Hey Andy, If Jesus had never died, would Christianity be better off, like if He still walked the Earth? I think it would have been more effective than 33 years and a violent death.
Hi. I can see how Jesus’ ministry could have been better if He’d never died, if you look at Him as nothing more than a good teacher, but would we be better off if Jesus had never been killed in the first place? No, because then we’d all still be dead in our sins.
Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:13-19, and verses 29-32:
“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 of all people most to be pitied…now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’.”
Why Jesus Had To Die
So you see, Jesus HAD to die, for if He had never died, then He wouldn’t be raised from the dead. And if He hadn’t been raised from the dead, then we’d all still be dead in our sins (and the Gentiles would still have no chance of salvation, for it wasn’t until Jesus was raised that Gentiles were even invited into the Covenant). So Jesus died for our sins, and He was raised for our salvation (or justification). If He hadn’t died, then we’d still be dead in our sins, and if He hadn’t been raised, then there’d be no salvation for us. His death and resurrection are the core of Christianity, as such was also the whole purpose of His coming here in the first place.
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