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…”

If Christ has not been raised, then:

• Paul’s teaching, as well as that of the apostles, was useless.
• Our faith is useless.
• The writers of Scripture are false witnesses.
• Our faith is futile.
• We are still in our sins.
• Those who have died in Christ are lost.
• We are to be pitied above all people.

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.

The resurrection of Christ was the greatest miracle and the greatest event in all of history. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity.

The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

In addition to Scripture, we have eyewitness accounts recorded in the Gospels.

John 19:40 — “So they took the body of Jesus…”

Matthew 28:1–6 — “He is not here, for He has risen.”

Jesus appeared to many after His resurrection:

• Matthew 28:9–10 — The women worshiped Him
• Mark 16:14 — He appeared to the eleven
• Luke 24:36–39 — He showed His physical body
• 1 Corinthians 15:6 — He appeared to more than 500 people

These events are documented for us. Multiple eyewitnesses confirm them.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 — “All Scripture is inspired by God…”

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!