“Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-9 NLT
1. Three days means we have a Living Savior.
“And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” 1 Corinthians 15:14 NLT
The Claims of Jesus
- He claimed to be God
“They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.” John 10:33 NLT
- He claimed He would rise from the dead
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” Matthew 12:40 NLT
“Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 2:19 NLT
“Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.” Mark 8:31 NLT
The Evidence
- The legal evidence
- The historical evidence
- The experiential evidence
2. Three days means we have a living hope
“Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins. And those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost. If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else. But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life. Just as we will die because of Adam, we will be raised to life because of Christ. Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us. But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns.” 1 Corinthians 15:17-23 CEV
3. Three days means we have a full life to live now
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
“The best is yet to come, so give Him your best now.” Warren Wiersbe