I can answer this question with one word:

EVERYTHING.

I’m tempted to stop there.  The End.  Yet, a fuller answer is needed. And here’s why.

Many years ago, as a nurse, I was taking care of a young Muslim man in the hospital who’d been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.  His father was by his side, night and day. We got to know each other pretty well.  He knew I was a Christian. I knew he was a Muslim.

One day he said, “You know, we are more alike than you might think.”

“How so?” I asked.

“We also believed in your Jesus. We believe he was a great teacher and prophet. We believe he was crucified on the cross. Our only difference is that we think that he died as a man—and not as God.”

I looked at him and smiled. Touching his sleeve, I said, softly, “That is the very heart of Christianity. It’s not a little difference. We believe that only God could take on the sins of His people and take the punishment we deserve. Only God, who died on that cross could save us from our sins. Only God, who rose from that tomb can bring us safely to His Kingdom in the end.”

He looked at me and nodded.  We liked each other very much, but we both knew the chasm between us had just widened.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be 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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

Christianity centers on this majestic truth—Christ’s resurrection. According to this passage, what are some of the ramifications if the resurrection is a lie? If Christ has not been raised then:

• Paul’s teaching, as well as that of the apostles, was useless.
• If this teaching was useless, then our faith is also useless.
• If this teaching was useless, then Paul and the other writers of Scripture are false witnesses, liars leading people astray.
• Our faith would be futile.
• We would still be mired in our sinfulness and total depravity.
• We would be people most to be pitied.

This is not a mere area of indifference. This is huge! The resurrection of Christ is central to all we believe, all we hope for, and all we live by if we are genuine followers of Christ. Layers of doctrine teach us about Christ’s resurrection, as well as the resurrection of the saints at His return.

The resurrection of Christ was the greatest miracle and the greatest event in all of history. It is pivotal to the Christian faith. We cannot deny it. This event is so crucial to our faith that if we deny it, we cannot possibly be genuine Christians.  Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. And the Bible would be one huge lie.

Christ’s defeat of sin and death is vital to our entire faith. The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

In addition to the clear teaching of the Bible, we have the eyewitness accounts within the gospels. It is historically indisputable that Jesus was crucified. Is it also indisputable that He rose from the dead?

First of all, Christ’s dead body was removed from the cross. John 19:40, “So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews,” 

Matthew 27:62-66, “He was placed in a tomb and the opening to the tomb was sealed. Guards were even placed there to make sure His body wasn’t stolen. “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out into the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, ‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, “After three days I am to rise again.” Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, “He has risen from the dead,” and the last deception will be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.’ And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”

What happened next? Matthew tells us. “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come see the place where He was lying.”

Note the witnesses to these events—the ones who wrapped His body in linens, Joseph who laid His body in the tomb, Mary and the other Mary, and even the guards.  Next, Mary ran to Peter and John and told them, and they ran back to the tomb and looked in. It was empty.

They walked away confused and not quite believing Jesus had risen. Some even thought the authorities may have taken His body and moved it somewhere else. What happened next?

Matthew 28:9-10 says, “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’”

More eyewitnesses. They actually saw Him alive and well, and fell down and worshiped Him.

Later, Mark reports that all the disciples saw Him. Mark 16:14, “Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen,”

Luke 24:36-39, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you.’ But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,’”

1 Corinthians 15:6, “After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time,”

You see, these events have been documented for us. Multiple eyewitnesses have recounted them to us.

We are to believe the Bible because God wrote it.  2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God [God-breathed] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 

Jesus really was foretold in the Old Testament.

Jesus really was born of a virgin.

He really was fully God and fully man.

He really lived a sinless life.

He really died a sacrificial death.

And He really did rise from the dead to reign in heaven at the right hand of God the Father!

What difference does the resurrection of Christ make to Christianity? EVERYTHING!