Well, even if the tomb wasn't empty, at least Jesus was a good teacher." He says the opposite. If the resurrection didn't happen, then Christianity is a beautiful waste of a life, and we should pity anyone who believes it. Faith built on a dead body is no faith at all.
But why would Paul hang everything on one event? Because the resurrection is not decoration added onto the gospel. It is the gospel's proof. It is God the Father's public stamp of approval. It declares that Jesus' death really did pay for sin, and that death is truly beaten (). And notice this. Paul is not asking anyone to believe blindly. He is reasoning with us. He lays out the consequences plainly, so his readers can think it through. Christianity has never asked children to switch off their brains. It invites them to follow the evidence. The empty tomb is either history's greatest hoax or its greatest hope. And Paul, who saw the risen Jesus himself, stakes his life on hope.
Around the Table
If Jesus were still dead, we would be very sad. But Jesus is ALIVE — so we can be glad!
Let's do it: Frown and say "if He were dead…" then jump up smiling: "but He is ALIVE!"
Paul said the whole faith depends on Jesus being alive. Why is it so important that the resurrection really happened, and isn't just a nice story?
Let's talk: What would be different about our lives if the tomb were not empty?
Paul puts the faith on the line. "If Christ has not been raised… your faith is futile." This is a claim you can test, not blind belief. And the evidence stands the test.
Let's go deeper: Why is it actually a good thing that Christianity rests on a fact that can be checked, rather than a feeling that can't?
💬 Conversation Starter
Would you rather believe something that feels nice but isn't true, or something hard that is true? Why?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
When someone says, "It doesn't matter whether the resurrection really happened, as long as it inspires you," we can kindly answer that Paul himself disagreed. He said that if Christ did not rise, our faith is worthless and we are to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:17-19). Christianity isn't a comforting myth. It stands or falls on a real event in real history. And the eyewitnesses, the empty tomb, and the changed disciples all say it really happened ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
Many parents, hoping to keep faith "safe," quietly teach a Christianity that could survive even if the tomb weren't empty. It becomes a religion of good values and warm feelings. Paul will not allow it, and neither should we. He plants the flag on a claim that could be proven false: a body, a tomb, a date in history. This is enormously freeing for your kids. It means their faith is not a fragile, private feeling that wilts under a skeptical professor's questions. It is a conviction anchored in evidence that has survived two thousand years of digging and testing. Teach them that doubt is not the enemy of faith. Willful unbelief is. An honest doubter who follows the evidence will find it leads to an empty tomb. Live that out yourself. Don't fake certainty. Go after it.
Draws on: Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict; Natasha Crain, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that our faith is not built on a fairy tale but on the real, risen Jesus. Give us minds that love truth and hearts that trust You. Help us never be ashamed of the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen."
My faith doesn't rest on a feeling. It rests on a fact. The tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive.