And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins...But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:17, 20, ESV

There are some who believe that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead. They think that He died as an ordinary person would die and that He was buried. His body decayed and He became dust. The problem with this understanding, though, is that it goes against all of the historical evidence (e.g. eyewitness accounts of the resurrected Jesus as well as historical written accounts from both Christian and non-Christian sources).

With the overwhelming evidence of the veracity (truthfulness) of the resurrection accounts of Jesus Christ, we need to read Paul's wording of the twentieth verse of 1 Corinthians as an emphatic: "BUT Christ has been raised from the dead!" Christ has not only been raised from the dead, He is also the "firstfruits" of those who will be resurrected. Just as the firstfruits of the harvest guarantee that the rest of the harvest will be brought in, so too Christ is the guarantee that those who trust in Him by faith will also be raised from the dead.

The Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ is that He has come to restore all things to new life with God. Resurrection is the powerful, personal, and permanent picture of this reality.

So how is your faith?

If you do not believe in the resurrection in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, your faith is futile, useless, and in vain.

BUT if you DO believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, your faith is genuine, powerful, and eternal.