For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised…we are of all people most to be pitied.
-1 Corinthians 15:16-19
If you learned on your death bed that Jesus was not raised from the dead, what would you say? “Well, at least I lived a good life, worked hard, and had lots of friends and loved my family”? Putting existential issues aside for this hypothetical situation (for how can there even be “Love” apart from Jesus), this is not the attitude that the Apostle Paul had. For him, if Jesus was not God, he would naturally look at his whole life and say, “what a waste!” He put all his eggs in one basket. Paul reveals that, for any Son of God, It would be awkward. Humiliating. Shameful. It would require others to pity you above any other human. You would be “that guy,” that others remember as being crazy. “He was just delusional, poor guy.”
This is not to encourage people to live recklessly on their own terms. The solution is not to try and look crazy. The solution is to radically look to Jesus in total sincerity and earnestness. The kind of life Paul led was earned over time. I do not mean he earned his salvation, but rather that as he matured in Christ and daily lived out the Cross, continuing to rest in Jesus and obey Him from that place of rest, his life naturally took on a certain form so that when he died, if Christ was not risen, his legacy would be humiliating for him.
Let’s look at some biblical examples of what this might mean. Hebrews 11:24-26 says Moses forsook all the pleasures and privileges of being Egyptian royalty because he considered the Messiah to be more worth his life. He then led all of Israel on a one way ticket to a dead end at the Red Sea while being pursued by an army. A pretty foolish or misguided thing to do if Jesus is not who He is.
Going back in time even more, we come to Abraham who banked all his wealth and heritage on God’s leading. He left behind his family and all his connections because he was betting on God being true to His word- that he would gain a land and have a male heir through his aging wife. That’s an extremely pitiful outlook if God is not God. He would look, at the end of his life, like a delusional old man. What would his family and friends in Ur think of him?
Or what about Noah? Building an ark and loading his whole family on with a bunch of animals before it actually started to rain. If God were not God, then the lives of these saints aforementioned are all misguided and delusional. We would highly pity them, if we had any pity in our hearts at all instead of mockery.
The truth is, most of us live our lives completely normally and very similarly to those in the world who do not believe in Jesus. We do the same things for entertainment, have the same houses, drink the same drinks, work the same jobs, and say the same things. We don’t really stand out. In general, our lifestyles are virtually the same as those who don’t believe in Jesus. The whole trajectory of our lives looks fairly common. There’s no real standing out. The main difference might be our church attendance once or several times a week. Maybe we also attend a Bible study. But doing religious things is not what makes your life pitiable if Christ is not risen—the world is full of people doing religious things. The religions of the world are false, but we don’t necessarily pity their followers all the time: that’s because being religious is also a normal worldly thing to do. You follow a religion? Then you’re just like everyone else. You have radical political views? The world has a category for that too. You may say you are different because of this view or that view. But these options are all the same because truthfully, we are all worshiping ourselves. The Self is at the center of our lives. We do what we do because we are in control. We do what we want because we delight in our willpower. Our beliefs and tastes may change or stay the same, but the Self is always at the center. This is the common thread for any non Jesus follower in the world.
When we decide to follow Jesus, we yield to His will. It’s not our will anymore, for we become grafted into the Vine, and his surges bleed into the veins of our soul. Our identity changes. There is a spiritual new birth—a new creation. Our will becomes His will. His name is tucked away in us. He decided to pursue us when we were stuck in our trespasses. We would not have ever seen Him if He had not willed to pursue us and reveal Himself to us in the first place. Therefore, the main power that controls every heart in this world—the Self—is replaced by God’s will through the death of the Self. All of this is made possible, of course, by Jesus’ sacrifice.
Following Jesus changes the trajectory of our entire life. When we let His will in us, our lives are radically changed. This radical change is hardly seen today, and it cannot happen on our own terms or by our own will, but as we yield to His. Perhaps many of us have yielded to God’s will at some point in our lives, but for whatever reason, we choose to rely on our own understanding as we live more out of our old self rather than our new self in Christ. If we were to die right now, our lives would be remarkably unpitiable. They would look extremely normal by worldly comparisons, maybe even celebrated as such.
This study is for anyone who feels convicted by this message. Maybe you have the right beliefs, but do you truly live according to those beliefs? Jesus commanded his disciples to teach others to obey His commandments, not just believe them. Maybe you’ve been raised in the Church, but your faith has always been theoretical? Maybe you feel you’ve never heard God speak to you or feel His presence? Maybe you’ve never jumped out of the boat or followed Jesus beyond the sheep pen? I reckon you probably have heard God and felt His presence, but have not recognized it. That was the case for my own life, in any regards. Christ was there, but I never truly followed Him where it really mattered. I had belief, but I wasn’t relying on it like I needed to. The foundation of my old life had to be taken away. I was doubtful, hesitant, and a coward. But when all I had was Jesus, after everything had been stripped away, He filled me in the areas that had been stuffed with other things. The Bible verses we’ll look at here are some of the most influential, foundational, and helpful that have guided me on this journey. I know there are others out there who are like how I used to be. I want to help you see what I’ve learned, so that all the dimensions of God’s love can be more fully realized in you. Warning: others may start to judge your life as pitiable.